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I was bored while waiting for a flight out of Austin, Texas. There

were a few other times that day I wish I'd had my P&S camera handy,

but this is the only good shot I managed to get. Shawn, that's you

standing on the far right. What do you think?

I'm typically a sucker for B&W shots, but I think I like the color version better here. This isn't an artistic or emotional type of shot, it's a fun shot that captures a kid being a kid. As such, I think the bright colors work better. Besides, you've blown out your highlights and lost some of your dark details in this rendition, which doesn't really help it any.

My 19-month-old son playing at the park. What do you think about the

crop? I think I'd prefer to have had the same width of yellow around

the entire portal, but this was the top of the frame that I captured.

I never got another chance to take another one that night. I might

try cloning in more along the top and then cropping a constant-width

circle around the portal, filling the corners of the square image with

black. What do you think?

Playing with the camera during the kids' bath time. This is a

116-yr-old bathroom that still has the old fixtures, which is what you

see in the left foreground. Kind of grainy due to low light and my

(then) lack of a flash. Someday I need to try to duplicate these shots

using a flash to see if I like the lighting. Mixed color and B/W

certainly isn't an effect I'll use often, as I'm not sure how I like

it. I like the composition, though. Any suggestions for improvement?

This is a slightly edited version of a previous post, from which I removed a billboard, a flag pole, and a light pole. What do you think?

See the old version

OK, I printed this one a few days ago for an exhibit, and that prompted me to do some further editing first. I removed the white square (an illuminated billboard) as well as the flag pole by the distant bolt and the light pole by the closer bolt. I think I also added a touch more magenta to the sky. In both of these versions, I had already edited out a large drain pipe from the upper right corner. Check out my "sky" gallery and tell me how you think the new version compares. I know the billboard needed to go, but I'm not sure if the poles were really necessary.

See the new version

Playing with the camera during the kids' bath time. This is a

116-yr-old bathroom that still has the old fixtures. Kind of grainy

due to low light and my (then) lack of a flash. Someday I need to try

to duplicate these shots using a flash to see if I like the lighting.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks for the compliments and input. Actually, I believe that's his Pokemon Encyclopedia that he's reading. He doesn't study that intently for homework!

 

He was reading at the dining room table one afternoon, and I wanted to play with my new antique lens. I was backed up completely against the opposing window to allow for the minimum focusing distance of that old 135mm lens (I've since bought a short extension tube). He ignored me and kept reading for a while, but eventually glanced up at me with that, "Are you really *that* bored?" look, which I captured here.

 

I see what you mean about the cut-off hand being distracting. I like the emotion of him leaning against it, but the hand itself looks odd where it exits the frame. Perhaps it would look better if it was flat on the table under his chin, or maybe if his fingers were curled in like a fist so as to be mostly visible against the side of his head. All this is academic, though, since this was a candid shot and I specifically did not want to influence him.

I like both images, but for different reasons. I think this one has more impact and is more artistic. I like the idea of cropping off the left side -- maybe even far enough to lose his ear. You definitely want to keep all of the lit parts of his face, though, and both his collar pins. If you went that far, you might want to clone in some more black space on the right edge so the photo maintains its long, horizontal line.

 

Nice sharpness; great lighting. I'm glad you maintained some detail in his black shirt.

We were enjoying a game at the local minor league baseball stadium one

evening. I just happened to be walking to the concession stand when I

saw the sun setting over the entry gate. Any suggestions for improvement?

My son reading one afternoon. Manual focus, natural light & lack of a

tripod resulted in a slightly fuzzier photo than I'd like, but I like

the composition. Any suggestions?

My son, blowing apart a giant dandelion. I'm kicking myself for

accidentally having the camera set at ISO 1600 and 1/4000s, but are

there any other suggestions for improvement?

It's a good start, but I think it would be better if we could see the top of that peak on the right. We can tell from the far corner that we're almost to the top already, but we're cut short. I get the same feeling with those trees on the left. If the sides aren't pleasing enough to zoom out farther, then perhaps it could be cropped square to show just the current image, plus 25% more at the top. Then, I'd love to see the new image in black & white, perhaps with exaggerated contrast within the mountain face.

 

Maybe I've been looking at too many Ansel Adams photos lately...

I find the reflections of their eyes (presumably from your flash?) mildly interesting, but I can't say that the photo has any any other redeeming value. Perhaps if the sky was a bit brighter with a definite "midnight blue" tint to it, it would be better.

Misty, thanks for your suggestion. I see what you mean about the harsh track. If I were using an SLR, I probably would have used a larger aperture to blur the foreground. I suppose I could simulate the effect by applying a little Gaussian blur along the bottom. I took this by standing my little, boxy P&S camera on its end on the rail, setting the timer, and then walking away with my son. As for the horizontal crop, I don't think the bushes to either side would add anything but real estate to the scene.

We were trying to get the kids to pose for a Christmas card photo last

fall. It was late, and the low light and lack of a tripod made this

fuzzier than I'd like, but we got some nice poses that look acceptable

when printed small. Posing young kids -- even your own -- without an

assistant isn't the easiest thing to do. Other than shutter speed,

are there any suggestions for improvement?

A scene from my son's YMCA micro-league football practice. Just

beyond the trees lies a Nebraska corn field. That's Micah catching

the pass on the left. What do you think about the amount of contrast?

Is there too much empty space on the right?

I was showing my son (then almost 6) around the railroad tracks behind

my grandparents' farm. I'd spent many hours playing along those

tracks and under the bridges, but this was his first visit. What do

you think about the square crop? The original has lots more sky above

and a wee bit more gravel below. Any other suggestions?

Taken during an incredibly intense session of cloud-to-cloud lightning

right after a tornado warning had expired. The contrast was stretched

to bring out cloud detail, and the white balance was lowered to 5500K

to provide the blue tint. This is one of my favorites from that

session, but many people seem to prefer the reddish-purple tinted ones

in my gallery. What do you think? Any suggestions for improvement?

My wife helped the kids make some wonderfully colorful Easter eggs

this year, so I couldn't let the day pass without capturing them. I

took them out to the yard and rearranged them until I got the patterns

& colors I wanted. What do you think?

Another shot of the neighbor kids playing with sparklers. I've found

that first-time sparkler models really have no clue what their antics

will come out looking like. Showing them the photos and explaining

what types of movements translate into good photo trails helps

immensely. This shot was darkened somewhat in post in order to

minimize the background. Next time, I'll use a smaller aperture and

try to avoid reflective surfaces in the background. Any other

suggestions for improvement?

Since I was running the fuses, I didn't get a chance to take any good

areal firework photos this year. I did get to watch the neighbor kids

play with sparklers, though. I bought a few extra boxes that I intend

to experiment with later on. I darkened this shot somewhat from how

it was taken in order to minimize the background. I think I'll use a

smaller aperture next time. I'll also do my best to avoid lights and

reflective surfaces (like cars or windows) in the background. Any

other suggestions for improvement?

Yeah, I agree. Hard to do that without staging a special photo session, though. Maybe if I'd used a smaller aperture and lower ISO, then used a flash to illuminate the kids, it would have darkened the houses a bit. This year's sparkler photos (yet to be posted on PN) have darker backgrounds, but they're still visible.

Unlike most of your other firework photos, this one looks out of focus -- the spark trails are fat and soft. I know that look well from some of my own photos when I accidentally bump the focus ring. You never notice it until you get back home to the computer. :-(

 

Also, the bottom half looks a little too busy. Maybe if they weren't all the same color/style of burst it wouldn't be so bad.

I like this one. It's certainly not your typical firework shot. Exposure and framing are spot on. It really sums up the story of the typical American experience on a July 4th evening.