Easter Fun

[czc]

Easter Picture for a friend of mine. I added some PP lens flare and a coloring preset in LR. Are the color and composition good? I originally liked the post in the background on the left of the picture. Does it draw your attention from the subject?





Nikon D7000
ISO 100
30mm
f/6.3
1/200

[czc]

Over 60 views and no responses? I know this can't be a perfect picture!...or is too to bad for CC? I'm looking for any CC so I can improve. I was still using Auto modes when I took this picture. I'm just diving into the Manual settings.

[joleephoto]

I like the fence and field behind Belle in her Easter dress. The colors are good, the grass doesn't look too yellow or over-saturated, and the color on the Easter eggs are nice and bright.

I would probably have composed the shot so I didn't get the post behind the fence in the picture. I do think it is a little distracting and detracts from the final picture. But, this is my personal opinion and art is always subjective.

I like lens flare, what does it look like if you move it up a little? There is sun on the top of Belle's hat, indicating the sun is above her, but it looks like the lens flare you added seems to start just above the horizon behind her.

[roostabunny]

It's hard to predict what's going to draw a response but rest assured, in a critique forum it's not the terrible photos that get ignored. Might be the Lightroom stuff - hard to say if I'm critiquing your camera work or your LR choices.

That said, I think the processing is interesting, kind of a 70's/80's look to the color, which works especially well since there's nothing to date your subject. I also think it's a cool shot, tells a story, great expression and cute, slightly awkward (not a bad thing in a model this age in an Easter outfit, IMO) pose. To me, owing to both the processing and the composition, it kinda looks like a catalog shot.

The lighting is problematic, though. You've got a low-contrast subject that's pretty intensely backlit. And that translucent hat not only lets the backlight through (blowing out the highlights in the hat and blending it seamlessly with the sky background) but also manages to shade the face. As a result, you end up having to overexpose the whole print (losing most highlight detail) in order to get the exposure on the face correct. At least, that's my guess. Did the camera expose like this, or did you also lighten it in LR?

Anyway, nothing wrong with a backlit portrait, but in this case, some fill flash (from the on-camera flash) or a reflector (I've used one for a car windshield in a pinch) might have helped bring some light back to her face. Even better, I think you might also have been able to move about 50-60 degrees around to your left (as long as there wasn't something ugly in the background over there) and traded some of the mood you get in this shot for better lighting on your subject.

Since I brought up mood, I have to acknowledge that this type of shot is popular in lifestyle photography, and that might have been what you were going for. I'm critiquing this strictly as a classic portrait, where mood takes a back seat to making sure your subject's face is the focal point of the picture and lit well. I think the added lens flare falls into that same category of the overall "look" of a photograph. I like lens flare myself, but in this case, I think it distracts from your subject and you're better off without it. Maybe if it were a bit more subtle? My initial thought before I even read your post was, "what's that doing there?"

As for the signpost, I could go either way. Composition-wise, I'd like to see your subject a little off-center, but that said, I think the signpost echoes the slight lean of the fence post and your model and has about the same visual "weight" as the fence post, so it doesn't look out of place to me.

That's a lot, sorry, I get long-winded. Can you use exposure compensation in the auto modes? Which auto mode did you use?

[czc]

Originally Posted by roostabunny

It's hard to predict what's going to draw a response but rest assured, in a critique forum it's not the terrible photos that get ignored. Might be the Lightroom stuff - hard to say if I'm critiquing your camera work or your LR choices.

That said, I think the processing is interesting, kind of a 70's/80's look to the color, which works especially well since there's nothing to date your subject. I also think it's a cool shot, tells a story, great expression and cute, slightly awkward (not a bad thing in a model this age in an Easter outfit, IMO) pose. To me, owing to both the processing and the composition, it kinda looks like a catalog shot.

The lighting is problematic, though. You've got a low-contrast subject that's pretty intensely backlit. And that translucent hat not only lets the backlight through (blowing out the highlights in the hat and blending it seamlessly with the sky background) but also manages to shade the face. As a result, you end up having to overexpose the whole print (losing most highlight detail) in order to get the exposure on the face correct. At least, that's my guess. Did the camera expose like this, or did you also lighten it in LR?

Anyway, nothing wrong with a backlit portrait, but in this case, some fill flash (from the on-camera flash) or a reflector (I've used one for a car windshield in a pinch) might have helped bring some light back to her face. Even better, I think you might also have been able to move about 50-60 degrees around to your left (as long as there wasn't something ugly in the background over there) and traded some of the mood you get in this shot for better lighting on your subject.

Since I brought up mood, I have to acknowledge that this type of shot is popular in lifestyle photography, and that might have been what you were going for. I'm critiquing this strictly as a classic portrait, where mood takes a back seat to making sure your subject's face is the focal point of the picture and lit well. I think the added lens flare falls into that same category of the overall "look" of a photograph. I like lens flare myself, but in this case, I think it distracts from your subject and you're better off without it. Maybe if it were a bit more subtle? My initial thought before I even read your post was, "what's that doing there?"

As for the signpost, I could go either way. Composition-wise, I'd like to see your subject a little off-center, but that said, I think the signpost echoes the slight lean of the fence post and your model and has about the same visual "weight" as the fence post, so it doesn't look out of place to me.

That's a lot, sorry, I get long-winded. Can you use exposure compensation in the auto modes? Which auto mode did you use?

To the right more, I had a really ratty "Beware of Bobcats" sign. So I chose the lesser of the 2 evils, if you will. lol. To the left was her sister, who I was at the time setting up for a shot, when I heard "look at me!" she was standing there smiling, I couldn't miss the shot. I'll post the original photo as well.

I couldn't decide what kind of effect I wanted, it just seemed like it was missing "something", when I used the preset, I really liked it with her dress, and it fits her personality, if that makes sense? I liked the lens flare, at the same time I added it just because. I'll add the shot that doesn't have the lens flare as well.

Lighting is a huge hurdle I'm trying to figure out right now. All I have is the on board flash...should I use that in situations like this shot? I tend to have the mind frame, that if there's sun, I don't need the flash. But I'm assuming from this distance it would've worked, it just didn't cross my mind.

I used the standard Auto mode (point and shoot setting)...but I had the flash off.

Thank You so much for the response! I'm hoping to get to the point where everything comes second nature to me, my brain goes a hundred miles an hour trying to remember everything. And with kids, they don't want to wait that long most of the time.