How would you make this better?

stardesigns

stardesigns

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Edit My Images
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Okay, so we went for chilly walk on the beach yesterday and I took the camera out for a few snaps. I got this one and I like the general jist however, I don't really know how I can make it "better", I'm not 100% happy with the edit, but I feel the original needs work [emoji17] how would you improve? PSX_20170104_172951.jpegIMG_2444.jpeg
 
Ok, where to start

1.the horizon slopes like a Ski run- I'd level that out before I took the shot - it can be corrected in PP
2. Its way under exposed, meter for the child ( spot metering) as there is no detail in the clothing etc wider aperture - slower shutter speed or use a flash to fill light
3. A crop to put the subject Off Centre is alway a good place to start

Ive done a slight edit to show you what I mean -( I do see your edit image box is saying No) I will remove this if you want me too, I just found it easier to demonstrate using your image

Here-

7ZGWrUP.jpg


Les ;)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
If im honest, its really under exposed in the subject. Unfortunately u dont allow image edits or I would have tweak and show you in LR. I would try and expose this a little more and go from there :)
 
You've done well to get down to the level of the subject, that's a good start.

Having written the following it feels terribly negative - please don't take it to heart. I don't think processing can really save this one; your edit is only drawing attention to the flaws with the original. It's wonky and underexposed. There also seems to be some motion blur, or maybe the face is out of focus. Lastly, you haven't really caught a great moment or expression; it's not terribly engaging.

What mode are you shooting in? And which metering mode? Shooting into the light has definitely confused the metering - you might have got on better if the sun was behind you, or just accepted that you're going to lose detail in the sky. If you're in fully auto then - as @Lez325 says - spot metering or adding some exposure compensation would help, or shooting in one of the semi-auto modes would help you get control of both the shutter speed and the metering.

fwiw this was taken under very similar lighting conditions to yours and was very lightly processed. Some would say it's over exposed but the skin tones are about where I want them.

Mary (Custom).jpg

hth
 
Thank-you very much for the feed back. I really do take it all on board as I am trying my to get better at this [emoji5]
I hadn't really intended this to be a picture, I had a few just before and just after which I feel happier with, however I liked the clouds in this one, and I felt with the pose and how the horizon was caught it almost seemed like he was "balancing on a spinning world" and thought this would maybe make a better silhouette shot compared to a focal shot.
What sort of manual settings would be best for this sort of lighting? I would have thought the flash may have been a bit to harsh on this occasion?
This shot was taken in auto as was a quick snap, and to be honest I'm not very confident in manual settings out doors yet. This is a photo I took a little before this one that I'm a bit more happy with.PSX_20170104_174535.jpeg
 
stardesigns said:
Thank-you very much for the feed back. I really do take it all on board as I am trying my to get better at this [emoji5]
I hadn't really intended this to be a picture, I had a few just before and just after which I feel happier with, however I liked the clouds in this one, and I felt with the pose and how the horizon was caught it almost seemed like he was "balancing on a spinning world" and thought this would maybe make a better silhouette shot compared to a focal shot.
What sort of manual settings would be best for this sort of lighting? I would have thought the flash may have been a bit to harsh on this occasion?
This shot was taken in auto as was a quick snap, and to be honest I'm not very confident in manual settings out doors yet. This is a photo I took a little before this one that I'm a bit more happy with.View attachment 93018
Click to expand...

That's much more successful!

You don't need to go to full manual. A good place to start is in aperture priority with auto ISO - but make sure that you set a minimum shutter speed so that the camera doesn't let motion blur become an issue. That'll be an option in the menu system somewhere. 1/200s might be a good starting point for child portraits.

Then you need to get the hang of getting the exposure where you want it. There are a number of different ways of doing this. One is exposure compensation - which tells the camera to make things brighter or darker than the default metering. Or you can use exposure lock (AEL) - where you use one part of the scene to determine the exposure, then recompose and take the shot. Or you can shoot in manual exposure with manual ISO.

There's one more way of working which might help - take a shot and then look at the histogram. It should normally fill the whole chart from left to right. If it is bunched to the left, dial in some positive exposure compensation, and if to the right some negative. Then reshoot.

Your camera has two main metering modes to get familiar with - matrix (or evaluative) and spot. Matrix uses the whole image to work out what the exposure should be, and spot uses either the spot in the centre or the spot under the focus point - depending on camera - to work it out. It's worth learning how both modes behave.

fwiw In constant light I almost always use spot metering in conjunction with full manual but I'm fairly unusual.

I'd recommend staying away from flash for a bit. Not because it's necessarily harsh but because the learning curve is unforgiving and is likely to lead to worse results, at least initially.
 
Thank-you @juggler! I feel the lighting is so much better in this picture and that even though the landscape is pretty, it doesn't draw too much attention away from the main subject, which when I done my first edit of this one I think I over contrasted and even though it made the sky looked beautiful, made my son blend in rather than stand out [emoji17]
I haven't long got my new camera (cannon eos 100d) so Im still very much learning what it can do! My sons second birthday is coming up soon and we will be trying a home cake smash session so I will bare in mind what you have said to hopefully get a better image!

@ecoleman I completely agree! It's my biggest down fall at the moment as there have been many opertunities where I could have had a really nice image but I'm missing feet, or hands, and it makes me cry a little inside [emoji17] lots more practice and being a bit more cautious with my shots.
 
This is a straightforward exposure problem?

The 1st image you like so much has a perfectly exposed sky but an underexposed subject.

You could have perfectly exposed the subject :) but the sky would have been blown :(

To get both the sky and subject exposed properly requires the addition of light to your subject, you might get there with just a reflector, but the best option would be adding flash. And if you want that to look great, you'll need to learn how to control that light to make it big, soft and natural looking.

The other option is a slight cheat, taking 2 exposures, 1 for the subject and one for the sky.
 
One thing you need to learn is how to make the photo brighter or darker on the camera. We call it exposure compensation. It's very easy to do and in the modern world of digital you can have a look at the photo you have just taken and then adjust. With time you will start to understand when to adjust the exposure before you even take a photo. So many people ignore the manual that came with the camera but they are full of great tips. This is especially true if the camera is not aimed at the pro market. Have a look in the manual for exposure compensation and have a play.
 
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