Eli and Mom

joshhuntnm

I got this idea out of a book. CC welcome.

Scott_Quier

I really like the idea. I think, maybe, the OOF blurring may be taken to the extreme. A little less blurring of mom (?) would improve the shot.

joshhuntnm

Scott_Quier wrote:

I really like the idea. I think, maybe, the OOF blurring may be taken to the extreme. A little less blurring of mom (?) would improve the shot.

hmmm. I actually added some blur (and de-saturation) in. Below is without that layer.

here is what i thought needed to be improved.

1. i don't like the expressions. I went for serious, but serious didn't work for me. This book I am reading encouraged serious, but I didn't like it.

2. I'd like Eli looking up in the direction of his mom. Not back toward his mom, but up.

3. I'd like mom turned 3/4 at the same angle (or 180 degrees) as Eli.

A frustration was to try to get both of them with their eyes on the top third line. I didn't study enough geometry to work that out!

Agnieszka

Nice photo Josh!

Sam

Josh,

I think it's a good shot of the kid. I love the color, and lighting, but think the mom in the background is to distracting.

Don't quit trying new things though!!!!

This would work with a less distracting / competing background.

Sam

joshhuntnm

Sam wrote:

Josh,

I think it's a good shot of the kid. I love the color, and lighting, but think the mom in the background is to distracting.

Don't quit trying new things though!!!!

This would work with a less distracting / competing background.

Sam

Well, I obviously didn't get it right, because the mom in the background was kinda the whole point. This was actually a practice attempt at what I wanted to try for a wedding shot--in that case a picture of the bride and adoring husband, perhaps another with adoring parents. this input causes me to pause.

Elaine

What lens did you use for this?

I think it would be a nice idea for a bride/groom shot. I've seen some good ones. I think the mom portion of the photo is too large in comparison to just the head of the boy here.

There is a good example of this idea in this post by Jasmine Star. Look at the 9th photo down the page.
http://www.jasminestarblog.com/index.cfm?postID=289
Notice how the bride is still the dominant figure in the shot.

By the way...nice light in your shot!

joshhuntnm

Elaine wrote:

What lens did you use for this?

I think it would be a nice idea for a bride/groom shot. I've seen some good ones. I think the mom portion of the photo is too large in comparison to just the head of the boy here.

There is a good example of this idea in this post by Jasmine Star. Look at the 9th photo down the page.
http://www.jasminestarblog.com/index.cfm?postID=289
Notice how the bride is still the dominant figure in the shot.

By the way...nice light in your shot!

That is a great picture. That is the kind of thing i was going for.

I used the 85mm 1.8. I think it was set at 2.8 for this shot. Might be a good idea to close it down. It is easy enough to create blur; you can't create sharpness!

The light, by the way is an off camera flash pointed the same direction as the boy and bouncing back off an almost white wall. There is another flash that was supposed to create a little hair light but it was clearly not set right. Eli is a little impatient with picture taking so I didn't have a lot of time to keep experimenting.

Scott_Quier

joshhuntnm wrote:

hmmm. I actually added some blur (and de-saturation) in. Below is without that layer.

here is what i thought needed to be improved.

1. i don't like the expressions. I went for serious, but serious didn't work for me. This book I am reading encouraged serious, but I didn't like it.

2. I'd like Eli looking up in the direction of his mom. Not back toward his mom, but up.

3. I'd like mom turned 3/4 at the same angle (or 180 degrees) as Eli.

A frustration was to try to get both of them with their eyes on the top third line. I didn't study enough geometry to work that out!

This is better I think

As for "both with their eyes on the "1/3 line", I think you will find that the photo is much more dynamic when one set of eyes is on a level with the other's chin/mouth (as you've done here). This "rule" makes it easier to get your groups set up with a limited number of heads at the same level. When they are at the same level, there's less tension/dynamics in the photo. When they are not at the same level, there's an increase in the number/type of triangles in the photo. Everything I've read indicates that triangles are a goodness.

joshhuntnm

Scott_Quier wrote:

This is better I think

As for "both with their eyes on the "1/3 line", I think you will find that the photo is much more dynamic when one set of eyes is on a level with the other's chin/mouth (as you've done here). This "rule" makes it easier to get your groups set up with a limited number of heads at the same level. When they are at the same level, there's less tension/dynamics in the photo. When they are not at the same level, there's an increase in the number/type of triangles in the photo. Everything I've read indicates that triangles are a goodness.

I remember now reading about not getting everyone's eyes on the same level. What bugs me about this one is the head room above Eli's head. But, given the way things were, it had to be there to get alll of mom's head i the picture. I suppose I could have moved down a bit. I think it will be easier with two adults that are closer to the same height. I also think using a shorter lens (I have the 50mm prime on the way; just couldn't spring for the 17 - 55 f/2.8 IS YET) would work better.

Scott_Quier

joshhuntnm wrote:

I remember now reading about not getting everyone's eyes on the same level. What bugs me about this one is the head room above Eli's head. But, given the way things were, it had to be there to get alll of mom's head i the picture. I suppose I could have moved down a bit. I think it will be easier with two adults that are closer to the same height. I also think using a shorter lens (I have the 50mm prime on the way; just couldn't spring for the 17 - 55 f/2.8 IS YET) would work better.

Josh - I think you may be over-thinking this whole thing. Re-read that section on the "Rule of Thirds". Somewhere in there, there should be a mention of the 4 power points - where the 1/3 lines intersect. Eli's face/eyes are quite close to one of those power points and this is just one of the factors that makes this a rather successful photograph. Another factor is the fact that mom's face, though blurred, is also at one of these power points.

As for the 50mm - if it's the 1.4, I think you are really going to like it - congrats!

joshhuntnm

Scott_Quier wrote:

Josh - I think you may be over-thinking this whole thing. Re-read that section on the "Rule of Thirds". Somewhere in there, there should be a mention of the 4 power points - where the 1/3 lines intersect. Eli's face/eyes are quite close to one of those power points and this is just one of the factors that makes this a rather successful photograph. Another factor is the fact that mom's face, though blurred, is also at one of these power points.

As for the 50mm - if it's the 1.4, I think you are really going to like it - congrats!

it is the 1.4. I have a wedding in two weeks. I didn't want to do it with any glass I have and just can't do the 17 - 55 right now.