Father and Son - a newbies 1st attempt

[AMunnik]

I am very new to photography and have have decided, after being a DPS observer for a long time, I've decided to stop looking and to start participating. First discovery: creativity is not a skill I possess..... YET.

A buddy of mine took it upon himself to come up with briefs (he's in the media industry) to push and challenge me. The first brief was "People who you don't know".

This photo was taken at a local dam near my house on a lazy Sunday afternoon. The little boy had a sense of excitement and the affection of the father towards his son was very evident. I only wish this photo could convey that.

[JaxD]

Overall, I really like the image. I like your blurred background with the focus on the subjects, the choice of black and white and the shared moment between father and son (great timing with it being Father's Day tomorrow here in Aus). My main criticism is the cutting off of the feet and the cut off equipment in the bottom left hand corner. Maybe if you'd included the feet, then enough of the equipment would be visible to identify it (I assume its fishing gear) but as it is, its distracting. I wish we could see some of the boys face but I understand that you can't pose 'candid' shots. One last point is that if you take a look at the Critique forum rules, when posting in this forum you really should ask a specific question about what you want critiqued rather than a general "How did I do?". Well done for taking the plunge to post images! TFS

[AMunnik]

The rule is in bright red. My apologies. So much for my power of observation.

[spcandrew]

I like the photo overall, but I concur with the issue about cutting off the feet. Also, because we can't really see the son's face, it leaves out that part of the story (son's feelings).