People Sister and her kid

jolepp · 01-31-2011, 10:37 AM

An attempt at a casual family snap (sister & nephew), looking for CC / improvement tips. (Larger size version here.)

SpecialK · 01-31-2011, 11:22 AM

I'm guessing they are looking at a book, but they have sad expressions. I would just try it again. A hair brush may help, too.

jolepp · 01-31-2011, 12:01 PM

Ah, the idea here was catching them as they happened to be as opposed to setting something up. I think they were watching youtube or somesuch at the time

.

Manel Brand · 01-31-2011, 12:12 PM

Originally posted by jolepp

...looking for CC / improvement tips.

Hi jolepp. Just some (rather subjective) notes.
Composition is OK but I think you could give it more space in the right bottom corner; your nephew (?) is a bit tight on the frame.
In my monitor (I don't care that much with calibration worries) red tones seems a bit overly saturated; a more muted color tone should improve the overall look of the image (but that's because I like it, particularly in portraits).
You may also consider a B&W conversion, as they go particularly well in portraits (for me, again). Furthermore, the photo may need some (color) noise reduction work; conversion to B&W may fix that, if you don't succeed by other means.
Finally, you could do some retouching, softening some blemishes, removing some background distractions (this may imply some hard work: removing that dark line behind your sister's head might be a tricky job to do, but you could try softening it a bit), and balancing tones also in the background, namely reduce the luminosity of the left-top corner to match the right side of the background.
Hope it helps.
Cheers.

Last edited by Manel Brand; 01-31-2011 at 12:12 PM. Reason: typo

**Ash** · 01-31-2011, 01:42 PM

Jole, Manel has given good tips here for this particular candid snap.
The biggest areas to improve here for me are pose and lighting.
A more engaging look from both subjects would make a world of difference to your audience's interest and pleasure from the causal photo.
The ambient lighting, while it seems sufficient for a decently acceptable ISO with the K-5, is a little flat. I wouldn't suggest a whole off-camera flash setup, but even just a hotshoe-mounted P-TTL flash bounced from the ceiling or corner of the walls may give you that extra touch of light to bring out texture, contrast and reduce the need for high ISO.
Hope this helps.

01-31-2011, 10:37 AM	#1
jolepp Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Finland Photos: Albums Posts: 3,196	Sister and her kid Lens: Helios 44M 58mm 1:2 Camera: K-5 Photo Location: @Home ISO: 3200 Shutter Speed: 1/45s Aperture: F4 An attempt at a casual family snap (sister & nephew), looking for CC / improvement tips. (Larger size version here.)

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01-31-2011, 11:22 AM	#2
SpecialK Pentaxian Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: So California Photos: Gallery Posts: 16,480	I'm guessing they are looking at a book, but they have sad expressions. I would just try it again. A hair brush may help, too.

01-31-2011, 12:01 PM	#3
jolepp Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Finland Photos: Albums Posts: 3,196 Original Poster	Ah, the idea here was catching them as they happened to be as opposed to setting something up. I think they were watching youtube or somesuch at the time .

01-31-2011, 12:12 PM	#4
Manel Brand Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Porto Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 853	Originally posted by jolepp ...looking for CC / improvement tips. Hi jolepp. Just some (rather subjective) notes. Composition is OK but I think you could give it more space in the right bottom corner; your nephew (?) is a bit tight on the frame. In my monitor (I don't care that much with calibration worries) red tones seems a bit overly saturated; a more muted color tone should improve the overall look of the image (but that's because I like it, particularly in portraits). You may also consider a B&W conversion, as they go particularly well in portraits (for me, again). Furthermore, the photo may need some (color) noise reduction work; conversion to B&W may fix that, if you don't succeed by other means. Finally, you could do some retouching, softening some blemishes, removing some background distractions (this may imply some hard work: removing that dark line behind your sister's head might be a tricky job to do, but you could try softening it a bit), and balancing tones also in the background, namely reduce the luminosity of the left-top corner to match the right side of the background. Hope it helps. Cheers. Last edited by Manel Brand; 01-31-2011 at 12:12 PM. Reason: typo

01-31-2011, 01:42 PM	#5
Ash Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Toowoomba, Queensland Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 23,920	Jole, Manel has given good tips here for this particular candid snap. The biggest areas to improve here for me are pose and lighting. A more engaging look from both subjects would make a world of difference to your audience's interest and pleasure from the causal photo. The ambient lighting, while it seems sufficient for a decently acceptable ISO with the K-5, is a little flat. I wouldn't suggest a whole off-camera flash setup, but even just a hotshoe-mounted P-TTL flash bounced from the ceiling or corner of the walls may give you that extra touch of light to bring out texture, contrast and reduce the need for high ISO. Hope this helps.