Hi there from a newbie.

[annette71]

Looking for some pointers and any constructive critism, feel free to be brutally honest, I want to learn! This is a portrait of my oldest son, I took the other day, as he messed around on his laptop.

Nikon D5200
F/5.7
Focal length 55mm
ISO: 6400
No Flash

[Aforns]

Would crop some from the right side, the light area is distracting. In front could soften the bg to focus on the main subject. btw all could (should) have been done at the time of making the image, move a bit to frame the light area out an shoot wide open focusing on the face.

Like the look and feel. Very good image!!

[annette71]

Thanks Alfred, I see what you mean about the light area.. I also noticed after I took it, that my ISO may have been a bit too high. Not only was the background blurred (not enough) it is a bit noisy. Still learning how to use a DSLR and all the manual settings! Thanks so much for the feedback. I do appreciate it.

[PhotoRob]

I'm not bothered by the background, but the lower part of his face looks soft to me. Depth of Field is a challenge, particularly shooting up close and when the plane of the lens isn't squared against the subject. You mind posting the EXIF / metadata for this shot? Time saver for everyone...

[annette71]

Robert, is there any way to copy all of the information? I can view it in Paint shop pro and Adobe CS. There is no way to copy it to paste in here. I am still learning Lightroom, so not sure how to view it in there. Thanks!

[Smudger]

Hi Annette and welcome to CiC. Like you, I am also quite new here and am making progress on portraiture. I am far from being Pro but I can add some comments for you to consider.

I agree with other comments about cropping out that light at the top right of the image.

ISO 6400 seems very high indeed. Depending on the lighting and whatnot, I would try to keep it under the 800 mark but thats just me. I usually try and keep the ISO as low as possible and work with other setting first and then increase the ISO if I am not getting anywhere close with other settings. That said, I would probably never have guesses that you had used such a high value of ISO from just looking at the image.

Where was your focus point?

What I try and do is ensuring that my camera's auto focus is set to one shot, then this enables me to focus on the closer eye to the camera and once in focus, keep your finger semi pressed on the button so that the focus stays the same, then I re-frame the shot to get the correct composition I want, or there abouts. THis will then give you the composition but the eyes will/should always remain sharp and in focus.

From what I can see, your focus point was on the bridge of your son's nose, which is sharp and in focus but then, it seems like the DOF might have already pushed his left eye/eye lashes etc out of focus.

Of course, this is only my opinion and I could be wrong.

Really nice, natural shot otherwise and good composition (minus the upper right) but that can be altered in processing.

Regards.

[annette71]

Thanks for the feedback Nigel. I was trying to foucs on too much I think, I tried getting his eyes/nose area. (Gotta practice that) I do see what you mean and when I brought it into photoshop, I noticed the lashes and eye out of focus as well and said "damn!" So you are right there. Again here, I was trying to not use the flash. So I was adjusting the ISO and went too high. Something to keep in mind the next time. The lighting in my house is challenging, and it has been far too cold, snowy and windy to move it outside the last week and a half since I got the camera.
Thanks so much for your reply!

[Smudger]

I was trying to foucs on too much I think, I tried getting his eyes/nose area!

Just pracice on worrying about getting the eyes nice and in focus anf everything else will fall into place...well, kind of.

Focus on eye, finger stays where it is (semi pressed to hold the focus) then reframe and press the button. Dont release it first because the auto focus will then be lost and you will have to do it again. Hope this makes sense. Keep us updated on your next one please. Good luck.

[annette71]

Thanks, got it. semi press, hold focus, reframe.

[WJT]

Hi Annette and welcome. The background kills this picture for me. If not for that this could be a very tight and well composed image. You have captured the mood of your bro and that is the hard part. I would convert this to black and white or sepia and you will have a less distracting back ground and a much better image. You havent mentioned your shutter speed, what was it? I ask because your ISO setting is extremely high, was it on auto?