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Memories by Melinda

I am new to this site and thought I would add some photos I took recently. Please feel free to C&C. I am still learning and would love to hear what you all have to say.

1. I wish that I could crop this one differently but I saw him lost in thought and took it quickly...he won't stay still long.



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du8die

Welcome.

You should find that the people around here are encouraging and will help you learn.

Here's my thoughts about these. I hope they're helpful.

1) I like it. Not sure what I would do differently. He's centered left-to-right, but not vertically. I'm not sure if moving him to one side of the frame or the other would help.

2) Nice pose - but she looks not happy. You nailed the horizon (water in the background), but the pole is not vertical. That kind of bugs me, but I'm not sure it should.

3) One problem with shooting in direct sunlight is seen here. He's squinting pretty severely. Also, his shoulders are square on to the camera, and he's dead-center in the frame.

4) Nice smile. Again, square on to the camera and dead-center in the frame.

Two quick pieces of advice. Search this forum or Google for the Rule of Thirds. It will help your composition tremendously. Second, if you can avoid shooting in direct sunlight, do it. Find something that gives a nice, even shadow. That will get rid of harsh shadows on the face, and even things out a bit more for you.

Thanks for sharing! Welcome to da grin!

Memories by Melinda

du8die wrote:

2) Nice pose - but she looks not happy. You nailed the horizon (water in the background), but the pole is not vertical. That kind of bugs me, but I'm not sure it should.

3) One problem with shooting in direct sunlight is seen here. He's squinting pretty severely. Also, his shoulders are square on to the camera, and he's dead-center in the frame.


Two quick pieces of advice. Search this forum or Google for the Rule of Thirds. It will help your composition tremendously. Second, if you can avoid shooting in direct sunlight, do it. Find something that gives a nice, even shadow. That will get rid of harsh shadows on the face, and even things out a bit more for you.

Thanks for sharing! Welcome to da grin!

2. The pole bugged me as well but it was one of the moving kind so it was never straight. I cropped it different ways and it would throw off the horizon. She was upset that I told her it was time to go.

3. I'm just lucky that he was laughing and not making a face since he hates to have his picture taken.

Composition is something that I have been working on. It's a slow process but I'm learning. Believe it or not I do know the rule of thirds but I obviously don't always follow it like I should, especially where my kids are involved since they aren't very cooperative.
Thanks.

sweet caroline

You captured some nice light here. Very cute kids, by the way. I've found other people's kids to be a bit more cooperative than my own. See if you can borrow some!

Keep looking at photos and paying attention to the compositions you like. That will make it easier to do intuitively. You'll learn a lot if you hang around here- I know I have.

Caroline

Mike J

I'll extend my welcome to Dgrin as well. I've just been around for a couple of months now but have already learned a ton by looking at what others are doing and having them critique what I'm trying to do...

#1 - I really like the idea of this one - caught in that moment of thought and wonder of the waves. Yup - it would have been nice to open the framing up to get him more in the left side of the frame and to give him more expanse to look at.

#2 - I don't think I would have noticed the pole on my own. This own really pulls you into that adorable face.

Did something change in the lighting between #2 and #3,#4. In #2, I don't see any shadow from her nose and nor on her fur lining while in #3,#4 the shadows are much more prevelant. It almost looks like you used fill flash on #2 but not #3,#4?

Swartzy

Rather than getting into lighting dynamics...first observation is each shot (or subject) is square to the camera...which results in an unflattering pose and look appeal. Welcome to Dgrin and thank you for sharing. Start with a few more dynamic poses. The lighting is ok and subjects lit fine. Having a bit of a different view will accentuate a more stellar look to where the lighting can be changed dramatically in post processing (all to one's taste).

Scott_Quier

Hey Melinda - it's about time you posted stuff here for me to tromp all over!!

1. I really, really like this one. Had you had a bit more time to compose this image, I think I would have liked to have seen a bit more context on one side or the other of this image.
2. The light on this is very well done. Either that or she has a remarkability to NOT squint in direct sun. Rule of Thirds would help this one a lot.
3. Turn him from the sun just a bit and fill with some flash. Love his smile!
4. I love her expression. Not to excited about the square-on, centered composition though

In all of them, love the great cool blue color of the sky and the water and the warmer colored light on your kids. Very nice.

Memories by Melinda

Mike J wrote:

Did something change in the lighting between #2 and #3,#4. In #2, I don't see any shadow from her nose and nor on her fur lining while in #3,#4 the shadows are much more prevelant. It almost looks like you used fill flash on #2 but not #3,#4?

#2 was taken from a different angle. #'s 3 & 4 were taken about 5 minutes before #2 and about 50 yards further from the building that was behind me blocking some of the light. They were taken late afternoon so the natural light was changing quickly.