three toddlers and a train

[rward78]

From Thomas the train

First off, I realize that this is just a snapshot, but I still would like some pointers. The picture was taken underneath a train shed (it is a stationary locomotive for a museum) and it was a bright sunny day. I am learning how to use the manual setting.

1. Do I have the lighting right or have I managed to over expose?
2. Is the loss of focus on the third child to distracting?
3. Any cropping needed? Would it improve it?

Model: NIKON D90
ISO: 200
Exposure: 1/160 sec
Aperture: 5.6
Focal Length: 92mm
Flash Used: Yes


Thanks in advance for taking a look and any CC is welcome.

[scootermcq]

Exposure is only slightly hot. There are still details in the white shirt, so you have not blown it out. I would say it should be toned down a little in pp, but exposure is not bad. Cant really tell the foucs on a small image, but if one of the children is out of focus, then yes, it will be distracting, because they are not a background image, they are one of the subjects. If this image is not already cropped, then cropping will not do anything. One of the differences between a snapshot and a portrait is the thought that goes into it regarding composition. The kids are dead center in the frame, and there isnt any indication as to the enviroment they are in. Because there things in the background, I would have backed off a little and let the viewer see where the children are. A tight crop like this would work with a plain background, or if the background was defocused and the children were the only thing of interest. Because this is not the case, the background becomes distracting for me as I am trying to figure out what they are doing and where they are.