Aftenoon with kids.

My kids were playng in the backyard, and I was guarding them with 55-300 lens. One was made with sigma 17-70. Attempting to catch the impressions and moods as good as i could.
My composition skills need obviusly improving. Top of the heads are all missing. But somehowe it does not bother me this time.
Constructive criticism is very needed.







Its a shame, that its not sharp. I really like this picture.






This is made with Sigma 17-70

Kid pics aren't my thing but the hair and face in #4 are fantastic, she really means business!

I like nos 1 and 4 myself and I think No 3 could have been a really nice action shot if you had managed to get a bit more in

There are some very promising shots here Henri, I think the first one needs the bright highlights on the right hand side cropping off, they are too distracting, I wonder if the slightly off focus on the first boy was deliberate? even so having the focus on the second boy is what I like about the shot.

From a creative point I cant see anything that make the second and third shots stand out, they are nice enough snaps for the family album though.

I agree with Daves comments on the fourth shot but I feel the image is a bit dull and needs some work to brighten it up, compare this to the last shot and see how the light falling on her face and hair brings the shot to life.

They’re decent ‘family pics’ and no. 4 has potential, but it’s no. 5 I really like – breaks a few rules but it tells a story (the girl looking out of frame oblivious to the OOF figure creeping up behind her). Presume they were playing hide and seek… sweet!

Sorry - OOF = out of focus. Silly abbreviation.

I really like #4. It looks a little flat but i'm sure that can be remedied in PP. Nice one.

Thanks for analising. Can you please tell my, what is the PP?

He'll mean Post Processing I think

Henri, PP stands for Post-Processing. No worries.

For me No1 is nearly very good, had you got both faces sharp (maybe a smaller aperture?),and a slight crop to get rid of the bright area on the right and this would be a cracking shot. Great expression on the lad in the background, well caught.

The last one stands out for me from the point of view of composition. I don't know what the light was like (although it looks good), but I would have preferred more depth of field so that the background was only slightly out of focus (if at all). That way both characters would be as significant in the shot, contrasting the serious expression with the playfulness.

One thing is for sure, with such expressive children you are bound to get some good shots, am almost jealous.

Thanks.
Here is on expressive picture just for you.



And here is him before the portrait.


The aperture is the one thing that I am learning right now, at least I am trying. Remembering all the aspects and compressing those into on one clitch is just something that i am not capable do yet. I try to catch the moment, and learn as much possible during that.

Henri - I've two young kids and one thing you can be sure of, they move around a lot. If you shoot Av, then you'll find the camera often keeps the speed down as low as 1/50th to maintain a low ISO. This can lead to a lot of motion blur (as in your last photo, bottom right). Fine if you want it, but I've taken to using TAv, which lets you set the aperture AND speed - the camera adjusts ISO. Bit more tricky, as you've got to keep more of an eye on things and tweak speed if necessary, but I find this gives me the ability to play with depth of field, without worrying about motion blur.

Oh, and welcome to the forum!

Tony