Scot by monster tire

[3bayjunkie]

OK here is a shot. I have been back from Iraq for about a month now. I know I was a bit of a jerk when I left the forum but I'm back so here is one for critique. I don't know what I think about the photo. I am having trouble making my photos pop, but I have a few to share.

Nikon D7000
Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-f/5.6 @ 50mm f/4.8
ISO 200
SS 1/20

[graciousness]

Welcome back

One thing why the photo is not popping - too many elements in the photo. What is your subject matter - the kid or the tire?

To me, that rubber on the tire is sharper than the child. You have missed the focus on his face. Hopefully, you can still sharpen this in PPas at the moment, it's too blurry.

You need to simplify your images. I know how easy it is to get distracted with all the things around a scene but at the end of the day, the images that work the best are the ones with very simple concepts. I can see why you would have taken this shot - that tire is bigger than him!! However, that tire now is more of the centre of attention and Scott is just secondary support.

Nail your focus where it should be, simplify your concepts, then that's a good beginning of having a more 'popping' photo. Only on post production can you enhance that 'pop' quality once you have the basis of it in the image.

Cheers,

Grace

[3bayjunkie]

Well the truck was my subject. my son wanted to go outside so i decided to take some photos of him too. i had it on auto focus so i guess i have to get better and changing my focal point but it is hard when your subject only smiles for a second and never stays still haha.

[Doug Sundseth]

It looks like you're shooting in shadow (and possibly under an overcast sky). With the snow acting as a giant reflector, you're essentially shooting inside the biggest softbox possible. The result is very flat light.

If you were to add a bit of directional key light, you could give the subject's face more definition. In sunlight, you might be able to do this effectively with just a reflector. Alternatively, you could use off-camera flash.

I'm not as worried about the complexity of the image as Grace, though you might be able to get a tighter image with simpler composition by cropping to just a part of the tire and zooming in much more tightly on the subject. Your viewer is likely to infer the size of the tire even from seeing a small part.

[3bayjunkie]

Originally Posted by Doug Sundseth

It looks like you're shooting in shadow (and possibly under an overcast sky). With the snow acting as a giant reflector, you're essentially shooting inside the biggest softbox possible. The result is very flat light.

If you were to add a bit of directional key light, you could give the subject's face more definition. In sunlight, you might be able to do this effectively with just a reflector. Alternatively, you could use off-camera flash.

I'm not as worried about the complexity of the image as Grace, though you might be able to get a tighter image with simpler composition by cropping to just a part of the tire and zooming in much more tightly on the subject. Your viewer is likely to infer the size of the tire even from seeing a small part.

Thanks for your advice. It is certainly good advice. I only shoot natural light unless im in a very dark place. I use a flash or video light for that type of thing. but as far as being flat light. It is Alaska in the middle of winter so that is expected. Thanks again for the input!

cheers,
CJ

[3bayjunkie]

ok i tried to crop it in like you suggested.

[3bayjunkie]

can't seem to edit any of my posts so anyway here is the original photo. and a link to a further away taken shot.

http://cmiles.powweb.com/photos/dps/..._scot_tire.jpg


here's the truck :: 4x4 truck

[metoo]

I think your son in front of the tire might have been cute. Then you could have gotten closer to your son, so we could see more of him, while still getting the perspective of him being so small next to the big tire.

[3bayjunkie]

Originally Posted by metoo

I think your son in front of the tire might have been cute. Then you could have gotten closer to your son, so we could see more of him, while still getting the perspective of him being so small next to the big tire.

That is a great idea!