Am I at least starting to get it?

[yulchick]

Alright, so the problem I used to have with portraits of my lil one is that the shots were flat, not to mention tons of other flaws that are just too much to list :P

I'm wondering if this shot is better. Is it flat? what about white balance? I dunno to be honest I'm happy with the results, but than again maybe my standarts are too low...anyways any comments, cretique and sujestions are awesome.

I had a hard time choosing the shot for cretique from todays set, but im going with this one. If you are interested you can see more on my flickr. I really like one other shot there, but for some reason there is a shaddow from the bunny ears on the background Anyways here's the shot i chose...



Camera Nikon D90
Exposure 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture f/1.8
Focal Length 50 mm
ISO Speed 250
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash On, Return detected

[Niresangwa]

Lighting is much better here, and the exposure seems about right (by that I mean close enough that if a problem were to be found, it could easily be fixed in PP). At this size, focus looks good, at the largest size you have on Flickr, it seems a little soft around the face...something I'd attribute to shooting wide open (not sure how that lens performs wide open, but generally they need to be stopped down a little to be pin sharp), or perhaps given the SS is suitable for the focal length, just a little motion whilst hand-holding.. but again, it's nothing that anyone is going to have an issue with.

I like the composition, and I like the subtle gradient and fall off of lighting in the background.

[yulchick]

Alrighty, will defently try a diferent aperture next time.
I also like how the backround turned out...total luck..I had little room to work with, The sofa was in a way and was blocking some light from the window on the left, but I actually like how it turned out that way

Can you maybe explain whats wrong with the exposure? have no idea what to look for , and what to fix...

thanks for the tips

[Niresangwa]

Originally Posted by yulchick

Alrighty, will defently try a diferent aperture next time.
I also like how the backround turned out...total luck..I had little room to work with, The sofa was in a way and was blocking some light from the window on the left, but I actually like how it turned out that way

Can you maybe explain whats wrong with the exposure? have no idea what to look for , and what to fix...

thanks for the tips

No, I don't think there's anything wrong with the exposure at all, my point was, it was close enough to bang on that if any subsequent post work, such as increased contrast etc brought up an issue it could easily be fixed.

Also to clarify, the softness could be from handholding, it could simply be the lens (I don't know the lens, therefore don't know how it behaves wide open, but generally speaking they do better stopped down).

Susan really can give a better idea on the selected f-stop, as I believe she shoots this way in this situation quite often. For me, if you're not trying to create an effect with a shallow DoF, you'll get sharper results by going to f4 or 5.6. OF course that's going to demand a change in SS or ISo to accommodate it, but handheld you should be able to do that no problems.

[yulchick]

Originally Posted by Niresangwa

No, I don't think there's anything wrong with the exposure at all, my point was, it was close enough to bang on that if any subsequent post work, such as increased contrast etc brought up an issue it could easily be fixed.

Also to clarify, the softness could be from handholding, it could simply be the lens (I don't know the lens, therefore don't know how it behaves wide open, but generally speaking they do better stopped down).

Susan really can give a better idea on the selected f-stop, as I believe she shoots this way in this situation quite often. For me, if you're not trying to create an effect with a shallow DoF, you'll get sharper results by going to f4 or 5.6. OF course that's going to demand a change in SS or ISo to accommodate it, but handheld you should be able to do that no problems.

Ahh i c...well im still going to try something similar while stopping down the aperture, just to see what the results will be..and for some reason I find holding the camera "the right way" very uncomfy...i rarely hold it like I should..so maybe that influents the final results as well...defenetly need to practice my camera holding..

and i was actually going for the blurred backgrount, cause I didnt want the texture of the blanket that I was using for the bakcground to show, just wanted it to be smooth, cause it was the sheep skin like textured blankie...if that makes sence :P

[dakwegmo]

The light is good. I'm not too keen on the shadow on the wall to the left, but it's not such a problem that I would call it a distraction. A minor nit to pick, in an otherwise well lit photo. As for the softness that was mentioned, when doing portraits, it's most important to get the eyes in focus. That's hard to do when shooting wiggly babies, hand holding at f/1.8. It looks like the focus here is in front of the baby's eyes, which leave them a little too soft for that wow effect. You can probably sharpen them up a bit, but keep in mind when shooting wide open that having the nose or ears out of focus won't distract from a photo nearly as much as having the eyes out of focus.