Candid

[macca]

Hey guys,

I was doing some family photos for a friend of mine and thought I'd try out a few candids while we were all sitting around afterwards. Let me know what you think.

 

[Betty]

Sorry macca, I know its just a candid, but its not great. Would have been better if you blurred the background to get rid of the curtain, some sort of cable and the radiator. Theres also a heavy shadow cast by the flash, sorry

 

[macca]

Thanks for the feedback Betty. I was tempted to try and clone out the cable, radiator & curtain. Didn't consider the shadow

 

[AndyB]

It's candid - you can't chose the background. The moment is more important and you got that. But the shadow is a bit harsh - if it is a hot shoe flash which it look slike it might be, you want to try and bounce it from a wall.

 

[macca]

I will try cloning the shadow out later on when I get a spare minute, thanks Andy

 

[Gareth D]

The background is unfortunate, although as Andy suggested you can't choose your backdrop for candid shots. What you can try to do is open up the lens and get close to your subject to blur it out, and bounce your flash to minimise shadow.

You caught the moment though, and that's half the battle. I hope you don't mind, but since you have your "check" on, I had a little edit for my own personal gratification. I wanted to try to draw attention to your subjects, and minimise the effect of the harsh shadow and unfortunate background. This is what I came up with (didn't spend too much time on it mind - the footie's about to kick off!):

 

[macca]

Of course I don't mind Gareth, I have the check on so people can edit my photos to help me improve and show me what they mean better

Thank you for the effort, it definitely draws your eye to the subject now. I didnt realise how much the shadow and backdrop distracted from the subject. Maybe as its my own photo I had tunnel vision and was looking at what I was meant to, if that makes sense haha