My younger daughter

[ravidatta]

I am little new to phtography and learning on the basics. Kindly let me know how I clicked this shot and how could I have improved on it.

Canon EOS Rebel XS with 18-55mm IS lens
Potrait Mode
ISO 400
No post production work done.

Thanks!
Ravi

[gturner]

Hey Ravi
she is a cutey and your composition is ok although the background is a little busy.
One thing you will need to learn is about how best to use a flash. What you done is taken a nice shot, but the on camera flash has blasted all the softness of the baby face away, leaving a pretty harsh image.

Have a look around on how to soften the on camera flash, or better still, learn how to use natural light where possible. Sometimes this means not taking the shot.

In this case it looks as though you have grabbed your camera and just taken a shot of her with your glasses. Cute and nice for the album, but not a great image in the photography sense.

[ravidatta]

Thank you very much for your lovely feedback... I never thought about the things you revealed in your response. I will surely study more on using the on camera flash.

[Brittainy]

i wouldn't go so far as to say don't take the shot if your not sure about the lighting. especially if you are a novice, (as am i), you could really miss some good shots. you could try diffusing your flash with a piece of tissue. i was trying this last night with a rubber band holding it on. hehe. better underexposed than blown out with a flash. you can fix exposure in post processing easily. experiment with not using the flash at all so you get more comfortable with it.
as for the background, it can really make or break a photo too. its hard to manage with candids of kids. i have a ton of super cute pics that are ruined with a laundry pile or a heap of blocks in the background. play around with aperature to blur it when you can.

i think the pic is super cute! are those her glasses or yours? she looks like a natural. too cute!

[ravidatta]

Oh... thank you so much! well, its my glasses and she is just 18 months old. I like the trick of using a tissue paper, never thought of something like this. , and ofcourse playing around with aperature is a good idea too. I am not too comfortable with post production work. Presently I am only concentrating on taking good shots and learning the techniques used in photography such as composition, use of ISO, aperture and shutter speed.

[gturner]

I am not saying don't take a shot for the family album, but if you are setting up a specific portrait shot, then you have other things to consider.

Shooting indoors with that lens is very limiting. If you have some spare money and you want to have serious fun with aperture and kids portraits, by a Canon 50mm F1.8II. they are the cheapest prime lens available and you will not regret it, I PROMISE

PS - what is going on in the cricket. These flat IPL pitches are making life to easy for test cricket batsmens.

[ravidatta]

Originally Posted by gturner

I am not saying don't take a shot for the family album, but if you are setting up a specific portrait shot, then you have other things to consider.

Shooting indoors with that lens is very limiting. If you have some spare money and you want to have serious fun with aperture and kids portraits, by a Canon 50mm F1.8II. they are the cheapest prime lens available and you will not regret it, I PROMISE

PS - what is going on in the cricket. These flat IPL pitches are making life to easy for test cricket batsmens.

Sorry for the late reply as I was stuck somewhere and thank you very much for the suggestions. I have checked out the lens and I think I can afford it. I am going to grab that soon. :-). Abt the cricket, I am not freaky about it. Its getting on my nerves now with a new league coming every month ;-).