I really like the light in your photo. I would maybe take the shot from a greater distance so that we could see more of the child and more of the sky. And I gotta say i really enjoy your signature. Very elegant and not disturbing at all.

Lovely sweet image and lovely warm light. I would maybe have shot a little wider to keep his left arm in rather than chopping it or perhaps go in closer cutting off above his elbow. Also I would warm it up a little as his face looks a little washed out. Looks like a very happy chappy though!

Lovely photo, I like the depth of field and the bright smile and the colour tones as well. The main thing I can see to improve would have been to include his left hand which is chopped off (minor really). A lovely capture of a lovely smile :)

Hi Jennifer. Cute photo! I love the look on his face. I think it might be a little over-exposed though, looking at the sky behind, so might have been better to have lowered it slightly. I could be wrong though! I like the depth of field creating the slightly blurred background, making the boy stand out more.

Hi Jennifer, great image first of all! I love that you were able to catch his over joyous face too! The only thing I see is that His skin tone is a little blue. Love the leading lines. Because I love close ups, I would love to see this photo cropped closer to his face, but that’s just my favorite kind of photo. Great job!

Hi! I got here first, but because I lack ANY confidence, I was hesitant to reply first– in case I was wrong. But, after seeing Louise Rogers’ critique, I have to say I am in agreement! The image is great, and I think you nailed an emotion as well as a leading lines. Like Louise said, I would have stepped back a hair in order to get his whole arm, and maybe warm his face a little. All in all though, I think it is frame-worthy and really sweet :)

I agree with Eva. What a great capture! I love the nice light, but would love to see just a smidge more of the boy and scenery.

What a sweet photo to share! I just adore his expression! His face does seem a little out of focus on my monitor – but the fence post at his right arm is more in focus. Perhaps your meter picked up the wrong point? Also, the top of the weeds ( I love that location) are brighter than his face. I would try to lighten up his face maybe .25-.5 and burn those highlights just a touch. His face is getting just a slight blue cast as well. I love this moment! Sweet capture!

Fence has great leading line. Super cute expression and catchlights! I, too, would love a bit more space around him, to allow to get the rest of his arm and his hand. Maybe a little cool. Great connection and capture! Really got his personality!

Great photo. Genuine smile which is sometimes hard to get. His skin is the type that is hard to photo. Try bringing down the curves/levels so the middle levels are a bit darker. You can do this with exposure also. Love the location. Next time see if you can get him to put both hands on the fence. But usually with kids this age it’s get what you can.

I really liked the photo. The back lighting on his hair was great, the overall exposure very pleasing. The positioning of his hand looks a little contrived, with the bend of the hand, drawing your eyes to it, competing with his face. Perhaps moving him down the fence a little would have reduced the stretch and made it appear more natural. Cute subject, nice setting.

What a beautiful setting and adorable subject! I love outdoor, natural photos. The light is beautiful.
Maybe a slightly different crop (perhaps along the outer edge of the fence post on the right?) would help the focus be even more on the child. I’d like to see his other hand, too, but maybe you were cropping out something else that I can’t see. The lines of the fence really draw the eye – wonderful shot. The blur behind him is excellent. Lovely photo of the cutest little guy!

Hey, Jennifer,
Oh I love the setting for this shot. That fence and grass, just gorgeous!
To make better use of the fence and the leading lines there, you want to be up against the fence when shooting so it appears to be leading straight from you camera to him. Also, either go in for a closer crop or back so you don’t crop out his arm/hand. You might consider having him stand with his back leaning against the fence next time and just turn his head toward you for a close up. Your white balance seems to be a bit off because his face looks bluish. Use a grey card or some other object like an expo disc to set a custom wb.
But I can tell you shot at golden hour with that nice warm soft light!

I love this little guy’s expression! One thing I’m working on improving is not chopping limbs, so I might either back up and include his hand or zoom in so it’s not an issue. Maybe adjust his skin tone, too, just to make the image a bit warmer… These are just minor improvements! I also love how the fence leads my eye to your subject, which is adorable! Nice job!! :)

Love the capture. Love the expression. Love the backdrop/background. and I love the angle. I would try to sharpen the image, especially his eyes and add a little warmth to his face. Overall, great image.

Really nice photo. One suggestion would be to not cut off his left arm … maybe back up a bit to include both arms. Also, maybe during post processing you could tweek exposure to darken ever so slightly. Little ones are really hard to photograph standing still, so overall a great job!

Darling little guy with a Beautiful smile. Love the shot. I think the colors needed to be just a little brighter so his skin tone doesn’t blend slightly with the back ground.

The only thing I can see right off is to not chop his hand off. I have the hardest time remembering to do that myself. I love the light and the blurred background. Love how natural his smile looks!

Love the smile you caught in the little guy! You really captured his emotion well. It looks a shade over-exposed to me, you could try stepping down your ISO and popping a tiny amount of flash to help fill in his face(-2 flash compensation) and still maintain your background and that sweet little halo. The leading lines are fantastic too, drawing your eye right into his. Fabulous image!

I really like the composition. The face is maybe a bit overexposed IMHO but I do like the colors. Nice one overall

Lovely smile! I love the setting and background and naturlness here. Two things that could take it from really good to great – I wish there was a big more connection with camera, it’s a fantastic smile, but he’s not looking at the camera nor can we see who/what he’s smiling at, this is fairly minor and I know at this age sometimes impossible to get any looking shots or to include what/who is the cause of the expression. Also, the limb chop is unfortunate as it is right at a joint. I think you’ve worked well with this evening light, and created a lovely portrait.

I really enjoy the subtle leading lines of the fence for this shot. I would prefer to see his face a little less exposed, but that is tough to balance with adorable blonde hair like that! I really like the location you chose and the nice bokeh you are getting in the background. Print it!

I really like this. Captures simple joy. I would like to see more of his facial features. Maybe warm his face up a bit. Good job!

Great photo! I love how you captured his look of joy. What a natural smile. I feel like his right hand is a bit awkward in the way he is holding onto the fence. If his hand was a little lower, with a softer elbow, I think it would be better. However, I realize this is a small child we are talking about and that might not be possible. The softness of the background really makes the boy and the fence pop forward, which gives the photo some good depth.

Love the picture but yes it is a little blue. Maybe pull slider a bit and see what that might look like. Also for a picture like this id try to capture all the scenery and then get a close up portrait picture .

Hi Jennifer! I love this shot – I’m sure we’re all always scouting out great places for a shot. I love the creaminess that the light and the bokeh create here. That cutoff of the left hand is drawing my eye to his cuff, and I would warm up that adorable little face. Great use of the “golden hour,” and the catchlights in his eyes really make them pop!

Oh! My goodness he is just too cute!!!! I love his sweet expression. The first thing I noticed was the focus. It is soft and off. Take your time and focus on the eyes. Does that make sense? (I know it’s really hard, and boy! did/do I struggle with focus myself. Once you master the focus it will really improve your photography! Which is really good by the way! I love the golden light!!!

I love the composition in this image! I would have either cropped in more, or showed more of the boy, keeping the negative space to my left. I would have used a faster SS, or a lower ISO and darken the midtones a little, or sometimes even adding more vibrance will bring the skin to life. I love his expression! I would have probably played a “now u see me, now u don’t” game with him on the opposite side of the fence that way both hands are on the fence, and you get shots of laughing between, and above the fence. Kids r fun to photograph:) Great image!

Hi Jennifer! I love this photo and the little guy is just adorable. I would have maybe warmed up the skin tone just slightly and perhaps done a slightly wider angle to capture a little more of the boys body and other arm/hand and I would have liked to see a little more of the background and sky. I do love the way you used the rule of thirds and you have a very nice depth of field with plenty of spacial interest. Overall, good composition and adorable photo :)

What a beautiful expression! And he lighting is perfect. The only thing I would’ve done was to crop out the post in the background. That way the focus would be more on that awesome expression.

This photo makes me smile. Love his infectious smile, depth of field, and composition. A couple tweaks I would make are warm up the tones slightly, so his face doesn’t look washed out, and have him bend his left arm at the elbow (put his hand on his hip, perhaps). Overall, though, great capture!

Great pic! Love the bokeh and composition. Ditto all the previous responses to have included his left hand. Also, love the soft light. I think I would have shot this at least twice the shutter speed you used. Lil guy looks to be just a hair out of focus…

What a cute shot! I really like the leading line of the fence. I think his skin looks a little overexposed and cool compared to the background, so I would warm that up a little bit. Great job!

What a great spontaneous shot of a handsome little guy. I would like to see more of his left arm as my only critique as well otherwise I really think the color and the lighting is great! Nice job!

What a cutie. I like the fence as a backdrop as it visually compares to how small the little guy is. I think I would have moved in a little closer and included the little guys whole body and shown less of the background. Since it’s taken at ISO 500 I might have lowered it to ISO 200 and he may have looked a little less washed out. I like the way his arm is balanced on the fence and the way he’s looking right into the camera.

I like the leading lines here. I would warm up the temperature of this photo and possibly decrease the exposure as his skin tones look a little cool and overexposed. Great smile and beautiful setting!

Hi Jennifer,
What a fabulous setting and adorable subject. Unfortunately your focus has landed on the fencing to his left, making you subject not in sharp focus. If you had pulled out slightly you would have captured his other hand. Other than that, you got the composition bang on. Xx Keep up the good work!

Hi, I think this shot has great color, over all great composition, & wonderful angle. I think that if I were to do something differently I would bump down the contrast a little bit or the Highlights or whites (Using photoshop) just because he looks soo pale. However I think the paleness works for him & you had a very handsome model. ISO, aperture, & exposure are spot on!

Hi Jennifer,
Thats a beautiful expression well captured. I personally would have moved a little back to capture his entire arm or crop it a little more.And the leading lines makes it a beautiful composition. Love the warm hue in the background and the subject is soft.

What a beautiful capture. It looks like you got him at just the right moment :) I love his expression. I would say that the image is a tad blue for my taste, especially his skin. Maybe throw in some red to bring the warmth back. Particularly because of the field behind him. Fields always scream warm colors to me. Your composition is beautiful and I love the location. Awesome capture!

Thank you everyone for your kind and helpful comments! I really appreciate this opportunity to improve my photography skills and I can’t wait to go back and try to improve on the photo. – Jennifer

What an adorable capture! You timed that just right! Some additional warmth to the image would be nice, and I agree on the limb chop. I am really impressed that there is nothing “growing” out of his head – you have him positioned nicely so there is no strange plant coming up out of his head and the fence post is out of the way.

Love the capture and his happy face. The location and lighting is great and I love the fence line. I keep being drawn towards the right hand as my focus, maybe darkening it a bit, or if you had another image a second later where you changed your angle perhaps shooting from higher…it’s kids- you get what you get and you did great. Also the missing left hand might not be as noticeable if cropped a bit higher up the sleeve before the sweater cuff.

I love the photo for a start. Two little things – one he seems really pale so tone that down a little and his hand – I would just pop his hand down a bit so that his fingers are just over the edge of the fence. I love the way he is looking straight at you and you have made a real natural and beautiful photograph.

Oh my word, this is flipping cute! With ‘mommy goggles’ it is perfect in every way – what a precious smile :) With photographer goggles, I would have taken a step back for a wider shot so that his left hand was in the photo. His face does look a little blue-ish to me, I would try warming up the photo a little. Also, I love your logo – it stunning!

Great photo! I really like the depth of field used along with the leading lines, and the natural background in general, which is interesting, but does not detract from the subject – which is a great shot! Maybe it’s just me, but I feel the sky is washed out, and too bright, and that distracts me a little away from the subject. Though, I’ve seen that sort of lighting effect in other photos, so maybe it’s a technique or desired effect that I’m not familiar with. I also love the color choice for his clothing. It pops against the neutral tones of the background, but isn’t overwhelming. Combined with a great smile on an adorable child – I love it!

I love the fact that you are eye level with this precious little boy! I find the brightness of the sky a bit distracting and wonder if a closer crop might help with that. He looks a little washed out and maybe a little added contrast might make a difference. I lean toward warmer images especially when it comes to portraits, so I would have adjusted the temperature a teeny but, not much. Overall it is super and I love the fact that he is “camera aware” and he appears quite engaged with the photographer and the viewer! Lovely job.

I love the scene you have set and also the composition. I too would agree that up may to to warm the skin tone. I maybe would have taken a step or two back so less of his body is shown especially his other arm. Otherwise a great photo and adorable little boy!

Such a beautiful photo and I really like the leading lines of the fence! The only thing that I would change is not cut of his left arm or I would have cropped it up to his elbows. Overall, it’s a great photo and I like the lightning.