Daughter on the sidewalk

[Mumbles]

Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire

First time post... I just joined yesterday. I spend a lot of time chasing my very active daughers with the camera, so most of my pictures are in a candid portrait style.

Did I get too carried away with the really shallow DoF? Any other critiques or ideas for improvement?

[kornbread]

What an adorable girl! I think your depth of field is very appropriate for this setting. I have 2 suggestions (both are pretty minor)

1- Try not to cut the top of her head off. It's not that big of a deal on this type of a shot, but I think it would have felt a little more complete.
2-It looks just a hair dark to me. The is mostly personal preference though.

You really captured her personality. That's what these types of images are all about.

[SusanH1970]

I LOVE the shallow DOF...gorgeous bokeh! Nice focus, too.

It is just a tad underexposed, and composition-wise, try getting down on the child's level, rather than shooting down at them; also try to avoid dead-center composition. Here are a couple of great articles from the DPS blog regarding child photography. Photographing Children – Composition and 5 Tips for Photographing Children. Another good one is this: http://digital-photography-school.com/rule-of-thirds

That being said, I'm pretty darned impressed with your first post! Keep shooting, reading, and posting, I look forward to seeing more from you! Welcome to DPS.

[wanelad]

Agree with Susan's analysis, cute

[Mumbles]

Thanks all... I agree with all of the comments. I always struggle with composition, so those links help, SusanH1970.