Giggle Giggle!

[newPerspective]

Thats a candid shot of my neice. I like the picture and I know something is off, not sure what. Not able to put my finger on it.

Could you tell me what is it that could have made this picture that much better.


(click for EXIF)


Camera: Panasonic DMC-FZ28
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 48.6 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0/100 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire
Exposure Program: Portrait mode


Composition wise I wish I had the camera a tad bit to the left so I didnt cut off her hair. Is the picture too soft? Is the Sepia tone working here. Should I have tried a B&W instead. She was gigling and I had to capture it, no time to change the settings.

[lputman]

For me...the sepia doesn't work. I think since most of her face is in shadow, the sepia makes it appear even darker. If you could work in post to brighten up her face a little (mostly the eye area), that might work better.

[dlaf]

I think the breaking wave in the background is distracting because it is so bright. I gave the shot a different crop and (did a very poor job of) lightened the dark shadows in her face and increased the contrast. You could do the edits more effectively on the larger version. It's a cute capture!

From DPS Posts

[newPerspective]

lputman & dlaf thank you very much for the suggestions guys.

I see what you mean by the Sepia making it an even darker image. And I do like a the tighter composition better. Perhaps if I used a fill-in flash it could have been better.

I would love to know if there is anything else I could have done with the camera for a better shot.

Thanks for looking

[lputman]

From your angle, I don't know that flash fill would hit the front of her face as much as it would have brightened even more the side of her face that is bright. As an unplanned capture, you did well. For a planned photo, you'd be able to use some type of reflector to get some light to fill in the shadows on her face or a diffusion panel on the side where the sun was coming in to diffuse that light.

[newPerspective]

Originally Posted by lputman

From your angle, I don't know that flash fill would hit the front of her face as much as it would have brightened even more the side of her face that is bright. As an unplanned capture, you did well. For a planned photo, you'd be able to use some type of reflector to get some light to fill in the shadows on her face or a diffusion panel on the side where the sun was coming in to diffuse that light.

Lori, thank you. That is very good information to know.
'You learn something new everyday'.

[Nathan deGargoyle]

If your photo ain't right
Try Black and White!