Okay, need your opinions - DPChallenge Forums

11/05/2005 12:58:47 AM · #1

What would have made this shot better?

Here's the original:

Deannda
if I'm going to do this for a living, I need better than average

11/05/2005 01:05:48 AM · #2

Be careful who you ask...

11/05/2005 01:07:20 AM · #3

LOL! Why did I not see that one coming?

James will love that, he loves dinosaurs!

Deannda

11/05/2005 01:20:11 AM · #4

Originally posted by Neuferland:

LOL! Why did I not see that one coming?

James will love that, he loves dinosaurs!

Deannda

Tell James to be careful of G's morning breath. :)

mystical_princess

Canon EOS-5D

11/05/2005 01:31:25 AM · #5

left a comment

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

11/05/2005 01:43:49 AM · #6

Originally posted by Neuferland:

What would have made this shot better?

A different challenge. :)

The shot is actually very good and has a lot of potential. Nothing legal here, but I tried a few things on it - mainly the crop and getting rid of the carseat (?)

Brad

Olympus OM-D E-M1

11/05/2005 01:49:37 AM · #7

A tighter, softer & higher contrast look?
Let the lighting work for you on something like this.

11/05/2005 12:37:28 PM · #8

Originally posted by kpriest:

Be careful who you ask...

Okay, James has seen the picture and he said, "DINOSAUR!! COOL DINOSAUR!!"

Deannda
great, just what I need, a Godzilla fan

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED

11/05/2005 12:42:17 PM · #9

Thanks everyone! See, this is the stuff I need to figure out and with your help I can! ;)

Deannda
Will play with and post the results later

conglett

Nikon D70

11/05/2005 01:38:40 PM · #10

To me there is a big difference between asking "How could I have made this image better to score well on DPChallenge?" and "How can I take better photos to sell athe the professional level to clients?" Most comments I have seen here seem to address the former. I suspect you meant the latter, and I will attempt to convey my semi-informed opinions to that effect.

While this is a nice candid snapshot of your child I look at this and ask myself whether you could SELL this to a client, and I have to say probably not. Taking a photo in a car seat with the only light coming from the window puts you behind the eight ball so to speak from a professional perspective, and therefore was probably not the ideal image to consider from this point of view. There are steps in post-processing you can take to make up for unfortunate aspects (i.e. eliminating car seat fabric) like BradP shows.

If you haven't set up a studio, that will likely become a necessity. You will need a place you can control the environment around the subject, taking variability such as lighting out of the equation and using it to your advantage. Your ability to capture a nice pose is present and is a key component to portraiture. From a professional perspective you will do well to consider what it will take to set it up where other components are in place as well.

Good luck!

11/05/2005 01:50:20 PM · #11

Originally posted by conglett:

This is what I'm looking for, thank you!

I have the studio set up started, but will be doing mostly candids for the beginning. I need to be able to take those candids and make them into sellers to the parents.

On another site I was told not to put any unsmiling children into my promotional material because parents don't want unhappy children. Well, just because they aren't smiling doesn't mean they are unhappy. Some of my best and most loved shots of my kids are the serious, thoughtful ones, where I can see they thinking and figuring out things or are so engrossed in a subject or activity you can see the joy in the expression even if the smile isn't there. Does that make sense?

Deannda

suemack

Canon EOS-20D

11/05/2005 02:23:57 PM · #12

Yep, that does make sense Deannda. Though parents love the happy smiling face shots, they cherish the ones where you see the soul of the child.