my princess

[pie78]

this is my first post!!!! Here is are two pictures of my daughter. I wanted the focus to only be on her so I had her stand next to the wall...was this a bad choice? I think her personality is sweet in these pics so that is good. Do you think that these pics are good enough to use as her 6 year portrait for the wall? How can I improve these pictures? I do have PSE but I don't know how to use it very well...is there something on PSE that I could do to improve them?


Here is the link to the album (I hope it works)
http://digital-photography-school.co...p?albumid=1733

camera: Olympus SP550UZ
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/50 for the first pic 1/30 for the second pic
f/3.4 on the first pic and the second is f/2.8

[RoyL]

Who cares how the shots were taken, she is sweet and cute with lovely smile and that is about all that counts.

The backgrounds are all wrong and distracting, but if you wanted to spend the time you could edit the backgrounds. I wouldn't.

Next time, or even get her dressed for the occasion again, find a plain backdrop. Check your viewfinder all over for little annoyances that you don't normally see, like pictures on the wall, wall hooks, lights, door frames, skirting, and I think you get the idea. Most people concentrate on the subject forgetting about the surroundings, and then afterwards realise they made a mistake.

If you want a door frame in the image, then use it as a frame around your subject, but generally plain backgrounds are more appealing.

[pie78]

Yes, tell me more about backgrounds. I can't go outside because it is still winter here. I attempted to find a spot in our home with good ligt and without a lot of clutter and toys. But apperently this was not effective and I agree. But I need more help in this area. We have a fireplace but I'm not sure about using that. We have lots of windows but I'm not sure if that is a good area either. I would appreciate more suggestions. Then maybe I can try and take a few more shots to post. I really want to learn how to talke a picture with a background blur so then I can take a more natural shot but not have my background distracting. I'm not sure what my camera #s should be for that though.

[peeperita]

royl had a few excellent suggestions for you.....

as far as a tight depth of field goes, you are headed in the right direction with your aperture settings where they are.....although, i did note that your shutter speeds are a little slow for motion blur....if you were to repeat this session, i suggest that you raise your iso to 200 or more....something that would allow for a shutter speed of 1/60 or more..if you use your flash you can cheat the numbers a might......maybe start out with your iso at 100, shutter at 1/60 and aperture at 2.8 and let your flash expose your daughter.... ..i would also consider bouncing your flash off the ceiling or neighboring white or light wall to avoid the harsh shadows that i see in your second image.....
a step or two away from whatever you choose as a background......bedsheet, wall, fireplace......should help with a background blur....,.


peeper

[pie78]

So I will probably use a flash to avoid any grain. If my daughter stands a foot or so from the backdrop, how far away do I stand from her? I'm going to try ISO 100, 1/60, f2.8. I'm looking for that blurred background look that I never seem to achieve. Thanks.