Just Starting Out - Colour and Composition

[rtmaus]

I would love some feedback on this image, specifically the colours and the composition.



I've adjusted the photo in Lightroom to try for a more 'vintage' (I know the word is overused) type shot. The original photo is available here for comparison:

Oliver at the Park | Flickr - Photo Sharing!


I'm just starting to get back into photography after a few years absence and have decided to try something different. Rather than landscapes I'm trying Portraits, at this stage my son makes a willing volunteer.

[docxnoel]

You captured a good image here, but still you can improved.

the color appears to be warmer, there is a lot of red and very obvious in your background.

the soft focus is very nice and I love the bokeh.

I like how you frame your subject.

The child behind your subject even it is blurred is distracting and you can clone it.

I don't know or it just me notice that Elmo (the printed character on shirt) is somewhat competing to your subject, maybe because of it's vibrant color. upon looking at this my eyes draw back and forth to the child's face and elmo.

Hope it helps, this is just purely my opinion and may varies from different eyes.

[BigFuzzy]

docxnoel makes good points and I agree with all of them especially about the red tone. I'd bring that down.. in fact, I think this would look good with a green/brownish color tone (but mind you, a slight tone).

What was your f/stop?
I ask because of docxnoel's comment about Elmo competing for attention. There are two things to consider.
1. Logos/words/images on shirts always tend to draw the eye away from the subject.
2. I'm pretty sure you were using the central focal point, or at least, your camera chose it. And I'm assuming, that because you were using a very shallow DoF, the focus is actually falling on the center of the shirt (also the center of the frame) instead of where it should fall, on the kids face. So, the sharpest part of the image, which is already distracting becomes more so since the face is softer (as it would appear to me from this size image).
Am I right?

Despite all that, it's a nice image. It's captured a nice natural moment, and the mom (you?) will be happy with it. Just a few tweaks (ie color) and better technique (proper focus) would have made it a bit better, but still, be happy with it.

EDIT: Booom shakalaka.. that was post 1500! Where are my 70 virgins!?!?

[rtmaus]

Thank-you both for the tips, my wife was pretty happy with the photos considering it was the first time out at the park.

I will have a look at removing/blurring the other child and see if I can make Elmo disappear. I have a few friends who would like some photos of their kids done also. I may ask that they wear plain T-Shirts if possible.

I've since changed the settings on my camera so I have more control over the focus settings. I'm very happy with the shot and surprised what the little nifty fifty (Canon 50mm f1.8) can do. It's much sharper than I thought it would be.

[ginmarada]

EDIT: Booom shakalaka.. that was post 1500! Where are my 70 virgins!?!?[/QUOTE]


LOL......awesome.

[larlyboi]

Hi.

Personally it feels like there's a giant black bar stuck across the top. It feels like it might as well be cropped there. If there was detail in the wood it wouldn't look so garish (to me).

The rest of the shot is good though.

Image removed, bad example...

[larlyboi]

Or perhaps a square/portrait crop.

Andy.

[BigFuzzy]

Originally Posted by larlyboi

Hi.

Personally it feels like there's a giant black bar stuck across the top. It feels like it might as well be cropped there. If there was detail in the wood it wouldn't look so garish (to me).

The rest of the shot is good though.

I just made a quick crop (the image is private so it can only be seen here, not on my flickr).


Child Edit by larlyboi, on Flickr

To me, this just feels like bad composition/cropping.. at least with the black bar there was an obvious reason (and a frame) for the kid having the top of his head chopped. So I'd leave it as is. Plus his hand in the original has a purpose, here it's just cropped/cut off.

[andrewmc]

I have to agree that the child in the background and image on the top draws some attention away from the face, but it is otherwise a very nice piece of work!

Andrew

[larlyboi]

Originally Posted by BigFuzzy

To me, this just feels like bad composition/cropping.. at least with the black bar there was an obvious reason (and a frame) for the kid having the top of his head chopped. So I'd leave it as is. Plus his hand in the original has a purpose, here it's just cropped/cut off.

I agree. I'm jut not sold on the black bar. I originally thought the image hadn't loaded correctly in the OP.

I think recomposed at POS, not including the bar would have worked better, leaving imagination as to what the child was grasping for.