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Critique Me – Tressa Maciag
Lifestyle

Remember:
-Read How to Critique a Photo
-Make a critique sandwich – something positive, something you would have done differently, something positive
-My rule: no improvement tip = deleted comment
-This will benefit the person leaving the photo critique just as much if not more than the person receiving the critique.
-If you would like to have an image critiqued be sure to read How to submit an image for critique.

Thank you to Tressa Maciag for submitting the following image.
Settings: Settings: ISO 800 | 50mm | f /1.8 | ss 1/160
Tressa Maciag

39 Comments
  • Jen
    May 5, 2014 at 10:11 AM

    Tressa, overall what a home run. He has a great natural smile, great catch lights and the focal point is dead on. I might overlay a rule of thirds grid and crop the image a bit to make it more flattering. I would also try using curves to brighten the image a tad more. This one is a framer!

  • cortney
    May 5, 2014 at 10:23 AM

    What a sweet picture! :) I would have followed the rule of thirds instead of having him in the center of the frame. Other than that great catch light and focus on the child’s face. Adorable.

  • Sharon
    May 5, 2014 at 10:23 AM

    Love it. Maybe add a little light in the back ground.

  • Alexis
    May 5, 2014 at 10:25 AM

    What a gorgeous smile!
    I think you’ve really captured a great shot of this little cutie’s personality.
    I think the image could do with a little lightening up; it’s a touch on the dark side of the colour spectrum but overall an awesome picture. A real keeper!

  • Erin
    May 5, 2014 at 10:26 AM

    Killer smile! I love photos of wee ones when they’ve only got those two bottom teeth! Not to be a copycat, but my thoughts are the same as Jen’s. Cropping the image to bring the little dude a bit more to the left and then brightening a tad will really give this pic a boost. Since his hair and the background are both on the darker side, a bit more exposure might give it more of an innocent/child-like vibe. This shot totally gives me baby fever!!!

  • Melissa
    May 5, 2014 at 10:30 AM

    Tressa, the best thing about this photo is the huge happy grin.
    I also love the warm tones in your image and the background blur.
    I agree with Jen’s comments. Additionnaly, I would try to tone down the red in his cheeks by adjusting the color balance a touch.

  • Lucy
    May 5, 2014 at 10:33 AM

    Beautiful shot of a sweet baby. I would crop a little to position the subject on the left. I would also lighten the shadows. I wouldn’t want to risk overexposing the skin. Again, it is a beautiful photograph.

  • May 5, 2014 at 10:36 AM

    What a gorgeous smile! I love baby smiles, especially when they light up the face like this one does. I’m actually going to go against the grain and say I actually like the framing here. I’m a rule-of-thirds follower for the most part, but I like the way the photo is centered on his face – I don’t think it distracts from the composition at all. I think the suggestion to tone down the red in his cheeks is a good one – they are a little distracting. Other than that, I think this one is a framer!

  • shelby
    May 5, 2014 at 10:38 AM

    First let me say, super adorable picture! I like how you caught the catchlights in his eyes. Looking at your settings, I would have tried to decrease my shutter speed to get the ido to 400. Depends on how big you want to frame them, it might show some grain. i would also try to make it lighter on the edges. Hope that helps :)

  • Maria
    May 5, 2014 at 10:42 AM

    Couldn’t agree more than the first 3 comments here. ABSOLUTE WONDERFUL picture. To make it stand out just a bit more, I’d crop to offset and lighten up the background. But, honestly, fantastic capture!

  • May 5, 2014 at 10:46 AM

    I love this image! The cropping, the dark background, all of it! The only thing I would do is cool off his cheeks and nose with the brush. That grin is adorable!! http://www.daniellegeriphotography.com

  • Lindsey
    May 5, 2014 at 10:48 AM

    What a cutie pie! The focus is great and love the blurred background! I would crop to the rule of thirds, bringing him a little more to the left. I would also brighten the image a tad. The catch lights in his eyes really draw me in. Overall the image is great! Good job :)

  • May 5, 2014 at 10:56 AM

    This photo made me let out an “Aww!”. Precious! I definitely love the picture. I may try to sharpen his eyes just a little bit and I may have cropped him a little more to the left. I love how the lighting shows depth. Well done.

  • donna
    May 5, 2014 at 10:57 AM

    I would try to sharpen the eyes a bit they seem to be a bit out of focus :) but what a cutie!!

  • Jessica
    May 5, 2014 at 11:02 AM

    Getting a young child to look at you and smile is a very hard/rare thing sometimes!! Great photo! I try to be sure all hands or no hands, missing or cut off limbs is a hard miss for me. Next time try to be you pull the other hand out before the shooting continues! Otherwise great edit!

  • andrea
    May 5, 2014 at 11:04 AM

    Seriously a great picture of a sweet baby face. I actually like the composition with him in the center it really draws you in. To me though the focus is a little soft on the eyes. But I know that it is hard sometimes to get tack sharp focus and capture the moment. It really is a sweet pic.

  • Dixie
    May 5, 2014 at 11:12 AM

    This is an adorable photograph. I don’t see much to critique here. The lighting on his face is lovely and his center position actually works fine. The only suggestion I would give is to consider that background items can clutter an image. Placing the child with just the wall behind him would allow him to truly standout. Nicely done!

  • Jenny
    May 5, 2014 at 11:22 AM

    Great capture! Adorable smile and catch lights! I would love to see this in black and white. Maybe play with the levels a bit? I love black and white for children… It’s all about the personality then, and he’s got plenty of it!

  • May 5, 2014 at 11:32 AM

    I love it too. It’s very difficult to capture these little ones pictures, let alone smiling straight at the camera. Great job with light in his eye and I love the little hands up on the lid. I’d throw it in black and white and see what it looks like. I’m honestly a lover of warm tones. I’d even bump up the contrast and/or the warm a bit…but please be assured that if I was this momma paying for your service, I’d be very pleased and frame it.

  • Erica
    May 5, 2014 at 12:11 PM

    Great shot! You captured a beautiful expression and its in focus. I would maybe crop it in a bit and brighten up a tad. Overall nice job and definately a framer!

  • Whitney
    May 5, 2014 at 12:39 PM

    Oh my goodness he is too cute!! I love his smile with his two little teeth :-) and the sparkle in his eyes. You did a great job at capturing his emotion. Overall it’s a good photo and there is not much to critique. The only thing I can see changing to make the photo even better is the background. The separation between the wall and the dresser is a little distracting maybe if it was more center or if there wasn’t so much space to the right. Great photo!!!

  • Shannon
    May 5, 2014 at 12:44 PM

    This is a fantastic shot. Good exposure and the lighting on his face is great! As others have said, cropping this photo so it adheres to the rules of thirds would be more visually pleasing. I also think f/2.5 or 3.2 might have been a better aperture for this shot, but that’s completely my opinion as i always forget to change from 1.8 on a prime lens and, as such, many of my photos have too much blur. Also, the timing on your part was great, especially at a relatively slow shutter speed for shooting babies! I like the warmth of the photo, too. Overall, it’s a lovely shot, definitely worthy of framing!

  • Terri
    May 5, 2014 at 1:00 PM

    Darling photo! great expression; catch-lights make his eyes pop; love his little hand placement. My only suggestion would be to crop it to a rule of thirds. Beautiful!

  • May 5, 2014 at 1:13 PM

    I love the catch-lights in his eyes, and his expression is so cute! I might have gone with a slightly smaller aperture (higher f-stop) just to get more of his face in focus. Also placing his face in the left 1/3 of the frame would give it a slightly more interesting composition. Since this photo doesn’t have a whole lot of color in it, I think it might look wonderful in black & white. If it were mine, I would crop in a bit to apply the rule of thirds, and then add a quote or some journaling in white in the blank space to the right. :) Very nice!

  • May 5, 2014 at 1:18 PM

    I love this photo, I may lighten it up just a tad and crop to the rule of 3rds, but you captured a beautiful moment with his smile.

  • May 5, 2014 at 1:31 PM

    I love those two little teeth! What a great smile, a perfect capture. Love the feel of this picture. For myself I would want to crop just a little bit from the left, but not too much. I find there’s a lot of space there. The background is a tad distracting since it’s not all the same, you can tell there’s something there and it’s not quite blurred out enough. However, I would so make this into a canvas it is a wonderful picture and perfect for maybe his room or the living room. Beautiful little boy and wonderful picture.

  • May 5, 2014 at 1:43 PM

    Oh my goodness, what a perfect capture! I love that natural smile! I think this photo is great, but I’d just lighten it up a little. I think that will help make it brighter and cheerier. Otherwise, this is such a great photo and one to print and frame for sure!

  • Angela
    May 5, 2014 at 1:47 PM

    I think your exposure is perfect and I think the colors are lovely but still boyish.

    The one thing I would change is to use a smaller aperture to give a larger DOF. Right now it seems like although his nose is sharply in focus, the DOF isn’t quite wide enough for all of his eyes. If it was just the edges of his face that were dropping off into blur, that would be fine, but it looks to me like it starts before the edge of his eyes.

    I love this moment and expression that you captured – especially how well we can see his new teeth! I bet his mom loves it!

  • Ruth
    May 5, 2014 at 3:16 PM

    I love it, lighting, big smile, great photo…,frame it up

  • Ruthie
    May 5, 2014 at 5:35 PM

    Adorable capture! I’d have closed down the aperture more, just because it looks a *tad* soft. You can still get great bokeh at 2.2, for example. I wouldn’t have slowed the SS as a previous commenter said, with kids and a heavy camera, I like to keep SS high as you did. But this is a beautiful shot, great expression.

  • Melissa Kirkham
    May 5, 2014 at 6:33 PM

    This shot is adorable! His smile and the catch lights in his eyes make him look so innocent and happy. I think more contrast in the photo would help. If he had been in lighter clothing or the dark playpen would have been placed in front of a light wall would have really helped focus the eyes when viewing the photograph. I love that the background is blurry though. It really helps the boy stand out and gives the whole photo a dreamy look. Over all it’s a nice photograph, one I would definitely print for a family album.

  • Jennifer
    May 5, 2014 at 10:18 PM

    I love the catch lights in his eyes! The background is a little dark for my tastes, but great job catching that toothy smile!

  • Stuart Wilson
    May 5, 2014 at 10:40 PM

    What a great subject. Unlike the majority of replies here I would darken the background right down leaving the subject with maybe a tiny little bit more contrast; and I would have cropped to give slightly more space on the right. On the whole this works exactly as it is and the photographer has captured the essence of the child.

  • Terri
    May 5, 2014 at 11:16 PM

    I would of cropped the picture so the subject wasn’t centered. I love this picture though. What an adorable little man.

  • May 6, 2014 at 7:41 AM

    This image as pretty close to perfection. Amazing capture of your subject, great lighting and it oozes with emotion. I had to really search for something to critique here. I would bring up the shadows on the right side of his adorable face. Taking some of that gray out and this would make him pop off the background even more. The only other thing would try to be aware of having those fantastic catchlights directly in the middle of your subjects eyes, here it works. Ideally I like to try to place the subjects head so the catchlights fall just above the pupil (at about 1 or 2 o’clock). This is an old art-school trick and also driven into me also by a few photog mentors. Like I said I had to search :) Well done. This image makes me smile :).

  • May 6, 2014 at 7:43 AM

    Absolutely LOVE this photo, it captures his innocents and happiness so perfectly. I know others have probably said this already, but I would have off-centered him just a little bit more to the left. It just feels like that would have made the photo bring me in just a bit more. I love the light that’s captured in his eyes those, it gives him a little, sweet sparkle. So cute!

  • Courtney
    May 6, 2014 at 5:52 PM

    Love love love the picture! I actually would leave the rosy cheeks because it just lends to the age and innocence. The only thing I thought of when I first saw the picture, was that I was curious to see what he was sitting in! Certainly that would be a different kind of picture, but I thought it was so darn cute and playful! All in all though, it is a beautiful picture!

  • May 6, 2014 at 6:47 PM

    Oh my gosh he is so adorable! This is a great photo! I love his little smile and his rosy cheeks! I would crop this photo so that it follows the rule of thirds more and so that he is not dead center in the photograph. And maybe up the exposure just a bit. But I love how you have catchlights in his eyes! This photo is a keeper!!

  • May 8, 2014 at 3:36 PM

    What a cutie! I love the angle. Getting on a child’s level is such a great way to really capture their spirit. I also like the muted colors in the background and, of course, his big grin with the two little teeth. I agree with the others about the rule of thirds, but I don’t think it detracts too much from the picture since he does mostly fill the frame. I did notice, however, that the focus seems to be on his little button nose instead of his eyes. I find I have the same problem sometimes when shooting in such an open aperture. Since the depth of field is so shallow, the camera will focus on the closest thing – his nose and begin to blur the rest. Because of that I would suggest maybe staying around f2.0 or even f2.5 in order to capture his whole face in focus – including the eyes. I do LOVE the catch lights which just add to the feeling of pure joy and happiness captured by the picture. Great shot!

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