I love this photo. The background is blurred and not distracting. The children are interesting to look at and well placed. The only thing I would change is to crop more off of the right side – there is too much dead space over there.

Really cute! I love the diagonal lines, but there is one line of shadows in the background on the right that seems distracting. Maybe some creative lighting editing could help that? Other than that, maybe whiten the older girl’s dress just a little. It could very well be my crappy replacement monitor, but it just seems a little blue/purple to me.

I agree with Lynda, a closer crop would look so adorable without all the darkness on the right. I would also try to bring down the blues a bit because it is tinting the dress and headband on the little one a tad blue. :) Maybe burn the older girl’s eyelashes, under the nose and along the right side of her face (our right) a touch to add more contrast to match the little one in the tub.
Very cute photo! I love the location!!

I think this photo is beautiful.

This is absolutely beautiful. The foreground is so brilliantly sharp. You are showing not only two girls, but a connection between them. The absolute only thing I possibly suggest would be to have turned the girls just a hair more so that there was more light on the older child’s face. I don’t know that it would be an issue for anyone else. I also love the contrast between the light and the darkness in the background. It gives so much more depth. Beautifully done!!

What a sweet picture! I really like the depth of field, the kids are sharp and the background is evident but not overpowering. I am distracted but the line of shade over the little ones shoulder on the right – maybe because it falls on the line of thirds and draws my eye? Overall, though, I really had to look hard for something constructive. It’s beautiful!

I LOVE this picture! the candid look is so nice! The only thing I would change is clone out the little yellow thing in the water behind/ next to the heads (just a little distracting). This is a BEAUTIFUL Photo and I Love the prop!

Colors are fantastic. The exposure is spot on. As with above poster, cropping a little on the right side is all I could come up with. Great image!

This is a beautiful and creative image the lighting is good and setting is perfect. The only thing I would like to see different is the background. It is blurred nice to put your subjects more in focus but I find the drastic split between dark and light in the almost middle a bit distracting. The picture would be almost perfect if it was either all bright back light or the darker hue.

This picture is beautiful and I love the interaction between the two babes. However, the right side distracts from the picture, so you could try lightening that side up a tad and cropping some of it.

I love this photo. It’s absolutely gorgeous! The only thing I would say is the dark part on the right is very distracting as well as the spot between the girls. Otherwise I think this photo is great and the moment you captured is so sweet!!

Wow!!!
Gorgeous setting, beautiful subjects, and super sharp focus on the little ones – love it!
To me, the only thing that detracts from the image is the vertical tree (I’m guessing it is a tree – the blur is so wonderful I’m not sure) just to the right of center – it draws my eye up and away from the girls a bit.
Super photo – good use of props and location, and the setting is great with the reflective nature of the water. Adorable!

This so pretty. I love the focus of the two little girls and the colors and lighting. The darkness and shadows on the right are a little distracting and I probably would have cropped the shot to eliminate it, or played around to see what I could do to lighten it up in post-editing. Aside from that, you have abeautiful magical shot :-)

This is such a sweet photo! What an amazing location! I love how the children seem uninterested in the photographer, and totally engrossed in their play. The thing I would suggest is to get a little more light, and less shadow, on the older child’s face. Cropping a little, might be a good move as well. Beautiful work!

What a beautiful photo. It speaks of quintessential childhood. I am not one who goes for much editing, if any. The only thing I would do to this is crop it differently- let go of the right side of the photo. I love this!

First-time critiquer here, hope I’m doing it right and being helpful :)

I love the subject of this photo–the two kids look so sweet and innocent, and so well-behaved, haha. The focus is really great, and the muted/blurred background doesn’t distract from the super-sharp kids in the foreground. That said, I do agree with other commenters that the dark space on the right is a little distracting. I don’t think it needs to be cropped out, as I really like the off-center subject placement. But maybe a little lightening of just that area with a layers mask would help? But overall, yes, I think this is a very dreamy, magical image.

My favorite things about this photo are the sharpness of the girls and the candid yet story telling moment you captured! The two things I immediately noticed were the girl on the let’s face seems too dark and the highlights/shadows in the background were a tad distracting. Maybe some dodging and burning would help this? Otherwise, great photo! Unlike some others I actually enjoy the composition and the space to the right. Great shot!

Really cute photo. I love the connection between the girls. Very sharp and the editing is well done. If I had to critique anything I would say maybe changing the composition so the girls were more to the right side. This would eliminate some of the dark space. I might also remove the yellow speck in the water it’s very near the girls face and can be distracting. I would also say you could try cleaning up the branches behind the second girls head. But really this photo is great as is. Good job!!!

Beautiful photo, I love the sharp focus on the girls and the blurred background. I had to look hard to find a fault but would agree with removing the yellow spot and found the face of the girl on the left to be a bit too dark. I actually didn’t mind the dark on the right as I though it made the bright bit on the left stand out a lot acting like a frame for the girls. It’s a lovely moment you’ve caught.

As an aside… I really wish I knew what you all mean by ‘burning’… I really need to study editing skills and techniques!

This is so beautiful. The little girls are adorable and I love the interaction. The only suggestion I writings make us to crop a little of the right side. It’s a beautiful location and they are such sweet girls. Great work!

I agree, this is a beautiful photograph. I like the soft purple against the green/brown background and I like how the girls are off-center. My thoughts/suggestions are: the slanted tree in the left background is distracting to me, because the shape catches my eye more than it should. I would consider removing it and cloning the green from the middle left of the photo. I think because the tree and it’s shadow seem to go off the page and come back on that it draws my eye away from the girls.

Also, I love the soft, soft background. I would love to see how this would look with a softer focus on the girls. The older girls face could be lightened and the contrast between the super sharp foreground and soft background could be lessened.

This photo invokes gentleness and peace when I look at it, it makes me “hear” the running water, I think less sharpness in the foreground would provoke even more of this feeling of dreamy-ness.

As others mentioned, I too, would suggest removing the yellow leaf between the girls faces.

Love, love, love this shot. Captured a lovely moment between siblings. Composed beautifully, exposed perfectly with good aperture.
A couple of things I would have changed – I would have maybe gotten closer to the subjects as there is a lot of background space and I would have tried to show the older girl’s legs from under the dress as you can’t see her legs at all.
But apart from that this is a magic moment, captured wonderfully.

I think it is perfect :)

Beautiful setting. I’m distracted by the dark background on the right and the yellow dot between the girls. Lovely candid, intimate feel.

A wonderfully captured moment. Beautifully done! I might have the girls closer and l noticed a tree separating very light to very dark. My eye was drawn to it. This picture is so lovely. Great job!

I love the image, love the depth of field, love the colors. The black line behind the baby’s head and the right sided shadow are a bit confusing. It looks like maybe it was a composite photo that went wrong on the right side. Lighten that up a bit and you have a picture perfect picture!

I like the photo.
What would I have done different?
Older girl left hand reaching out vs. right hand.

Oh, I know the rules but this one is so perfectly beautiful.

I absolutely love this photo. You use the third well. The composition is precious and candid. There’s a little dead zone behind the little girl but then again it helps bring out the focus on the main object so I love it.

Wonderful image the dof is superb not too shallow nor to sharp the moment is beautiful as are the colours the only thing I would say is the tree too the right is distracting due to the dark line it’s reflection creates easy fixed I’m sure

Beautiful picture….such a great capture of a wonderful relationship between sisters. I really like how you contained baby sis. with the container which enabled you to shoot in a beautiful location “safely”. I think cropping in a bit would be really nice as well. I also feel like big sis’s face could be lightened just a little bit (little sis has a nicely lit face whereas big sis is just a bit too shadowed). GREAT job!!!

The subjects are well positioned and perfect. I would eliminate the right side of the photo and zoom in on the subjects, enlarging them in the photo. Still, no objections to this nice shot.

I love this photo. I love the prop setup. And capturing a moment when they aren’t looking directly at the camera. Makes it seem more natural. The only thing I would do would be to lighten up the photo just a bit so the girls dress looked more white. Overall…I give it a two thimbs up!

I don’t have anything that I could add that has not already been mentioned, as they are just really small and simple adjustments, but I wanted to say this is such a stunning image, and the mood it creates and story it tells are really beautiful. You should be so proud.

hi jennifer, you did a really nice job with this. Your models are so beautiful too. What would I change?? not a whole lot. Perhaps whiten the dress a little. It looks somewhat blue. Which is a good way to tell your WB may be. So i’d make it a tad warmer. Could be your style of course, sometimes i prefer a colder look myself. And if im being picky i’d maybe clone the slightly disatracting light (leaf?) between them. Other than that, great work. Love the interaction.

I love absolutely everything about this photo. I wouldn’t change one thing. I like the blues in the dress. It seems like it is almost dusk in this picture and that is how white would look. I love love love the background. Magical. The light draws my eye all around the image. Wonderful. Ok, I know I get bumped if I don’t make a suggestion. I guess the yellow spot in the water can go. Maybe you can just soften it a bit. But if it were my photo, I don’t think I would change a thing. Nice job!

I LOVE the interaction between these two sweeties. How precious! I really like the brightness in the left half of the photo, but am very distracted by the darkness on the right and what seems like a vertical shadow cutting the photo in half. Perhaps turning counterclockwise around their tub would minimize the darkness on the right (though I notice there is a tree on the other side, so you may have been trying to get in between those two shadows). I just really like the sunshine on the girls and wish I saw more of that.

I think this photo is perfect, Beautiful shot

This is a beautifully natural photo which I love. I would turn down the ISO a bit and turn up the SS. During editing, I would dodge the shadows on the right side of the photo, crop just a little, adjust the white balance slightly and create a slight vignette. Overall, this is one of the better shots I’ve seen on here. Beautiful moment.

This is a gorgeous photo and the girls are absolutely adorable! The only thing i find a bit distracting is the tree in the top left corner. I think possibly adding a cream coloured texture could lighten that up a bit and add a softness to the photo. Other than that, it’s a wonderful image. Love the metal tub and the natural moment you’ve captured!

Absolutely beautiful photo, I love this shot overall. The positioning is fantastic and the clarity and sharpness of the girls is fantastic. One thing I would change is getting a bit closer to the girls, getting a little more of them than the background. The blurred background is wonderful, but I think just getting a tiny bit closer would have made the photo even more precious. Beautiful shot!

A beautiful capture of a simple moment of innocence! I would agree with some of the prior comments about altering the crop to eliminate the distracting range of shadows on the right and to bring more focus to the adorable subjects. With a few small changes, this photo will be perfect!

I love the interaction and connection between the two girls. The exposure seems just right, but I would bring down the highlights just a smidge and adjust the blue tint to be slightly warmer to balance out the whites of the dress and hairpieces. I’d also dodge the older girl’s face a bit to highlight it and bring it to a similar brightness as the younger girl’s. All in all, a beautiful moment well captured. <3

I’m just new at this – First off, I think is photo is stunning! I love the candid feeling, like they don’t even know your there – its adorable how they are ineracting with eachother <3 I think the back ground is a little bit too in-focus, making that tree with the crazy roots it just a little too interesting. I know you are already at f/2.8 and your lens probably won't go lower, I would try a macro filter at 1X {I just discovered them and I am toatally in love} just to give it that extra blur in the back. I aspire to make atleast some of my images to look like this one!

Beautiful and what I like when I first see the photo: the lightning on the left side of the photo, the soft blur behind your subjects, the fact that the children are focused on each other, the location, how her outfit pops against the background.
What I would try to change: the dark blur (shadow) on the right side of the photo, maybe changing the placement of the children to be more in the light, while the location is greens and browns – the silver water tub (prop) stands out a bit too much. Maybe a brown wooden tub would be a better prop and blend in a bit more so the focus is on the children more.
With that said, I am just learning how to shoot on manual so big kiddos to you for so many beautiful elements of your photo.

Well this is

Whoops – As I was saying – Well this is a stunning photo. I love the composition, the juxtaposition of the silver/white/green elements with the darker elements, and the organic nature of the girls interacting. I saw people mentioning cropping the photo from the right side, but I’d crop it down – the root of that tree sticking up and it’s reflection creates that vertical line, but it only needs to be shortened, I think. My hat is off to you. These are the types of images I hope to capture.

I like how she captured the bond between the two girls.

WOW this is a beautiful picture. I love so much about it. I love the colors, although the dress has a little bit of blue tint to it. The like the lighting as well.

So beautiful and sweet! The girl’s dress has a bit of a blue tint, so I would bring down the blue’s just a bit.

This is an INCREDIBLE photo. I personally like the darkness toward the right; I think it gives the picture nice contrast and makes it a little more interesting. I would maybe bring down the saturation of the blue just a bit, as others have mentioned because of the blue of the dress (unless the dress actually is a really light blue! Then I would bring it out a bit more). Just a wonderful, magical photo.