Need your critique!!

[khiem_nguyen1]

Hi , all Please beat me with all of your constructive inputs , I

just want to leave my kids with a frozen time memory of their happy

childhood time , thanks all your wonderful people!!

Leica R6 , elmarit 90mm , fuji reala 100 , f8 at 1/100s nature

light.<div></div>

[capocheny]

Khiem,

 

Nice looking child but you may wish to focus on her eyes in your next shot. :>)

 

Cheers

[jorge]

Khiem, also next time, you might want to use a higher speed. 1/100 (is that right? non 1/125?) is a bit slow for a 90mm lens on a SLR, unless you used a tripod. I would go for f/4 and 1/500. I don't know if the apparent softness has anything to do with a slight movement blur.

[andrew1]

Khiem- keep freezing moments- this one is one of the better "look at my cute kid" photos posted here in a while- at least that I've seen. Do you have another frame of this? One with any more space around her? I agree with Jorge that slighter higher shutter speed might have been nice; but not if you have to lose depth of field it wouldn't be worth it- the motion we see isn't distracting to my eye- an besides, kids are... dynamic. Are you shooting with a 90? cropping your images how from full frame? Anyway, nice one, thanks for posting.

[larrybc]

This response has more to do with your choice of pose/location than the technique or composition: if you want to leave your kids with a memory of their happy childhood, wouldn't it be better to take photos of them doing stuff they do on a regular basis, like playing in the yard, going for ice cream, etc? I think these kinds of posed photos are more for the parents than the kids.

 

It's a nice photo but I don't think it will do what you want it to do.

 

 

Larry

[marc_lieberman1]

Kheim-

 

First, what you did well: The composition is pleasing, the way your daughter's body and gaze cut a diagonal through the picture. Next, you got the feet this time. Most parents (me included) often have a great shot with the feet cut off, and we wish we had had the presence to mind to better frame the shot.

 

Second, the colors are vapid. I don't know whether this is a film issue, an exposure thing, or a scanning problem, but I'm sure that the colors here could be improved--even a little PhotoShop would help.

 

Third, as Larry said, kid shots are best when the kids are engaged- in a conversation, a game, a story, anything that will remind you of the things that show how alive they are or how connected they are with their environment and those that love them.

 

Fourth, if you're going to shot a portrait, the you need to pay special attention to the background. The background here does not complement your child. Since your daugher's gentle pose is what obviously captivated you, you would have done better to increase the shutter speed (as Jorge suggests) and increased your apeture in order to blur the back-ground so that it would be less distracting.

 

Finally, most big book stores and good camera stores have books on photographing children. There is a nice series (the title and author escape me) about photographing your own children, family, and your life. It is geared not to the advanced photographer, but to parents like us who simply wants to take better pictures of their family to record there memories. Much of what the better photographers in this forum do instinctively is spelled out simply in these books for those of us on in the middle of our learning curve.<div></div>

[marc_lieberman1]

One more thing: In the more saturated and contrasty version of your photo, I also used a little Nik Sharp to bring your daughter's eyes into better focus.

[maik]

hi khiem,

 

you might want to take these photos again in the early morning or the late evening hours when the sun is just setting. i found that taking portraits with natural light works best in the morning or the evening as the light is softer and you get better skin tones also you get better contrast.

 

apart from that, good pictures.

bye, maik

[sabrina_h.]

Hi khiem, nice photograph

 

To be nit-picky;

 

The color of her face and the background are very similar which could be distracting to

some. It seems like you used a warming filter.

 

Also, I think the rule of thumb is to have empty space in the direction the person is

looking; she's looking out of the frame. Me personally, sometimes i like my subject to

look out of the frame.

 

I really do like the bold red color and her pose. She's a very cute girl and i think she will

adore this photograph years from now.

[over exposure]

Well, it's a posed shot..maybe a snapshot while playing would have helped more in your intention...maybe even a little faster shutter times would have helped in perfection...or is the scanning-compression that kills it??

 

ciao!

[matt_m__toronto_]

khiem,

totaly agree with what users have been saying about capturing your kids being kids. (doing what they do...goofing off/laughing/crying) these will what they will want to see when they are older. it's what i enjoy looking at of when i was younger. the posed stuff... yuck! :)

anywasy, try an assignment. the next roll or two that you shoot of each of your kids, "no posing or directions allowed!" try it and you may be surprised.

 

here is not a spectacular photo by any means, but it's undirected and feels natural.

 

cheers,<div></div>