practicing aperture and iso settings

[sheila3]

Hi all,
Been reading up on iso and aperture in the forums for beginners. Took this shot of my daughter at a pond outside her dentist office. Was going for shallow depth of field and obviously good exposure. Do not have a tripod and in fact had my 9 mo. old in a sling at the time so focus may not be great. Anyways is there anything that can be pointed out that I can learn from. Used aperture setting and f stop was at 3.5 and iso was 100. I use a cannon powershot s2 is. Thanx for any feedback.

[mermaidshells]

First of all, she looks totally calm for going to/been to the dentist office. Good on her!

To be honest I think this would look really awesome in black and white. My reasoning for this is that the colors she's wearing are pretty jarring to the eyes. Maybe I just have sensative eyes, but the image itself is very bright! I do love the pose and composition though!

[fbroschart]

I think it's a cute shot, although it may be a bit over exposed. I'm not an expert but it looks like the focus fell at the back of her head because the straw right behind her head looks in focus, but the straw in the background to the left is blurred. I can't imagine trying to keep a child engaged and also manage a baby in a sling, so considering that you did a pretty good job. Keep shooting and hopefully you'll get a better critique from some of the more senior members.