Feedback sought on photos

[mugundhan_varadanarayanan]

<p>Hi everybody,<br>

Last week went to a friend's son's birthday gathering, it was a small gathering and I took my K10D with Tamron 28-75mm/F2.8 lens. Please give me feedback on my composition, techniques....<br>

My takeaways:<br>

At F2.8, the lens is slightly weak but gets very sharp by F3.5 ( I recently had my lens calibrated at Tamron service center for focus issues)<br>

K10D likes to choose ISO320 when I use program mode and configure it to high speed mode<br>

When near a mirror be careful or the reflection of the flash affects the pictures<br>

My flickr album location:<br>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/55871877@N00/sets/72157621934189247/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/55871877@N00/sets/72157621934189247/</a><br>

Some of my fav pix:<br>

<P><IMG SRC=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2510/3827553685_ca1bc8391a_b.jpg><br>

<a href="<a href="> title="Niruktha and Patti by MugundV, on Flickr"><img src="<a href=" alt="" />http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2510/3827553685_ca1bc8391a_b.jpg" width="1024" height="758" alt="Niruktha and Patti" /><br>

P><IMG SRC=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3519/3828303042_2f3d26f0c3_b.jpg><br>

<a href="<a href="> title="IMGP7266 by MugundV, on Flickr"><img src="<a href=" alt="" />http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3519/3828303042_2f3d26f0c3_b.jpg" width="1024" height="685" alt="IMGP7266" /></p>

[mugundhan_varadanarayanan]

<p>Trying again<br>

 

<p><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2510/3827553685_ca1bc8391a_b.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<br>

 

<p><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3519/3828303042_2f3d26f0c3_b.jpg" alt="" /></p>

</p>

[andrewg_ny]

<p>The first one might be nice as a vertical crop, including just the little girl. The woman is less sharp, doesn't have a great pose and the bright window-backlit hair is a bit of a distraction. Not to say that pictures like this (grandma & granddaughter together?) don't belong in family photo albums. </p>

<p>The second image could be improved by bounce flash to eliminate the harsher shadows behind the subjects. I think I'd also prefer that the boy's right hand and foot were not cut off. Another nice thing about bounce flash is that it reduces the likelihood of the severe underexposure caused by flash light reflecting directly back at the camera that you observed. </p>

<p>In my opinion a bounce flash would do more than an f/2.8 lens to improve pictures like these. You can then shoot at more moderate apertures (like f/5.6 or even f/8) so that depth-of-field and critically low shutter speed isn't so much an issue.</p>

<p>Also, I think this is one of the cuter shots in that set:</p>

<p align="center"><a href=" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2426/3827511363_e98fd8435b.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="348" /> </a></p>

<p> </p>

[mugundhan_varadanarayanan]

<p>Thanks Andrew, I was just lazy to carry my external flash (AF280T),<br>

after you mentioned now I notice the harsh shadows, should be more careful<br>

It is just an informal gathering by our friends, so I was not sure whether me bringing an external flash will "intimidate" them, but you are right: I should use external flash and learn to bounce often,</p>

[bill_moeller]

<p>I think you have two fine photos in #1, they just don't work together. This is not unusual when taking candids of two or more people in a natural setting.<br>

Try cropping the grandmother in a 4:3 ratio, and the girl in a 3:2 ratio (both vertical crops), and see what you think.</p>