Putting advice into practice :)

[Ladyblackswan]

Here's a photo I took today ( I know, it's a happy mommy scrapbook photo, but I am really trying) of my daughter. I edited it by cropping it in to get rid of the excess noise in the background, filtered it down to just a hint of color and adjusted the f stop. If you click through the thumbnail, you can see the color and then the original photo. I tried to listen to the critiques I received and think this one is a little better than my first attempt.
Resolution: 1024 x 768

Flash Used: No

Focal Length: 12.3mm (35mm equivalent: 70mm...

Exposure Time: 0.0020 s (1/500)

Aperture: f/4.1

ISO Equiv.: 1600

Whitebalance: Auto

Metering Mode: matrix

Shot on a Kodak Retinar

[Rentham]

Nice job, although I prefer the original color. You did a nice job getting light in the eyes. Try to keep the head in a clean spot, you're getting a little bit of that corner in her head.

[Ladyblackswan]

I know....I've been trying to edit out that darn corner all afternoon. I am trying to figure out what all the tools do on the editing program I like the color one too but I thought the corner was a lot more distracting in that one.

[dark knight]

I Think it's perfect... A little grainy but still beautiful...

[Ladyblackswan]

Originally Posted by dark knight

I Think it's perfect... A little grainy but still beautiful...

That was very sweet

[EOBeav]

Are you able to shoot that camera in manual mode? At 1600 ISO, you have a LOT of noise in that picture. You have some room to move down to 400 ISO. Even 800 would be an improvement. Generally speaking you want to shoot at the lowest ISO and still get good shutter time and aperture value. If you're not sure what those are, you can read up on them in the DPS archives. They will help you improve your photography.

[Ladyblackswan]

Thanks, I am still learning how to use the manual settings

[ajax_andy]

I think the photo is really nice... wouldn't say it looked just like a scrapbook photo, I think its of a higher standard than that.

As for the ISO issue, my feelings are that for children I would always aim for 400 or less. If it means you need to buy a flash gun then so be it, you can buy some pretty cheap but good speedlights for under £50. Yongnuo are a great starter brand and they are really easy to use.

ISO 1600 should really be kept (IMO) for those times when you are trying to be a bit more edgy i.e. taking a shot of a Band, or portraiture where you are looking to be a bit more edgy. I think children should be captured as clean and as pure as possible, as that is what they are at the end of the day.

Manual settings are something i'd start using all the time if I were you. You might take loads of horrible pictures to begin with, but you're understanding of exposure will improve massively in no time at all, and then you'll see your photography going to a whole new level, that you could never have achieved using auto settings.