Portrait critique welcome

[Gina]

Hi all,

I am offering this portrait up for critique. I can see how this could be improved. especially the lighting but I'd like your comments so that I have something to work on.

Much appreciation,

Gina

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[Josh Bear]

Re: Portrait critique welcome

I like to start by saying that I like this picture. The pose is natural (something I know is not easy to achieve will kids).

The main opportunity in my opinion is a change to the lighting. I think the background needs more light. Obviously I don't know the set up of the room you were working in but if possible I would set the subject a couple of feet further forward and use a reflector to fill in the light on the front of the little boy. In addition tracing paper or similar over the window (I assume it is a window) would diffuse the light and get rid of the blown highlights.

Best Regards

Josh

[Bearface]

Re: Portrait critique welcome

Hi all,

I am offering this portrait up for critique. I can see how this could be improved. especially the lighting but I'd like your comments so that I have something to work on.

Much appreciation,

Gina

__________________________________________________ _____

What Josh said

Seriously, this is very cute and nobody's going to argue with the timing of your shot, or the little fella's expression.

There are however two key areas for improvement. Firstly the background is a little uninspiring (and creased) and secondly the window light is out of control, leaving distracting hotspots all over your set and the model himself.

When doing a child portrait, many people elect to use a cloth backdrop and
some kind of "posing pod" to create an image, which personally I've always found a little, er.......cheesy and predictable . One of my suggestions would be to let the child loose to play and / or interact with you on a clear lawn, or perhaps in a room where the clutter is minimal (use of a wider aperture to soften the background works well in these conditions...). Not only would the scope for a natural, less contrived expression be increased, but you'd also have a more pleasant, less obvious setting / background to boot. Anyway, that's just my opinion...

The answer to harsh window lighting (assuming you don't have access to reflectors and diffusers) is simply to pull a white sheet (or muslin....or trace) over the offending window and re-adjust your exposure as necessary. If you're able to shoot in RAW, you can under-expose the image to protect any potential hotspots and then recover the image later.........or you can use some carefully-placed full-flash (bounce off the ceiling or a nearby wall) to provide light to those areas which may be in shadow once you've put that sheet over the window...

There are almost infinite possibilites, but controlling your light source would be the most obvious route to improving a shot such as this. The subjective stuff..........such as what kind of setting to use..........is down to you, of course

[Tinka]

Re: Portrait critique welcome

What a lovely young chap, very photogenic,
Pity about the all white background and blown highlights, I have never tried to pose a child portrait because it is so difficult, but I would take the pictures as he is moveing about doing things in a natural way. any way thats my way, if you want a posed shot, then try drapeing the background as you would your cutains, so the folds look neat and attractive, or have the background completely flat, and even out the lighting as has already been covered. There are some terrific books on lighting technique in the local libraries.
Good Luck

[iskandar]

Re: Portrait critique welcome

I like the expression n the baby's face. The shadow on his face is a bit distracting, maybe you can use a reflector to reduce the harsh shadow.