My daughter and her same age cousin had clearly had it at the same time! I know there is probably a lot technically wrong about this picture, but I thought catching the two very similar expressions was priceless!
red is a primary color and will draw your eye right to it and away from the faces of your subject. Solid colors are good and much better then prints. Take this image and flip it upside down and look at it in a mirror, and your eyes will go to the red first. The point of interest should be the eyes or the face. I know its a Christmas image and red is a christmas color. And sometimes you have to work with what you have or your clients want.
Thanks very much for your help. I would like to improve my "people" pictures and the tips I've received on this one will help tremendously. David, when you say red is not a good portrait color, what would you suggest in a case like this, where it's the clothing worn. Do you think black and white would improve the image? And just for future knowledge sake, are cool colors better portrait colors? Thanks for taking the time to critique so in detail!
As you say, you see this picture in the context in which it was shot, and it's so difficult to try to block that out and see it as just the photograph it is, without the memories surrounding it. I have the same problem and being aware of it helps a bit, but it's hard to look at one of my shots and not think "well, this is a really nice one because it was so hard to shoot: I drove 700 miles in one day and was tired and it was 95 degrees out and I had to climb a fence and fell and almost broke my leg... ." No one looking at the picture is going to know that. And I agree that ratings without comment are not very useful.
Petra there are a few things that would help this image. One is the image is not sharp, there is also some lens flare in the image. Try to reshot this image and move a little to the left and a little higher. Moving to the left will help the shape of the face,on the boy you will not get the right eye breaking the side of the face. And a little higher you will not be shooting up there noses. Also red is not a good portrait color. and if possible try not to get to picture frame in the background. I know this is a snap shot. About 75% of our images the subject is not looking at the camera or smiling. With a little more space around the image and the children looking in the same direction your eye will be stopped by the childrens faces. I can see what you tried for and you will make it happen with just a few improvements. Hope this helps you.
Thanks, Kim :). Maybe this was the wrong day to post this picture, as it was an emotional one for me :), you're totally right, it's what makes us happy that we should photograph. And different people will see different things when looking at the pictures. Maybe my explanation helps a bit as to why this picture meant something to me, maybe not.
I don't think that you should have to post "only smiles" from now on... post what you want, and people will let you know what they think. I personally find this to be uninteresting expression, but I don't have kids. Perhaps there are many parents on here that look at this photo and see exactly what you saw... exhaustion from The Day. But I was not trying to say that pictures have to be straight on and happy to be good. Just shoot what makes you happy, and the rest, who cares! *grin*
Thanks for your comment, it's certainly worth way more than a simple rating! Of course I see this picture with a whole history in mind, something others don't: hours of unwrapping gifts, having to sit up and smile and thankfully, I also captured some of the smiling pictures :).
I just don't think a child's picture has to be face on and smiling to be interesting. To me, these kids show a very kid like expression, namely, one of total boredom.
That was what I was trying to portray and I'm sorry if that makes the picture uninteresting to others, I guess I'll be sure to post only smiles in the future.
I appreciate your comment about the line on my daughter's chin, I have not been able to figure out where that came from or what to do about it.
Thank you for your thoughts, I really appreciate your taking the time to write them down :). Thanks again!
Petra, I wasn't one of the people that rated, but I will give you my honest critique. Without the title, the kids both look bored and uniterested... and with only half of each of their faces showing, as they look off the frame, it makes me feel uninterested too. There seems to be a weird line running along your daughters chin, making half of her chin dark. The softness of the image is too bad as well, but this could be the scan. Since this is a snapshot, and you couldn't ask them to move because that would a) alert them to the fact that you were taking a picture and b) probably wake them up a bit, I think that you did well to remove most of the distracting elements in the background. If you had gotten just a bit higher you might have been able to remove the picture frame. I agree with you on the rating system... but just ignore those people... they obviously don't have the talent to write something legible.
I think there is room for improvement, as most photos have. I know a lot of mine need it! But you know your child best, and if this shows off an emotion that you recognise and like, well, then that's all that matters.
I hope you don't think I've been harsh! Just trying to help!
Okay, going out on a limb here. I have 2 low ratings on this picture. I'd like to hear why. How can I improve. This is what I have against the rating system. I know it is a snapshot, but giving it one and zero ratings is not helping. As a matter of fact, it's discouraging. If you are going to rate a picture, than supply the photographer with a reason. I never rate without a comment, because I think it's what the photographer deserves. And seeing a picture of 2 kids I adore rated 1 or zero is hurtful, frankly, if it's not supported by constructive criticism that has to do with the picture itself :).
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