[kewpie-o]

My first time shooting in the snow. Any cc would be greatly appreciated!


ISO 100 F11 1/250s 50mm +1ev
PP in PS CS4: bumped up the exposure + .60 , unsharp mask, slight edge burn

Exposure and WB are pretty good. I think you may have oversharpened it a bit, the snowman looks like it's been collaged in and the sharpness of the fence is a bit overpowering.
The composition is ok but the perspective and background being in focus makes it too much of a snapshot for me. It would have been better I think to get down lower and a bit closer with a wider aperture so that you could shoot up at your subjects making them larger in the frame and at the same time, blur the background.
More of the little girls face would have been nice (or none of it at all maybe).

[wallyb]

Looks like just a snapshot really. I know clipped highlights are a no-no, but when you don't clip *any* of the snow, the whole image looks dim and blech. I don't think it's a flattering position for the kid nor the snowman, either.

[juu]

It looks too dim. In some sense the girl and the snowman are positioned well, but because of the background including the house with the top chopped off the picture still seems cluttered.

Also I'd wish the girl was looking at us.

[kewpie-o]

Thanks for the input, guys! It really helps to "see" a pic through someone else's eyes. I've never posted a photo for critique before - I wish I would have started posting a long time ago because I can see how it will really help me improve.

[tcdk]

What Damn Brit said - and add contrast. I added 75 in lightroom...

[GoremanX]

I know others have stated that the exposure looks good, but I disagree completely. The snow doesn't look white, it looks dirty and bland. When I look out the window at snow, it looks white, even when the sky is overcast. The snow in this picture does not have that quality at all. Your brain might try to correct it because it knows it's supposed to be looking at snow, but look at the massive difference between the whiteness of the snow and the whiteness of this site's background.

Thing is, it's REALLY hard to get snow right in photography because the camera's meter mistakes all the white for "light". For proper snow exposure, I'd have a close look at the histogram of each shot you take. Don't just look at the snow and assume it looks "white enough", your brain will fool you. Check to make sure the histogram is actually sitting near the right edge. The closer it is to the edge, the whiter your snow will look. The more snow in your shot, the bigger the "right" hump should be. Also, if your histogram is near the right edge, and the hump there is really wide, that means your snow will probably have lots of detail (instead of just looking like washed-out white).

The adjusted version that tcdk posted improves on the snow's whiteness, but it kills all the snow's detail. The snowman looks flat, almost like a cardboard cutout. It's possible to improve the appearance of snow in PP, but it's best to get the exposure right at the time of shooting.

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Last edited by GoremanX; 02-07-2010 at 06:42 PM.

[wallyb]

There's also a nasty vignette on this image that I just noticed. I guess that's what you mean by 'edge burn'? It doesn't look good and makes the image look darker and more bleh-y.