[ramair455]

A tighter crop might even be better.

[Sparkle]

What you took was a snapshot. What you got was a snapshot. It is tough to be impartial when critiquing your own photo of someone you know/like.

[Hardleers]

Aren't snapshots photographs as well? It is no use contemplating each picture we take, since we then will lose all the spontanious beauties. Thats why I asked for some C&C, yes it is a snapshot, but with the editing I've done I feel like it has a bit more. So I'm not critiquing my own picture but asking you to do it. So... What do you think?

[Sparkle]

With all respect: I think it makes a record for you; I think it is difficult to be objective when viewing photos of friends and family; I think it is the kind of thing that Kodak encourages so it can make money on wasted film; I think the snapshot is simply a snapshot; I think that is the hardest thing for people to understand (How many photos of people's babies have you seen that were poor photographs?); most people have not learned to "see". The technique could be vastly improved. One has to know the rules to consistently and effectively break them. (The "rules" are published all over the Net.) However, a snapshot is a snapshot , usually for a "record" rather than objective photographic appeal. Except, of course, the "lucky snapshot" to which Ansel Adams admitted (See: Ansel Adams, "Moon and Half Dome", Yosemite National Park, 1960.). Complaints of the season.

[Sparkle]

For your further edification:

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"Snapshots render memorable moments in imperfect images. Here, glare exposes the photographer and implies his family relationship to the subject.

A snapshot is popularly defined as a photograph that is "shot" spontaneously and quickly, most often without artistic or journalistic intent. Snapshots are commonly considered to be technically "imperfect" or amateurish--out of focus or poorly framed or composed. The term derives from the snap shot of hunting. Common snapshot subjects include the events of everyday life, such as birthday parties and other celebrations; sunsets; children playing; group photos; pets; tourist attractions and the like.

The snapshot concept was introduced to the public on a large scale by Eastman Kodak, which introduced the Brownie box camera in 1900. Kodak encouraged families to use the Brownie to capture moments in time and to shoot photos without being concerned with producing perfect images. Kodak advertising urged consumers to "celebrate the moments of your life" and find a "Kodak moment."

The "snapshot camera" tradition continues with inexpensive point-and-shoot digital cameras and camera phones that fully automate flash, ISO, focus, shutter speed, and other functions, making the shooting of a good-quality image simple. Such cameras are typically programed to achieve a deep depth of field and high shutter speed so that as much of the image is in focus as possible. For expert photographers, who are better able to control the focus point, the use of shallow depth of field often achieves more pleasing images by blurring the background and making the subject stand out. Other photographers consider these cameras the purest form of photographic instrument in that they most enable the creation of images embodying the characteristics that distinguish photography from other visual media - its ubiquity, instantaneity, multiplicity and verisimilitude.[1]"