# New Photographer. Looking for Critique.



## Toph112 (Jan 15, 2018)

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to photography, about 7 months in. I am now taking photos will manual settings and I wanted to post a picture that I thought was some of my best work thus far. Since I am new though, I wanted to get input from experienced photographers! I would appreciate any insight!



 
Thanks!


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## Rick50 (Jan 15, 2018)

Where is the light? Why so dark? The looking away looks distracting to me.


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## Dean_Gretsch (Jan 15, 2018)

The looking away doesn't bother me. She looks deep in thought, but it is a bit too dark for my tastes. Welcome!


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## Cortian (Jan 15, 2018)

Caveat: I am not what one might refer to as an "experienced photographer" 

Looks good on its technical merits.  Not certain about what emotion it's meant to convey or evoke, however.  The little girl looks almost frightened, or perhaps startled, which evokes a darkness for which I do not care.  If she'd had a more thoughtful, pensive or curious expression I think I'd have found it more interesting than ...disturbing?


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## goooner (Jan 15, 2018)

Welcome, I'm sure there will be some pro's around soon to give better tips. But coming from me, there a few things that bother me.

Like mentioned, not enough light
seems a tad soft
cut off the fingers, and the top of the bow (maybe an upright ie portrait crop would look better)
Very central
That's my 2 pence. Welcome to the forum, if you don't have a thin skin, and you're willing to learn, this place is fantastic.

If you allow people to edit your photos,they can show you what they mean as well.


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## SquarePeg (Jan 15, 2018)

Hi and welcome!  Agree that this is underexposed.  Why b&w?  She looks mostly gray.  A beautiful little girl in a party dress begs for color, IMO.


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## waday (Jan 15, 2018)

Cute kid! I do like the expression, and it's made me think of whether this is a candid or whether you asked for such a pose? She looks very imaginative, and the outfit seems to fit.

I agree with the others, it's very dark and very grey.

IMO, this would look very good as a portrait orientation, rather than landscape. Oddly, she's very tight in the frame, but has a lot of negative space on either side. This seems to negatively impact the balance of the photo. Her hairpiece is just being cropped at the top and her hands are cropped at the bottom.

You could expand the image above to give a bit more space at the top, and then change to portrait orientation. While her hands will still be cropped out, this might frame her better. In addition, increase exposure, increase contrast, increase clarity/structure/etc. 

If you'd be willing to change your photo settings to allow others to edit, we could give it a go at showing you how we'd personally edit the photo.


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## Toph112 (Jan 15, 2018)

Hi all, thanks so far. I tend to shoot darker for some reason... I guess that's not a good thing. I did this in black and white bc I wanted the more somber feel that even though she is in a dress, there could be other things going on (like her being sick which she is), that are bothering her. FYI, this is my daughter and she came in my office dressed in a dance outfit and asked for pictures. I didn't make her do this when she was sick! Lol. 

You're right that it does end up coming off a little creepier than I had in my mind. I just wanted it pondering, not creepy. But now looking at it though your light, I can totally see that.


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## KmH (Jan 15, 2018)

Nice soft shadows (large light source).

2 full stops underexposed and with her gaze off tho the side she should not be centered in the frame.
For people using the value of brightness in the red channel of highlights on a persons face portrait photographers strive for a value of at least 230.
The image you posted has a red channel value of 130 on her camera left cheek.
Camera Exposure: Aperture, ISO & Shutter Speed

Understanding Histograms, Part 1: Tones & Contrast
Understanding Histograms, Part 2: Luminosity & Color
I added 2 stops of exposure, boosted mid-tone contrast, sharpened a bit and cropped.


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## Toph112 (Jan 15, 2018)

waday said:


> Cute kid! I do like the expression, and it's made me think of whether this is a candid or whether you asked for such a pose? She looks very imaginative, and the outfit seems to fit.
> 
> I agree with the others, it's very dark and very grey.
> 
> ...



I have changed my settings now. Unfortunately, the bow and fingers are cropped out of the actually shot, so changing to portrait doesn't fix anything as far as that goes. Lesson learned! 

I have uploaded a different shot in portrait mode from the same "series." One in Color and one in BW. BW exposures/contrast brought up a bit and cropped portrait. If you get time, please let me know your thoughts. I don't think the color one worked out. My 2 year old kept messing with my curtains and the my subject (daughter) kept moving so a shot with too much light on her face ended up the being the best one... arg... THANKS!


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## Toph112 (Jan 15, 2018)

KmH said:


> Nice soft shadows (large light source).
> 
> 2 full stops underexposed and with her gaze off tho the side she should not be centered in the frame.
> For people using the value of brightness in the red channel of highlights on a persons face portrait photographers strive for a value of at least 230.
> ...



Wow! Thank you for the edit and lesson there! I still don't quite know why I'm doing around the histogram, so I appreciate your links.


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## Toph112 (Jan 15, 2018)

SquarePeg said:


> Hi and welcome!  Agree that this is underexposed.  Why b&w?  She looks mostly gray.  A beautiful little girl in a party dress begs for color, IMO.



She ended up black and white for a couple of reasons. 1) I wanted to shoot black and white to create a more somber mood because even though she is wearing that outfit, her mood did not match the outfit. 2) Her 2-year old brother messed up my better color shots by moving my curtains and causing distraction.  I posted a color picture that I tried to fix above his reply.


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## Toph112 (Jan 15, 2018)

KmH said:


> Nice soft shadows (large light source).
> 
> 2 full stops underexposed and with her gaze off tho the side she should not be centered in the frame.
> For people using the value of brightness in the red channel of highlights on a persons face portrait photographers strive for a value of at least 230.
> ...



And now I need to iron that backdrop! Had it been an actual purposeful instant instead of my daughter running in and saying "Daddy, take a picture of me!" I would have taken more care.


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## zulu42 (Jan 15, 2018)

She is an absolute doll, and likes her picture taken... this is great! I really like what you're doing as far as being open to creating moody images. With children it can be really powerful. Great start.


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## Designer (Jan 15, 2018)

Toph112 said:


> Hi all, thanks so far. I tend to shoot darker for some reason... I guess that's not a good thing. I did this in black and white bc I wanted the more somber feel that even though she is in a dress, there could be other things going on (like her being sick which she is), that are bothering her. FYI, this is my daughter and she came in my office dressed in a dance outfit and asked for pictures. I didn't make her do this when she was sick! Lol.
> 
> You're right that it does end up coming off a little creepier than I had in my mind. I just wanted it pondering, not creepy. But now looking at it though your light, I can totally see that.


Your original was not just "dark", it was underexposed.  There are ways to convey a sense of "darkness" and mystery by manipulating the light, but still end up with a good exposure.

Also, if your subject is mostly vertical, then you might as well turn your camera to "portrait" orientation, and frame it so as to avoid chopping off parts of your subject.  The extra background on the sides add nothing to the portrait.

Later on, you can study posing so as to offer some coaching.  Nothing wrong with her eyes looking off frame, but a little more animation wouldn't hurt a thing.


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## vintagesnaps (Jan 15, 2018)

I had to chuckle at the 2 year old brother! yeah, I bet he was a help! lol

With B&W you want to have a 'black' black and a 'white' white somewhere in the image (I've found that the 'white' white should be in parts of the photo other than reflections, highlights, etc.) then adjust from there. Since B&W is the absence of color, try to think about where you see light and dark in the image, and how much contrast you see. If the colors are different but all similar in tone, it can just look like a lot of gray (as does the bright pink and yellow she's wearing). 

It almost looks like there's either a bit of blur in the second one or the depth of field was so shallow she's not all in focus. It takes time to get good at the technical aspects of it, but you seem to have some creativity with what you're working toward. I think it's good to make use of a spontaneous moment (and it sounds like she's a willing subject!) and if nothing else you may get a photo for your personal collection and a learning experience out of it.


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## OldManJim (Jan 15, 2018)

Good first efforts. You've been given some great advice here. One suggestion is to place a light on the backdrop so that the subject is separated. You might find that give a different look altogether. Actually, I like the color shot against the black background best of all.


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## Toph112 (Jan 15, 2018)

Designer said:


> Toph112 said:
> 
> 
> > Hi all, thanks so far. I tend to shoot darker for some reason... I guess that's not a good thing. I did this in black and white bc I wanted the more somber feel that even though she is in a dress, there could be other things going on (like her being sick which she is), that are bothering her. FYI, this is my daughter and she came in my office dressed in a dance outfit and asked for pictures. I didn't make her do this when she was sick! Lol.
> ...



Oh ok. I'm reading Bryan Peterson's book "Understanding Exposure" currently so hopefully I can get a better grasp and understanding. Thank you!


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## SquarePeg (Jan 15, 2018)

Great choice of reading.  Looking forward to seeing your future photos


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