Portrait of my Daughter

[Ladyblackswan]

I caught this candid shot of my daughter with a diaper cover on her head and thought it was really cute....I've cropped it in, but I think it is still very busy in the background. Any ideas?

[Ladyblackswan]

I forgot to mention I shot it on a Kodak Retinar and had it set on the manufacturer's "action" setting.

[BigFuzzy]

Can you add the exif? That would help us give better/more detailed comments.

Does your camera have the ability to change the settings on your camera? IE can you change shutterspeed, f/stop etc?

[BigFuzzy]

Having looked at the image, and assuming you're shooting with a camera that doesn't have lots of manual settings I can simply say, yes, the background is very busy.

As you mentioned, this, in the end, is simply a snapshot. Which, while cute, doesn't really have any impact on me. I can see how you'd love it as a parent and how it's perfect for the family scrap book, but in terms of doing a proper portrait it needs some work.

First thing, before lifting camera to your eyes is to think background.
Also, because you cropped in (I'd say quite a bit, right?) it has lots of digital noise which makes the image softer than it could be.

I also find the crop too tight. I recognize you did it to minimize the busy background, but now, to me, it feels too tight.

Again, in the end, it's a great happy shot of a cute kid which a parent should be happy with. But thinking of it in terms of a proper portrait, it still falls clearly on the side of 'snap shot'. Start thinking of the basics like background and you'll see things changing immediately.

[windrider86]

Here is your exif. You can find it to the right of your photo on Photobucket under photo info
File Name: Sarahat.jpg

File Size: 539 kb - 1024 x 1024

Camera Make: EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY

Camera Model: KODAK EASYSHARE Z915 DIGITAL C...

Date/Time: 2011:05:28 17:15:19

Resolution: 1024 x 1024

Flash Used: No

Focal Length: 8.8mm (35mm equivalent: 50mm)

Exposure Time: 0.0063 s (1/160)

Aperture: f/3.8

ISO Equiv.: 1600

Whitebalance: Auto

[Tito87]

Originally Posted by Ladyblackswan

I caught this candid shot of my daughter with a diaper cover on her head and thought it was really cute....I've cropped it in, but I think it is still very busy in the background. Any ideas?

In PP you can blur the background, you can bring the saturation down a notch, or you can even replace the background completely. That being said, you should listen to Big Fuzzy: it's better to always think about the background before you take the shot.

[Ladyblackswan]

Thank you for the help with finding the settings I think I am going to try and take another with a less busy background. It was really just a candid that I liked a lot. If anyone has any suggestions on what setting I could use to try and blurr the background, I can adjust the settings although I haven't had very good luck doing that on my own.

[Tito87]

Originally Posted by Ladyblackswan

Thank you for the help with finding the settings I think I am going to try and take another with a less busy background. It was really just a candid that I liked a lot. If anyone has any suggestions on what setting I could use to try and blurr the background, I can adjust the settings although I haven't had very good luck doing that on my own.

Open the aperture as much as you can ( the lowest f-stop number), don't forget to adjust the shutter speed. Try to have your subject as far from the background as possible and move in close to him.

[Ladyblackswan]

Hi Tito,
The lowest I can get my aperture is F3.5 and my shutter adjusts from .05 to 1/1000. I'd like to blurr out the background, but I'm not sure how exactly to do that.....I am really new at this.
Any help would be appreciated!

Originally Posted by Tito87

Open the aperture as much as you can ( the lowest f-stop number), don't forget to adjust the shutter speed. Try to have your subject as far from the background as possible and move in close to him.

[Tito87]

Originally Posted by Ladyblackswan

Hi Tito,
The lowest I can get my aperture is F3.5 and my shutter adjusts from .05 to 1/1000. I'd like to blurr out the background, but I'm not sure how exactly to do that.....I am really new at this.
Any help would be appreciated!

Open the lens all the way, the shutter speed will have to be fast if you are shooting in a room with a lot of light to compensate for the aperture. Position your daughter as far away from the background as you can, move in close to her and focus on her eyes. Remember that you can also adjust the ISO to help you with the exposure if you're having problems. Then post the picture to see what happened. Good luck.