I need your critique inputs!!

[khiem_nguyen1]

Hello all , I need your constructive input , thanks all<div></div>

[richie chishty]

It's a snapshot of your son. What kind of critique do you want?

[grant_.]

it sux, hows that?

[steve g]

Try bounce flash, and a less tight crop.

[abufletcher]

Khiem, your problem really isn't technique. You just need to learn what a

quality photograph looks like. Do you look at a lot of good photographs? And

I'm not talking about photography magazines or books on photographic

compostion or technique. Just books of GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY. Until your

mind begins to know what a good photo looks like you'll never be able to

make one yourself.

 

My suggestion? For Xmas get youself some quality photography books!

Almost anything from Phaidon Publishing would do. In particular look at the

work of photographers like Steve McCurry or Annie Lebovitz, Mary Ellen

Mark, Richard Avedon, etc who specialized in photographing people both

formally and informally. I personally like McCurry's wonderful little book

entitled "Portraits."

 

But really any quality photographs will do! Just keep looking at them and then

at your own photos. When you are able to see the difference then you will be

ready to start making some stunning photos of your own.

 

And maybe you need to put away your Leica for a while and buy a cheap, low

end, point-and-shoot digital and make about a thousand photos! Then throw

away all but the best 5!

[r s]

Khiem,

 

his sweater and background seems to blend together. Maybe use some more offsetting colour/tone on background vs clothes.

 

the crop is sort of between a tight headshot and half-body with the crop going through his arm. I'd say either closer or further away.

 

his face is white/blown out and i'm suspecting you aimed the flash directly at him. try to bounce it up into the ceiling if it is a flash that can bend like that. if not you may want to try to soften it a bit (wrap some tissues around it, etc)

 

his expression is a bit 'dead'. try to make him pose expressing different emotions 'happy, sad, angry, etc', if nothing else the results could be fun for him to see.

 

try some of it out and post here again.

 

good luck

[abufletcher]

BTW, is this guy a glutton for punishment or what!

[mike_elek]

Direct flash can be very harsh, and direct flash close-up even harsher.

 

Try a photo with available light. Or a combination of available light and fill flash. Try different backgrounds, different shooting angles. This might work as a profile or as a silhouette. But as it stands, the flash is overwhelming in this photo and doesn't let it rise above snapshot.

[richie chishty]

Check out the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/071483839X/qid=1101717484/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-0523532-3289544?v=glance&s=books">PORTRAITS by Steve McCurry</a> recommended by one of your earlier responders. You can see many examples of good portrait photography. Your local bookstore or library should have many good books introducing you to the art and craft of photography. You need to read some of them and look at all the photographs. You can learn a lot that way! Most of the members of this forum are very experienced amateur or professional photographers. A beginning photographer would find it difficult to handle the often harsh criticism leveled at bad photos and bad photographers. Good luck with your education in photography!

[abufletcher]

And what the heck's up with the long thin format? Where's the other half of

this photo?

[abufletcher]

Experimentation is also a very good thing. Even when -- no -- Especially

when the experiments fail.<div></div>

[abufletcher]

My God, that's HUGE! What happened?

[nee_sung]

In order for us to be constructive...

 

You have to tell us details of the camera, lens, aperture, shutter speed, film (any push/pull as well as development details), the environ of the shoot (e.g. ambient lighting, indoors/oudoors, etc), flash details and what you want to say with your photograph.

 

You also have to tell us how you scanned it and any digital processing that you have done: the scanner model, scan settings, digital processing software used, e.g. Photoshop, what processing was done (the exact sequence of processing is important) as well as the downsize process (I am assuming you downsized it for the internet).

 

But most important of all is what you want to say. If you just want to record a moment of your son's life then no critique is needed. If that is the purpose then I'd say it's perfect. Just make sure you jot down the exact day, time and place. It'll be priceless in 20 year's time when you show it to his wife (or your grandchildren!)

[andy m.]

"I need your constructive input"

 

Well the lighting is quite "directional" but not in really nice way, it seems to be directed to the rear of the head with resultant quite harsh shadows on the face. I guess this is from a single flash, maybe on a bracket.

 

The pose is not very natural. I'm sure you have nicer images, maybe taken with nice natural light.

 

As mentioned above, it its a nice shot for the album, but not one that I would post here for all the critics to have a go at.

[abufletcher]

I was being VERY constructive. Khiem has posted a number of consistently

hum-drum (at best) poorly focused, badly exposed and composed snapshots

of his children on the Leica forum. As far as I can tell, despite massive

amounts of kind and well-intentioned advice his photos have not changed at

all.

 

 

Khiem, as long as you continue to think that the problem(s) with your photos

are technical, you will not be able to progress as a photographer. It makes

absolutely NO difference what film, f-stop, shutter speed, lens, or camera you

used for this shot. (Actually some types of cameras, which shall go unnamed

here may actually be a hindrance in photographing children.) None of that is

the problem.

 

The problem is, I repeat, a lack of awareness of what a decent family

snapshot looks like. There's nothing wrong with just wanting to document

one's child as they grow, but you are doing your children a huge disservice

with photos like these. Will THESE be the only photos you're children will

inherit from you -- the ones they will have to be taking in to show at school?

Honestly, maybe you'd be better off with a little auto-everything digicam -- or

maybe even a camcorder.

 

If you're REAL goal is to document your children, just think of how many really

good, truly memorable photographs you are missing while you are trying to

learn to use your Leica.

 

Oops. I guess that slipped out.

[abufletcher]

Maybe a book like this might help:

 

<a href=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0817436553/qid=

1101726528/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/104-4696050-2823924?v=glance&s=books>

Capture Your Kids in Pictures: Simple Techniques for Taking Great Family

Photos with Any Camera</a>

[._._z]

You need a white wall for a mugshot.

[kevin m.]

Damn...!

 

Grant's right this time...

[matt_m__toronto_]

khiem,

while this shot may not be technicaly executed (warped head), it is a fun shot from a different angle. a cheap 50cent print and scan gave my young cousin many smiles. i took this photo amidst our playing in the pool and on his jungle gym. i wasn't really thinking 'ok, i need to make a great photo here....gotta get him perfect' i just snapped away as we played.

the photos you have been posting have felt very stiff and posed. this one is very confined. where's his enviroment? is this black box that he's in his room? why will he cherish this photo when he's older. the photo's that i enjoy looking back on when i was a kid are the ones of me playing or goofing off or making a silly face...not the plainly lit portraits against a plain background.

 

please take this advice and try this exercise: take the widest lens you have (between 24mm-35mm) and get some 400 iso film.(forget the flash) set a decent f stop and just have some fun with your kid(s). snap them doing whatever it is that they do. don't stop them and have them pose for a photo. that's boring (for them and for us) :) key here is to have fun. don't think too much. let your son take a picture of you!<div></div>

[panos_voudouris]

For a start, crop the bottom off, somewhere halfway between the neck and the yellow stripe. But in general, it is just a snapshot. Try showing a bit of the eyes next time.

[jim_mcbride]

grant = nihilism, kevin, too.

[frank uhlig]

Why did you jam his head up into and beyond the upper edge of the frame?

And leave that much of the dull sweater in below?

 

Stylistic point? A poor shot, IMO.

[kevin m.]

Not nihilistic, Jim. I normally tend to think (and usually see) that the photog's heart was in the right place even if his camera wasn't. Meaning the pic gives the critical viewer some small, positive point to work from to suggest improvement. But this...? Judging by the pained expression on the boy's face, I'd say, whatever you're doing: Stop!

[jsbc]

Well, the title's wrong. I cannot see your son's shadow at all, just some dark background areas.

 

Well, your lucky shot was better

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=009c0H

 

Johnson

[matt_m__toronto_]

khiem. if you're reading this, please do respond. it would help us to know what it is that you're going for and your thoughts. don't just post for critique and leave the discussion. become a part of it.