Portraits of a Toddler

[nikonNadia]

I snapped some shots of my cousin (he's 3) a few days ago.



Exposure 0.077 sec (1/13)
Aperture f/4.8
Lens Nikkor 18-105 VR Kit Lens
Focal Length 42 mm
Focal Length 42.4 mm
ISO Speed 1600
Exposure Bias +2/3 EV

I guess I could say I'm slightly satisfied with them in terms of just a regular portrait, but I'm not that happy about them.
They don't really seem to have that WOW factor that I have seen in other photos.

I'd really appreciate some tips on how I could have improved this shot, and any other portrait tips in general.

Thanks

[MrJones]

well, it's a nice photo, sharp and vibrant, and that's not easy when shooting at 1/13.
I think your main issue is composition, the face that you've placed his hand right in the center of the picture is not interesting for the human eye.
other than that it's a snap shot, that's all. it might have some emotional value to his parents or family but for an outside observer it's just another snapshot of a kid, just like millions of other snapshots.
I've looked at some of your photos and some of them have focus issues which you need to work on, either if it's focus or shutter speeds which cause motion blur. try to pay attention to those in the future.
a great photo is about the moment and about light. try and learn how to use the light direction (back lightning, side lightning) to your advantage rather than just pressing the shutter. I think that's where you make you big jump into photography.
hope that helps

[ajax_andy]

Its a good picture considering the shutter speed you used, but I agree with it being compositionally weak.

There is a lot of dead space around the child that doesn't add to the pic... for me you should have filled the frame with the main subject thus eliminating almost if not all the uninteresting background.

I'm not saying this pic is amazing, but might give you an idea of what I mean regarding filling the frame and not having any background in shot:

[nikonNadia]

Thanks for the helpful + specific critique! I can see what you guys mean about the lighting and composition, and how those areas could be improved. thanks again!

[ajax_andy]

Originally Posted by nikonNadia

Thanks for the helpful + specific critique! I can see what you guys mean about the lighting and composition, and how those areas could be improved. thanks again!

No problem

Dont forget you can always cheat and crop the image to a much tighter composition in photoshop/lightroom etc if you dont get it right first time.

The example I posted was one that I cropped as felt i'd left too much room around the boy, so dont be afraid to experiment with cropping (obviously better to get it right 1st time but none of us do that 100% of the time).

[NicolaB]

You must have super steady hands Nadia to get it that clear at such a slow shutter speed - man I am envious, you will get super sharp images when you short this little glitch Keep it at least 1/60 for hand held. You were always going to struggle here as it was so dimly lit.

The rule of thirds is an easy rule to get you started and will really help your compositions.

Another tip is to watch you backgrounds. Can you see he has a cone growing out of his head? It takes some practice but that will also help create stronger images

hth