Would really appreciate c&c, this is my first post :)

Amysta

Hi everybody,

I'm brand new and really enjoying this site and all the valuable help and critique. I'm a little nervous to post this picture for c&c, but I really want to get better. This is the son of a friend of mine during an informal shoot, but this is something that I want to pursue for real. I'm very interested in outdoor portrait photography and I love this photo. I'm curious to know your thoughts and any advice and tips would be very appreciated. Is this portfolio worthy? If it is not, what can I do to get it that way?
Thank you!! When I get a little braver, I'll post a few links to galleries.
Amy

divamum

Welcome to dgrin!

I'm not one of the forum's experts, but I'll throw a few observations out (and hopefully the others will chime in!)

- adorable subject
- beautiful catchlights in eyes
- eyes look sharp, although the image looks soft overall

The nits:
- soft - would benefit from more contrast and sharpening, I think
- I'm not convinced by the background. You used a nice wide aperture to blur it, but I'm still finding that the deck rail dominates, especially since it runs through his head
- not convinced by the tilt on this occasion. I like them in general, but for some reason this one doesn't quite work for me.

I think you're off to a GREAT start - there's a lovely mood to the image overall. HTH!!

LukeWoodford

Really nice candid shot there, id experiment with processing to give it a bit more punch but I like the shot.

jeffreaux2

I agree with everything Divamum had to say.

I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of doing a quick fix on some of the nits she has pointed out.

If this offends you I can certainly take the edited version down.



The image instantly "popped" when I set a black point and white point in photoshop. I used the method found here:

http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/2292454_mjGJs/1

After that, I did a localized curves adjustment on his eyes, and followed that up with a general warming of the color. Lastly, a single run of "high pass" sharpening. It may sound like a lot, but ina actuality took about 3 minutes.

Im unsure of the type of gear you use, but shooting in a "cloudy" white balance in shady conditions gives me great color on my Canon system.


He is a cute fella!....

Next time, be conscious of background objects intersecting heads. I too like tilted photos in general. The toughest part of a well tilted photo is to tilt enough to look purposful without over doing it. This is a bit over tilted. Practice, eh?


Oh,.....and WELCOME to Dgrin!:D

Qarik

/agreed with everything divamum and jeffreaux pointed out

rwells

jeffreaux2 wrote:

I agree with everything Divamum had to say.

I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of doing a quick fix on some of the nits she has pointed out.

If this offends you I can certainly take the edited version down.



The image instantly "popped" when I set a black point and white point in photoshop. I used the method found here:

http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/2292454_mjGJs/1

After that, I did a localized curves adjustment on his eyes, and followed that up with a general warming of the color. Lastly, a single run of "high pass" sharpening. It may sound like a lot, but ina actuality took about 3 minutes.

Im unsure of the type of gear you use, but shooting in a "cloudy" white balance in shady conditions gives me great color on my Canon system.


He is a cute fella!....

Next time, be conscious of background objects intersecting heads. I too like tilted photos in general. The toughest part of a well tilted photo is to tilt enough to look purposful without over doing it. This is a bit over tilted. Practice, eh?


Oh,.....and WELCOME to Dgrin!:D

+1

Hackbone

I'm with everyone else on the CC. A great start so keep posting. The tilted railing is a problem so close to the head. But I also like to tilt.

bloomphotog

Great expression. I love the bokeh! IMO the railing looks cool, kind of a leads you into the focal point of the image. It's all subjective really.

I'll toss my retro-pop version in for good measure.

Amysta

Wow! You are all so awesome. Thank you for responding.
I really appreciate the feedback and suggestions and am not offended at all by the changes, they are really inspiring.

I tend to agree with Bloom about the railing leading you into the focal point, but I can see how it can be taken either way. I love the retro-pop effect too…thanks!

I had to look up what bokeh meant, but now that I know, I LOVE it too.

Jeff, I will be practicing with setting a black and white point in photoshop, thanks for the link!

Everybody, thank you for all your observations, it really gets me excited to post a few more. Hopefully, you will all take a look again. Thank you!!

~Amy~

RBrogen

jeffreaux2 wrote:

I agree with everything Divamum had to say.

I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of doing a quick fix on some of the nits she has pointed out.

If this offends you I can certainly take the edited version down.



The image instantly "popped" when I set a black point and white point in photoshop. I used the method found here:

http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/2292454_mjGJs/1

After that, I did a localized curves adjustment on his eyes, and followed that up with a general warming of the color. Lastly, a single run of "high pass" sharpening. It may sound like a lot, but ina actuality took about 3 minutes.

Im unsure of the type of gear you use, but shooting in a "cloudy" white balance in shady conditions gives me great color on my Canon system.


He is a cute fella!....

Next time, be conscious of background objects intersecting heads. I too like tilted photos in general. The toughest part of a well tilted photo is to tilt enough to look purposful without over doing it. This is a bit over tilted. Practice, eh?


Oh,.....and WELCOME to Dgrin!:D