Your Help Please with "B"

whiterice

Mitchell had an excellent idea for his daughter - a portrait representing each letter of the alphabet - see his "U" week here.

His idea presents me with a very good learning opportunity, as I'm very new to photog. And, my 3 year old will really love having his own alphabet.:lust

I'm playing around with an idea for "B".



50mm, f/5.6, ISO 100, shutter speed 1/13.

This is what I am not happy with:

1) I would like the book titles to be more in focus. I could decrease the aperature and/or move the book spines closer to the plane of my son's eyes, correct? Shutter speed was slow, I used a tripod - eyes are in focus so I know shake wasn't an issue.

2) How do I reduce the glare on the book titles? This was early AM natural light - didn't seem too bright at all to me when I was taking pictures.

I would also adjust the placement of the books too in a redo. Any other c/c and suggestions would be really appreciated - please, I'm here to learn (actually mooch off your expertise!) - thanks everyone.

Darren Troy C

Your study in "B" looks more like a red "X". You're image isn't showing up.

whiterice

Idlewild wrote:

Your study in "B" looks more like a red "X". You're image isn't showing up.

Smugmug is acting up tonight - I haven't had trouble posting pics before...and I know external links are activated. Hmmm...

WingsOfLovePhoto

Cute kid and great idea!.... definately not an expert on settings but I would suggest uping the ISO, F8 and maybe 125th of a second? Just a guess not knowing your actual light. Keep an eye on your histogram.... expose a little to the right works well with kids on a lighter background. It appears the light was falling more on the books then the boy... practice makes perfect!

TonyCooper

whiterice wrote:

Mitchell had an excellent idea for his daughter - a portrait representing each letter of the alphabet - see his "U" week here.

His idea presents me with a very good learning opportunity, as I'm very new to photog. And, my 3 year old will really love having his own alphabet.

I'm playing around with an idea for "B".



50mm, f/5.6, ISO 100, shutter speed 1/13.

This is what I am not happy with:

1) I would like the book titles to be more in focus. I could decrease the aperature and/or move the book spines closer to the plane of my son's eyes, correct? Shutter speed was slow, I used a tripod - eyes are in focus so I know shake wasn't an issue.

It's your picture, but my question would be "Why?". The focus should be on the boy, not the books. The titles are readable enough.

2) How do I reduce the glare on the book titles? This was early AM natural light - didn't seem too bright at all to me when I was taking pictures.

I think you are being a bit too critical. The books look realistic. The glare doesn't distract.

If anything, the books are a bit overpowering as part of the image. I'd be tempted to use a mask and put a little Gaussian blur on the books to allow the boy's face to be more dominant. All that color at the bottom, and little color at the top, makes the image bottom-heavy.

You didn't mention if you have an editing program like Photoshop, though, so maybe you can't.

I would also adjust the placement of the books too in a redo. Any other c/c and suggestions would be really appreciated - please, I'm here to learn (actually mooch off your expertise!) - thanks everyone.

I'd crop a bit higher. There's a crooked beige space below the bottom book (tabletop?) that looks wrong. Crop through the middle of the orange book. You have enough titles to make your theme.

Themes and props can make a photo more interesting, but it looks like a poster to encourage reading instead of a photograph of your son. Cute kid. Let him shine.

Richard

TonyCooper wrote:

Themes and props can make a photo more interesting, but it looks like a poster to encourage reading instead of a photograph of your son. Cute kid. Let him shine.

Yes, the problem here is that the books are much brighter than the boy. Remember that the eye is first drawn to the brightest part of the frame. If you make the titles sharper, that will only compound the problem. If you can't arrange the lighting so that the face is receiving more light, then you might consider modifying the brightness of the books in post. Choosing books that have a darker spine color would also be helpful.

Mitchell

I think the photo is adorable.

I have a warped view of this project. For me, it's an excuse to take some photos of my daughter who happens to also be holding an item of a certain letter of the alphabet. The item takes the back seat, usually.

Here is a "J" photo of Jasmine. We all know that is Jasmine on the book cover, but I chose to keep her a little OOF in an effort to highlight my daughter's eyes.



For clay, I kept the clay in focus. I didn't think anyone would realize what was in her hand if it was oof.



Just have fun with it. I would have him hold up a book that has a matte finish on the cover at a slight angle to avoid any glare. Tell him to point at the cover. Maybe he could point to the "B" in Charlie Brown.

With 26 letters, they won't all be great shots, but you two will have fun making the book.

whiterice

Thanks so much everyone....this was just the feedback I was looking for.

I agree Tony and Mitchell...keep the focus on what's important. Like I said, this is going to be a really good learning opp for me.

whiterice

Oh, and Mitchell, if I can end up with results 10% as good as yours I will very happy.

Mitchell

whiterice wrote:

Oh, and Mitchell, if I can end up with results 10% as good as yours I will very happy.

Thanks.

You will get there. Your son is absolutely adorable!! Keep on shooting!

Mitchell

whiterice wrote:

Oh, and Mitchell, if I can end up with results 10% as good as yours I will very happy.

Thanks.

You will get there. Your son is absolutely adorable!! Keep on shooting!