First post, niece Birthday/Christmas pic

[shugardady]

Hello all, hoping for some insight on the overall composition of this pic. I feel like it's missing something. Also concerned that by converting to JPEG that it's no longer as sharp as the RAW image. Thanks for any and all comments!

Elisa's 1st birthday on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Shutter Speed: 1/100Sec.
Aperture: F4.0
Exposure Comp: 0
ISO Speed: 400
Focal Length: 60.0 mm

[weezerisrock]

welcome shugardady,

The shot does seem a bit soft, but unless you are converting with a really high compression the switch to jpg should not be the cause. I have heard of a few people complaining that flickr seems to soften the pics a bit. Look at your original jpg you uploaded and see if you still feel the same way.

The composition seems to be good to me. her eyes are slightly out of focus (I have better luck using manual focus than autofocus when shooting portraits) And if you could have been slightly lower I think the shot would have come out how you wanted.

Overall though, good shot. Welcome aboard!

[shugardady]

Thanks for the feedback, I agree with needing to move a little lower and I do see the eyes now. I need to spend some dedicated time training my brain to focus the eyes first, then move to composition.

I have spent some time looking at my photos side by side using Digital Photo Professional (Canon software) as I shoot both RAW + JPEG and I can visually see the "softening" of the JPEG photo... maybe I am just being a perfectionist. )

Appreciate the help!