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.
Thanks to Anna at Anna M Photography for submitting the following image.
Settings: ISO: 400, SS: 1/2000, f/2.5
Love the picture and the backlight and the atmosphere.
Something I would have done differently, I wouldn’t have used the hat, I think it’s distracting.
The kid is gorgeous! And the setting is great with the blur in the back.
Congrats!
The lighting in this is fantastic. I’d brighten up his face a bit in post, if you don’t do that then I’d consider using some kind of reflective surface the next time. The crop makes the image a bit unbalanced. There’s a great space above his head, but then his hand is cut off at the bottom. It’s a fantastic moment and grab, the kiddos are hard to snap. Handsome little guy. I wonder what he’s wishing for? Great tones and capture!
I love this picture and I especially LOVE the hat! I think that the only thing I would change is that I would have tried to include more of his hand. But, I think it is such a great shot that was probably just “caught” at the right moment and is such a treasure! Beautiful light and color!
What a great picture of a handsome fellow! I like the composition, the backlight, and the shallow depth of field. I would have liked to have seen a little more illumination on his face (maybe a reflector?)–the brightness above the grass draws the eye away from his face. I also would have positioned the camera so that his hand isn’t cropped off and there is less space at the top of the portrait. I really love the beautiful light and color, and his skin tones are nice too. Thanks for sharing.
I love this picture! Beautiful moment with the dandelion and great light. I would brighten up his face a bit and maybe crop it so his hand was showing. The blur and color in the background is great though :)
Hi Anna! Oh my kids love blowing those “blower flowers”! Is this your boy? He’s a handsome fellow! Let’s see…if I were shooting this moment, I would ask him to hold the “blower flowers” up a bit higher. That way, I could shoot all of them without getting so low that I’m shooting up his nose. See how right now his hand is cut off? Having him raise his arm up a bit would keep you from chopping his hand, which is a very important part of this image. That would also cause him to lift his head and put more light on his face. I would also say something like, “Hey! Wanna show me those things you have there? (he’ll hold them straight out to me) Can I try and blow them from here? Can YOU blow them from where you are?!” Also, it looks like the sun is coming in camera left? See how the flowers are too bright? Moving/turning him just a bit would help that. Also, since it looks rather sunny out, I’d lower the ISO to 200 and meter off of his face. Hope that helps, Anna!
Thanks Melissa and hi! This is fantastic adivse. This is a photo of my little boy and he is just so quick. It’s so hard to keep up with him when taking photos because he normally runs the other way! The day we took this he was running all of the park so I was really excited to get this shot. I think I may have accidentally chopped his handed off in camera so that would definitely be something I would change next time too.
Lovely Pic i would have let the kid take of the Shirt he is wearing and let him look into the camera, would love to see how is eyes look like.
The backlighting on this image is so delicious … love how it frames him in a halo of light! The horizontal white stripe of bokeh in the background goes right through his head and I find that to be distracting – next time position him so there’s more of a solid background. Love this sweet capture of an innocent moment of childhood — what a treasure for his mom!
Awww! I love “candid” pictures of children where they aren’t forced to look at the camera and smile! I love the dandelion– If I had to offer a suggestion, I would say a different aperture so that the dandelion was more in focus. Other than that– great picture– the backlighting is great!
I love that photographers can all look at the same image and have different view points. =)
I love the moment – I too love to wonder what he’s wishing for. I agree that adjusting the flowers up would let me see more of his face and add some wonder to the moment. I am torn on the hat – does it distract or add playfulness? I would bump down the ISO and maybe add a little contrast to give it some more depth. Great choice on composition and aperture to blur that background. Makes me have warm wishes for summer and a desire to get something like this with my own son!! =)
This is a great picture that captures so much of his personality, particularly the hat. I might consider blurring out or retouching the design on the T-shirt as both that picture/words and the pattern on the hat are together distracting from his face and expression, which is (or should be?) the focal point of the picture. I love the blurred background.
cute boy, I love the hat. : ) the background seems to be a little over-exposed, so maybe I’d shoot at a different aperture… a lower one, so that I could have a higher shutter speed, if that makes sense. overall I think the lighting is really good… his face is focused on nicely. ;)
Everyone’s artistic eye is different here. I feel the hat adds character, yet I wouldn’t have used it had I taken the shot because it could be seen as too distracting. I definitely would have had him wear a hat though, as his blonde hair would have been too much under the direct sunlight. The hat is more a reflection of the person rather than a fashion statement, so for this family it could be perfect. Advice: Remove some of the yellow in the picture. It’s probably due to the sun reflecting up onto him from the grass/ground. Second, I would have put more of him in the shot, and not cut off part of his hand. If you have more, you can always crop out the bad or just alter the composition of the shot.
I know it’s amazing to see how everyone else see one image. I used my 85mm lens for this and in hindsight I would have stepped back further to get more of him in the shot. This is SOOC so I’m going to play with it in post-processing to see what I can come up with. I agree that it needs some yellow removed.
I like the colors and I love the moment that you captured! Some of my favorite memories were from blowing those seeds everywhere and gathering up as many as I could! I maybe would have taken a few steps back…was he in a field of dandelions? Were they they only two around? (sometimes an exciting treat!)
Thanks Mary. No there were only a few around. We were at a park and these were spotted on a hill near the edge of the road.
Thank you to everyone who critiqued my image. I will take all of your advice and apply it to my next attempt at shooting in this location. We might go back and have another go soon. It has been really helpful to see and hear what others think of my photo.
I love this picture and think it is a great capture. I’m really fond of bright colorful photos and can only come up with beefing up the color some in this photo to really make it pop. I might smooth out his color on his face as well. Really great photo overall!!
I love the joy in this photo. To me, it’s a bit too warm (yellow), so I would adjust the color a small amount or try it in B/W. Otherwise, love the light and feeling.