Ella Kate playing in the leaves.

[Jblackjr]

Ok so here is another picture of Ella Kate done the same day as the last photo I posted. This is a photo for my wife and I and not for someone else so I'm not worried about her eyes not showing in the photo or what have you. My main concern is exposure, white balance, focus etc, etc.



Nikon D5000
1.8/f
1/1600
ISO 200
35mm
No Flash

[amy_bb]

Hi Jblackjr,

First and foremost, she is adorable and I'd be running around w/my camera constantly snapping photos of her because it is almost impossible to take a bad shot of such a cute kid!

Secondly, I'm not a professional portrait photog (although I do have a small, part-time kids sports photo business) so others here may provide better information for this critique.

I like the composition and that you are down close to her level. I also like that you are capturing a candid, day to day moment of a toddler/preschooler just enjoying the outdoors. I also like how the colors of her outfit compliment the overall colors and feel of the picture and where she is located in the photo.

I do think she is underexposed and because of this her skin has a gray tone. I think 1/1600 and ISO 200 will just not let enough light in to highlight the subject. Kids sure do move around a lot and you did get to stop the action of the falling leaves but I think you could have still gotten that with a slower shutter speed (1/800 or so) and perhaps could have bumped up the ISO to 400 or 500 depending on what your camera settings allow. I wonder how it would have looked if the sunlight was gently hitting her face instead of or in addition to her pants.
You may also consider using some fill flash to increase the exposure on her.

Just a few quick thoughts. Looking forward to reading other responses.

[Jblackjr]

Thanks for the response. I will keep that in mind. According to my camera the exposure meter (whatever it is called) was dead center when I took this shot. But I suppose I will start shooting with it a little on the high side as alot of my pictures seem to have a underexposed look to it.

[PointNShoot]

And be sure to post lots of pictures of her

[Jblackjr]

Hahaha will do, but I can only post one every 24 hours

[Jblackjr]

Does this look better than or worse than the original?

[mc1979]

I think the second is a bit better as it seems you have warmed up the photo more, the first was a bit cool.
What editing program are you using?
Even though you are low, it looks like you could get even lower. Personally, I would crop a little of the dead space off to the right, but that's just my personal taste. I like the colors she has on with the leaves..I would even try going a tad bit warmer on the edit. Are you shooting in RAW?
Her face is underexposed, but with a good editing program, you could use the brush tool to brighten it up a little.

Sorry I can't give much more advice.. I'm a newb too, been going at this for about 9 months..but I like critiquing when I can, helps me grow more too!

Keep shooting that sweet girl!

[Doug Sundseth]

On the exposure issue, when the most important part of the photo (usually the face for people photos) is in shadow, you normally need to expose for the face, not for the scene. You camera has some proprietary method or methods of picking a "correct" exposure, but it can't tell what part of the scene is important to you. In the cases (like this one) where it picks the wrong place you'll need to add exposure compensation of some sort.

The camera exposure meter is useful, but it's certainly no guarantee of a well-exposed photo.

[Jblackjr]

Editing tools I use both lightroom and photoshop

[mc1979]

I have LR3 as well. I saw a tutorial that if I can find I will send you the link to, but I've tried and it works if I can remember off the top of my head. But I believe it's just using the adjustment tool brush and using Exposure, slide it up a little and brush on the face where she is underexposed. Make sure you have a high feather on your brush..Of course with the sliding scale, it makes it easy for you see if you are going too far with it. Just don't brush it on the part of the face that is already brightened.