I have a feeling that noise could have been reduced a little bit more. I would have chosen a lower aperture to focus on kids face to give a story for the shot. at the moment it feels a little bit flat.

Elisa Marks I love the orange against the green. The two colors really compliment each other and help the little boy pop from the corn.
I’m not sure the lens being used but I maybe would have tried to open the aperture a little more to let some light in and raise the shutter speed. I also love that you put the boy off to the left of the frame with his eyes looking to the right of the frame instead of placing him right in the center.

Hello!! I am a photographer learning as well and I hope that i can participate in this process too! I love that you put some leaves in the foreground and the background like they are framing the boy. I wish he was more crisp and lighter, but I love the look of joy you captured on his face. I struggle with this as well… trying to get my child crisp and a good smile while capturing something in the moment. Do you shoot in RAW? I do and I have found you can fix a lot in post processing this way. I hope something was helpful here!!

Hi, Elisa! You brave thing, you! Proud of you for asking for tips to improve. First, I love that your subject is gazing back over the shoulder. It’s natural, it’s pleasing, and it’s outside the box of ‘straight forward’ photography. I would practice placing your focus brackets on the eyes of your subject to make sure they are as crisp as possible, rather than the surrounding leaves. I like how the movement of the leaves point to your subject’s face, and draw us in. Best to you!

A very happy boy. Maybe a little fill light with an off camera flash or a reflector up an to camera left would have made that just a little happier.

I love the use of colour contrasts they work beautifully together, I would have used a lower aperture and higher ss to deepen DOF and focus on the eyes to bring out that smile, love how he’s surrounded by the greenery !

Very nice concept, I really like the contrast between the vest and the green leaves – it works very well. Next time try focusing on the face more and use faster shutter speed so that the image is not blurry. The composition is nice, the good old rule of thirds works great here.

I really like the composition, and his happy expression.
I would have used a faster shutter speed, higher ISO, and/or smaller (wider) aperture to make the photo bright and keep his eye sockets from appearing so dark. I would have then warmed the image slightly overall, and bumped the vibrancy.
I love the bright colors in the photo!

I like the setting and that the subject is surrounded in the green, as opposed to standing in front of it. I might have gotten down a little farther on the child’s level to really “connect”. I would have taken the aperture down to f/4 and the ISO down to 400. I tend to think anything more than that ISO outside is unnecessary. I like to set my ISO first according to my lighting to base it on that, then play with my aperture and shutter speed from there. And then once you have those set, I’d get my focus set on the subject, since here it seems that you’re getting more of the plants in the foreground. I do like that you caught the child “in play” and caught more of the real life aspect in this photo.

It looks a tad dark to me, so I would increase iso. Also looks out of focus so would use a faster shutter speed. (Or double check how/where you focused at). As for posing, his face looks daek and dull, by turning him to face the light, it will brighten his face and create catch lights in his eyes, giving life to his face.

Handome little guy:). Always be sure that your focus falls on your subjects eyes, the focus has fallen on some leaves behind him. Also, try shooting at a lower dof to get more of the images focus on the subject and blur the distraction of the background away. Shooting at another time of day, like while the sun is setting, would add more interest and flattering light. In post processing, you could brighten his face to draw more attention to him. Love the idea of shooting in a field of green:)

Love the sweet smile you captured, so natural. A different color vest would’ve been a choice for me. There’s almost too much foliage…love the green though.

Love his expression! To me it looks like focus point is off. I always try to put focus point on eye closest to me. Otherwise great photo!

Hi, pretty new to photography myself so don’t know how much critique I can do! I love the color contrast (I am a color fan!). Maybe could of been a little lighter with more out of focus background, lower aperture? Love the smile and position. Beautiful boy!

Elisa,

I like the pose the little boy is in. It’s natural and peaceful looking.
I would have perhaps decreased both my aperature and ISO and also perhaps adjusted my focal point as the sharpness of the photo tends to be the leaves and not the little boy’s face/eyes.
I like the jacket against the greenery. It really pops in color.

I love the composition of this photo. Practice your focus on the child’s eyes. Open up so you get more light as his face is dark. God job

Hi Elisa! I love the colors in this image!!! I love how his vest pops against the greenery!! Have you ever used a fill flash or reflector? Next time try using one of those options to brighten up his eyes a bit. His eyes wouldn’t appear to be so flat if there was catchlights in them. I love that you were able to capture a genuine childhood smile! This can be so difficult with children sometimes, you nailed it!!! Awesome job!!

I love the color of the orange vest and the green leaves together. I would have zoomed in more on his face just a tad, so I could emphasize the subject more by having him in focus and leaves more blurred. Great background! I think a clean and simple background is important, and those green leaves achieve that background.

How do you submit your photo for critique? I clicked on the link, but it says its closed?

Good composition and even lighting. A little later in the day would have given you warmer, more emotional lighting. And 1.4-2.0 aperture with focus on his right eye would have created less visual competition between him and the agriculture. Love, love his sweet expression!

Elisa! I love the color contrast and the framing with the leaves all around the boy! In addition to the focus points others have made, I would have chosen a much wider aperture to separate him more from his surroundings and much faster shutter speed. Kids move quickly, a fast shutter speed is key! I do love that you didn’t really pose him, you just captured him in his own element and he looks so happy :)

When I first saw this picture my first reaction was emotional. I could feel happiness, youthful energy and even excitement! This is (in my opinion) the most important part of photography and you captured it brilliantly!
My only real critique would be to use a faster shutter speed to ensure his face is crisp (I would suggest 1/250 or faster). If you need to increase your ISO to do this you should be fine. 640 is still low enough to leave you lots of room to increase it.

Really with the emotion nailed its just technical and personal style. I personally loved the composition you chose. Foreground plants make it interesting. Space to his right gives him room to look into.

I would like to see how the shot looks with a little more plants in the foreground to see how that changes the mood. But that is just the editor in me lol. I really love what you did with this shot.

Excellent work!!!
Amanda
– maybe a bit more in foreground

When I first saw this picture my first reaction was emotional. I could feel happiness, youthful energy and even excitement! This is (in my opinion) the most important part of photography and you captured it brilliantly!
My only real critique would be to use a faster shutter speed to ensure his face is crisp,, particularly his eyes (I would suggest 1/250 or faster). If you need to increase your ISO to do this you should be fine. 640 is still low enough to leave you lots of room to increase it.

Really with the emotion nailed its just technical and personal style. I personally loved the composition you chose. Foreground plants make it interesting. Space to his right gives him room to look into.

I would like to see how the shot looks with a little more plants in the foreground to see how that changes the mood. But that is just the editor in me lol. I really love what you did with this shot.

Excellent work!!!
Amanda
– maybe a bit more in foreground

I would’ve jumped the f-stop higher to blur the background and I would’ve gotten down more on the child’s level. Cute picture, adorable child :)

I like the color of the leaves and the orange jacket. I like my photos a little brighter so I would lighten it up a bit. I would also like to see it cropped in closer so you are focused more on his face. Bring it closer to the left side of the image and get rid of some of the negative space. I would also boost the contrast to make the image pop a little more. I would also lower the f-stop to about 2.0 so that the image is focused on the subject and not so much the background. I love that you captured this happy little moment and his genuine little smile.Getting good emotion is always a good key to a photo. GOOD JOB!

Hi there. First off, I love the emotion of the picture. It speaks volumes – happiness, discovery, etc. That’s such a huge part of photography – a good story-telling picture. My suggestion would be what previous others have mentioned: bring the focus to the boy’s face and brighten it up a bit. Maybe even blur the leaves a touch so that the boy really pops. I’m trying work on this, myself – really trying to get my camera to focus on the right areas, and learning what aperture does it best. Oh, manual mode woes! Of course, I love the composition of the photo. Really well done. The boy is well framed, and his positioning within the leaves adds a nice texture.

Great image! It gives the feel of a fun tropical adventure! The expression on the child’s face is genuinely sweet. The only think I might would suggest is to focus in more on his face and use a lower f/stop to blur the surroundings. Again I love the picture…the angle and facial expression are wonderful!

Hi Elisa ~ What an adorable little guy! You’ve really captured the feeling of youthful joy in his smile. Outdoors, I generally set my ISO first at 100 – 400, depending upon the day. A wider aperture (lower #) would have been helpful to obtain a faster SS (to help with sharper focus – I assume this was handheld) and to alter your DOF (I would have liked more blur in the foliage behind him). Regarding focus, make sure the focus point lies on area of the eye closest to us. I agree with one of the commenters, that fill flash or a reflector could have helped bring more light to his face on the shadowed side (important as there are lots of textured plant details which compete for the viewer’s attention). I feel closer/tighter framing would have increased this image’s impact and emphasized your subject. I like the use of complementary colors (orange vest and greenery) but would desaturate these two elements a touch. This is a matter of personal taste, but I find these elements at their present saturation level detract from your subject a bit. I really like the placement and balance of your subject as he relates to the frame vertically. Catching kids at just the right moment is tricky and you’ve done that perfectly with his winning smile! Too cute :)

Good for you for taking the step to ask for feedback! I too, love the colors in this photo..the orange and green is really awesome! I find myself wishing I could see his sweet face a bit more from the front as well as a bit more from his eye level. Im thinking if you were able to take a step to the right and squat down, the green leaves would make a really neat framing element for him. I’m also wondering if you were hand holding the camera and he was on the move? Im thinking that bumping up the shutter speed a bit would help keep the photo sharp. I do love how you have him placed in the photo using the rule of thirds, and he is certainly cutie!! Great job!

I really love the colors in this image, the green and orange really grab your attention. I think it could be less noisy if you bump up your aperture and shutter speed, and I would have focused more on the face. I love that he has a real smile and you captured a true expression beautifully!!

1. Beautiful Colors.
2. I would “fill flash” a tad
3. I would try different lenses available of whichever photo editing program I have to make the subject more pronounced.

I was trying to think of the “sandwich” but honestly the only thing I see that could be different is more light on his face so maybe open up the ISO to around 3. That way you get a good bokeh, light on his face and a good crispness. I love the colors! I love the location! I love the composition! You have an amazing eye :) Great Job!

Adorable!! love the composition…just shot a little slow. Courtney has the best advise when she says shoot kids at least 1/125! His vest pops and makes for great contrast! Many others gave you great advise on the focus point and Fstop! Keep shooting!!!

Totally meant f-stop! Haha *insert embarrassed face here*

Hi,
I too love the orange against the green. I would have used a faster shutter speed and raised the aperture for a sharper photo and more DOF. Possibly shot him from a different angle or side or used a fill flash so that he would have some catchlights in his eyes? I like how the leaves kind of form a frame around him.

I just redid your darling photo.
I ended up using “Smart Photo Adjust”
Cloning some of the plants on the right.
Cropping some of the left side of photo off,
Then finishing with “Vignetting” Squarely.
It’s beautiful!

I love the coloring in your photo in the photo. What I would do a little different would get down on the child’s level; more on eye level. I love how you don’t have him looking right at you.

Hello =)
I love the colors in this photo and the positioning of the subject, he seems to be out exploring! I would probably open up the aperture to give more definition to the child and blur the background slightly as well as bumping up the shutter speed to get a sharper picture with less motion blur. Great subject with a great scene! =)

Hi! I love the colors in this image. I would have opened my aperature to about 2 or 2.8 to seperate the boy from the cluttered background. His natural smile is priceless and the catch lights in his eyes are great! :)

I love how you caught a natural moment, a child enjoying his yard outside. I feel focus may be missed a bit, the leaves look sharper than his face, as does his jacket (a bright vibrant coloured shiney jacket like that can often grab focus over a face). I really enjoy the sense of movement through the leaves that this picture evokes.

The white balance looks nice, you could have gotten lower to be more on his level, and the exposure looks perfect!

I like where you are standing in relation to the subject and that he’s not looking directly at you. He seems to blend right in with his surroundings so I think I would pump the contrast, brighten, and maybe even go black and white to put more of the attention on his cute face. Very sweet photo and great job catching his emotion.

What a cute little boy! I love the expression on his face! The first thing I noticed about this picture is that it is not sharp. Then I saw that you shot at 1/90 so I would definitely try to increase that next time to around 1/250 because little kids are FAST! You could also lower your aperture to 2.8 and the plants would blur a little and make him even more of a focal point. Also, I am sure that this was a spur of the moment shot but if you could turn him around next time so that he had catchlights in his eyes and less shadow on his face, that would be great too. I know, easier said than done with little guys! I LOVE the contrast of the green and the orange. What a great punch of color!

The composition is great, rule of third applied very well here. The only thing I notice could use some improvement is his face is dark and the image isn’t focused to its maximum. I would have increased shutter speed and ISO and have your object face towards the light or use a soft light projected on his face so you can eliminate the shadows.. Great photo

I love the colors! I would increase the shutter speed a little bit so it will show more sharpness and small aperture so he will stand out more. You fill the frame very nicely! Also darling boy! BTW I am a newbie photographer.

I like how the leaves are on the front and back of him. I would have gotten more on his eye level. The colors are popping so beautifully!

I really like his position in the midst of the leaves, he seems relaxed and it feels natural. I am a huge fan of utilizing aperture to bring focus to your subject. I think this picture would pop even more with a higher aperture (maybe f/2.8?), making the leaves softer, focus-wise. The use of color, green against orange, immediately draws you in; it definitely catches the eye.

i like the orange vest set with the greenery, as the colors compliment but bring attention to the subject. You might want to try punching up the color a bit in post processing. As for the photo itself, the boy looks very relaxed and natural. It would have been nice if his eyes were looking toward the photographer, but that isn’t always possible. If this was a candid shot, it was very nicely captured. If posed, check to make sure there are not objects sticking out of the subjects heads, because even small items can draw attention.

what a handsome little boy. Love the rule of thirds used. If i had to change anything, i’d say it could use better focus – its a little blurry – maybe focus more on your subjects eyes? And i would add some pop to the color, it appears a little flat. love the contrast of green and yellow and i noticed the leaves appear to be framing him. nice touch. good pic!

I really like your use of color, the colors really pop and add interest to the photo. I would have used a bigger apature, like f/2.8 so that the background is blurred (bokeh) and the child stands our more. You captured a sweet expression. Good job, keep at it!

Love the colors very vibrant the jacket is a perfect color to highlight the subject
I might have tried to get the subjects face a little more light
Like the way the subject appears natural

I really love the pop of his orange vest against the greenery, and what a cutie! I would have lowered aperture to bring him more into focus, and less focus on the background; ISO to reduce some grain; and increased ss to get a little more sharpness. Overall, it is a cute picture with a timeless feel that will be enjoyed for years to come. :)

I love the thought of this picture and the color contrast I would have turned him around to lighten it up a bit more from the angle the sun is and the amount of green draws my eye away from him maybe a different angle could have made it “pop” a bit more :)

Great photo! The colors are really vibrant and bring life to the photo. I would suggest that you use a low aperture prime lens for shots like this and use the child’s face as the focal point. That will give the background blur and add a dynamic interest to your photos. Especially with such a tall foreground. Then it would be perfect! Great work!

Hi Courtney! Stopping by as part of the SITS WGS group. I so need photography tips. I do not feel I could critique this photo since I am quite the beginner, but I totally believe in the critique sandwich and often use the sandwich method when drafting emails. Following you blog – I need all the photography tips I can get!

Great framing and love the direction your subject is facing. A higher shutter speed would have created a sharper photo. A wider aperture would have added a softness to the surrounds.

I like how natural this picture is — how you caught him at play and didn’t pose him. In addition to reducing the noise that I’ve seen mentioned in a few comments, I’d be interested in seeing this in a landscape orientation with the little boy on the left side of the image. I think the Rule of Thirds would really pop in that layout. His orange vest stands out nicely against all that green and brown.

You have a good story here in this photograph. I like that the boy if off center to the left and the leaves to the right give a nice balance to this photograph. Even though he is not looking directly at the camera he is smiling, which adds a sweet touch. I personally would have chosen a larger aperture, 2.8 to blur the background a bit and then add sharpness during post editing, maybe a preset that tones the greens down and adds color depth. Nicely done and not too posey.

Hi Elisa,

I love the green and the orange, such a cute model you have there. I think that I would of lowered the aperture to focus in on the boys face and keep some of the leaves in front in focus, but have a bit of bouquet in the background. Maybe to about 3.2? Or a little lower?
I might even boost the color a little??
Otherwise I think it’s a beautiful shot, I love how natural it is.
(Keep in mind I am a beginner photographer and I’m trying to train my eye) thank you for sharing your picture! :)

I like how the child is looking back and the concept of the picture. I think I would have used a bigger appeture to separate him from the background and a higher shutter speed and made sure to focus on the closets eye. I also think that I would have tried to face him toward a light source so I could get some more of those gorgeous catchlights in his eyes to bring a little life to his eyes. I do like the colors and composition.

This is such a sweet picture! The colors go SO well together, and the subject is adorable :)
I am still a newbie with photography, so I don’t know all the technical terms and how to make the adjustments – but two things you might want to consider would be a faster shutter speed so the subject is sharper, and maybe brighten the photo a bit because it seems a little dark (but that could just be my computer monitor). Really nice picture – very natural and not at all forced. You can tell he was comfortable.

Thank you all so much for your feedback. I am just starting my photography journey and as a mom of 2, its hard to find the time to sit and learn. This has been so helpful. I really need to work on adjusting focus – my subjects are in motion so it’s hard to keep up :) And at some point I have to learn post processing!

Thanks – i appreciate this group so much.

I like the colors.
I would have have used a f2.8-4.5 aperture to focus more on boy.
I would have shot at His eye level.

Hi Elisa! What a cute little boy!! I love what you have so far! I would do a little bit more in post-processing. I would lighten his face and blur out a little of the green foliage to separate him from the background. I love the orange and green colors! Nice!

Nice use of cloudy weather / open shade, that makes the light nice and soft for a natural (non squinty) smile.

There’s no lights in the eyes. This gives the eyes a soul-less look. Try using a reflector or even pop-up flash to get that spark in the eyes.

I personally like that he’s not looking at the camera. Gives a candid feel.

I love how he is looking over his shoulder. It adds to the little boy running off into the wilderness exploring. I would have used a faster shutter speed. If there is enough light I love my kids at 1/500 at least. I love the foreground with the leaves– he’s right in the midst of his imagination.

I love the perspective you took on the shot – you caught him in a moment of true happiness and your shot shows a truly candid moment. I would have maybe tried landscape to show more of that beautiful backdrop you have. The colors pop and the subject is wonderful. Well done!

The adventurous look to this photo is nice. I would play around with my focus a bit; a nice rule of thumb is to put the focus point on one of the eyes. Also, did you post-process? Maybe you could have adjusted the levels a bit. Oh, and remember the lower the number of your aperture (such as 1.8, if your camera goes that low-which is shooting wide open) will help achieve bookeh-and everyone LOVES bookeh! ;) I like the green with the orange. Good job capturing this little boys normal expression!

Terriable composition. Bad color the subject is wearing. Need to see eyes, what are you attempting to have others see? Shoot taken from above, need definition.

The focus should be in the eyes and I’d photograph also with a lower aperture to get a beautiful bokeh. As the light comes from the other side and she didn’t use a reflector (I personally don’t use reflectors too when photographing outdoor), I’d spend more time editing the photo, brightening it a little bit. She used the rules of thirds and the composition and expression are great! Cute boy!

He has a great smile and you definitely captured him which is what makes a photo all the more personal. I would recomment increasing your SS a bit to at least 1/125 to freeze the image a bit and reduce some blurriness. Along with that, I would have gotten more on his level and angled him towards the sunlight. Overall, I love the foilage, location and personality of this photo!!
P.S. You have inspired me to get more of my work critiqued! Thank you!

What a cute fellow! I like the sense of movement and the pop of color of his orange vest. I also like the way you’ve captured his over the shoulder, thoughtful expression–it makes you want to know what he was doing when you took the picture, and what he’s up to next.

The focus on his face is a little soft–his vest and the leaves surrounding him appear sharper than his face. It looks like a combination of the focal point not being on his face and bit of motion blur. A higher shutter speed (1/125) would help with a moving subject such as yours.

It also seems that the picture very slightly lacks contrast. If you’re working with a RAW file you could increase contrast slider. Or if you’re working with a JPEG in Photoshop either a levels adjustment layer bump or a slight curves adjustment (with the curves adjustment layer) would give it a little pop. Of course, processing choices are personal choice depending on your style.

Thanks for sharing such a nice portrait!

I really like that he isn’t looking directly at the camera – some of my favorite photos are taken like this. It makes the viewer wonder what the subject is seeing and what he is up to next! I would get down to eye level with the subject so you aren’t looking down at him – this way you will have a clearer shot of the eyes and face. I also like the framing – that all the viewer sees is the subject and foliage – it can be challenging outside to not have extraneous things in your frame!

Great capture of your subject, his smile is natural not forced. I would suggest maybe playing around with different white balancing techniques to see how it can compliment his natural smile with nautral corrected wb as well as different apatures to make your subject sharp. You have the right idea with shooting with a lower f stop, well done! Keep up the good work.

Hi Elisa!

I like the use of natural light in your photo! It’s the best light to work with! I recently just did a family shoot in a greenhouse and working with the plans was difficult but rewarding. Personally, I feel as the the photo is a little busy. The colours are great, but the subject of the photo is leaning more towards the plants than the boy (specifically due to cropping and focus). Try using a shallower f stop, perhaps a 2.8 if you have a lens that will allow it, as well as manual focus to ensure that the focus is on the boy. This would also blur the plants a bit making the photo less busy. If you do not have a lens with a shallower f stop, having the boy perhaps stand farther from the leaves, or using manual focus on the boy will also somewhat give you this effect. In terms of cropping, I am referring to the plans that are starting to go brown in the bottom right corner, because they are more in focus than the boy, and because his eyes send us in that direction, my focus immediately goes there. Another cool technique is shooting through the leaves! I’ve done it and it always turns out really cool, it’s like a frame for your subject!
Keep up the good work, and remember- Practice makes perfect!