Snap shot or portrait?

[Dawna]

Here is an Easter pic I took for a friend of mine. I love it and she loves it and I think I did well with the lighting on it what do you think? I love using a reflector but this lil one wasn't having it did not want to sit still at all!

I am ready to move beyond the average photo! I want to learn how to get great photos!!

Any tips or suggestion on how to get the lil ones to sit still and get a really good pic??

iso 100
shutter 1/200
f/6.3
no flash

[RLucas]

Hi Dawna! That is one cute little girl! It looks like you ended up with a good pose, and it is well composed as well.
A couple of things stand out just a bit for me on this one.
The first thing is the white balance. It looks really blue and magenta on my monitor. You should be able to warm it up relatively easily.
Number two would be the relflector placement. Judging from the catchlights in her eyes, you had it low, and to camera right. You had the right idea, but when you use reflectors, try and think about the direction the light is coming from. In this instance, it looks like the sun was fairly high in the sky, so the lower reflector placement makes sense, but I would have placed it camera left, instead of right to lift some of the shadows end even out some of the harsh contrast across her face. I also like to spot meter off the brightest part of the face as well, usually at about .3 to .7/ev over.
The last thing i noticed is the focus. It looks like your focus fell on the bunny rabbit. In a portrait, most of the time, the eyes need to be the sharpest point of the image. If you get the eyes tack sharp, usually a little bit of softness anywhere else will be less noticable. It's not bad here, but it could make a difference when printed.
All in all, it looks like you are off to a good start! Just a little tweaking, and being aware of how the light and shadows work together will make all the difference in the world.
I hope to see more from you in the future!

[Dawna]

Thank YOU so much for your reply Luke and it was most HELPFUL!!
I LOVE getting replies that really help me think and next time try the techniques you mentioned. I am still learning and there is A LOT to learn and trying to apply it when you're shooting lil ones is quite difficult but I am up for the challenge!!

Yes the sun was high and I tried to get a place that was a little more shaded but no leaves on the trees makes it a little hard.
Yes I did have the reflector low Trying to hold it and the camera doesn't always work so well. But thank you for telling me it needed to be on the other side I was just trying to get some light onto her face.
Spot metering is something I definitely need to learn. :-/

Thanks again!
Dawna

[Ambiorix]

Our DPS Darren once wrote an article about the subject. Maybe some of you've seen it before!
http://http://www.digital-photograph...graph-children

[BigFuzzy]

Everything Luke said, I agree with so won't repeat any of it.

One thing I will add is the initial decision to place her in direct sunlight in the middle of the day. You would have been better served placing her in some open shade. That would have allowed for more even lighting and gotten rid of the harsh shadows on her face and the high level of contrast between the highlights and shadows.

Secondly, since you're really looking to improve and push yourself, you need to consider looking into and learning off-camera flash. The straight on flash you used, though helpful in filling some of the shadows, also kills important shadows which create depth in your subject. Also, it flattens the colors and causes them to appear a bit more washed out. I'm assuming you used your on-camera flash or a hotshoe flash on-camera? Consider, next time, if it's a hotshoe flash, to turn the head towards the reflector to both bouce light from the side (improving the shadows) and it'll avoid the Full Frontal Flatness (I need to trademark that phrase haha!)

All in all a good effort, but some relatively small corrections (mostly related to getting out of harsh direct midday sunlight) will make heaps of difference. keep shooting.

EDIT: I see now you say you didn't use flash, so I assume that catchlight comes from the reflector which is almost directly in front of the girl, right? Same effect as straight-on flash, just not as strong.. always think side lighting to create nice soft shadows and depth.

PS cute kid!

[RLucas]

Originally Posted by BigFuzzy

Everything Luke said, I agree with so won't repeat any of it.

One thing I will add is the initial decision to place her in direct sunlight in the middle of the day.

PS cute kid!

GAH! The most obvious thing, I missed!

You're welcome Dawna! You have a good solid base here, and a good eye. Keep shooting!