My daughter sulking

[Goldcoastgolfer]

My wife and a random stranger really liked this shot of my daughter sulking after I told her she was spending too much money at the markets we were at on Sunday. It probably helped that the random stranger sold us the headband on her head and is using the picture as advertising on her Facebook site!

Anyway, thought I'd get some feedback. I'm thinking personally the shot is a bit soft - I guess in the eyes of some that's a good thing. I'm still trying to understand what I like myself so I thought I'd canvass around for some opinions

[allenlennon]

i do love this photo, but i think it is a tad soft, but it works

[rob marshall]

Sorry, but what is the subject here? Is it your daughter, or the three flowers in her hair? I'm afraid the flowers are incredibly distracting. Added to that her gaze is steeply downwards so as a viewer we just lose all interest in her, and are taken back to those flowers. The camera angle doesn't help either. It makes her face/head look rather distorted. It looks soft because that camera angle is making you lose focus as you go down her face from the top of the shot.

Being more positive. Had you taken the headband off and moved the camera down, it would have been a very good shot. If she was sullen (head hung) you don't need a camera angle like that to emphasize it.

[shreds]

Is this the whole of the original shot? Has it been cropped at all? Some of the flowers are slightly out of focus (too close?) and its a shame they are cut off across the top.

Obviously a spur of the moment shot, but the need for a slightly more stopped down aperture would have helped no end.

Nevertheless its not what we think if your wife likes it, that is all that matters. 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder' and all that. We all have shots like that!

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Sorry, but what is the subject here? Is it your daughter, or the three flowers in her hair? I'm afraid the flowers are incredibly distracting. Added to that her gaze is steeply downwards so as a viewer we just lose all interest in her, and are taken back to those flowers. The camera angle doesn't help either. It makes her face/head look rather distorted. It looks soft because that camera angle is making you lose focus as you go down her face from the top of the shot.

Being more positive. Had you taken the headband off and moved the camera down, it would have been a very good shot. If she was sullen (head hung) you don't need a camera angle like that to emphasize it.

So the idea was to get the headband as the subject obviously on a girl's head. DOF was obviously too shallow as too much of the photo came out soft and I missed the top of the headband. Believe it or not the camera was actually level with my daughter's face - she had her head tilted down that far - it wasn't the camera angle.

Is this the whole of the original shot? Has it been cropped at all? Some of the flowers are slightly out of focus (too close?) and its a shame they are cut off across the top.

Obviously a spur of the moment shot, but the need for a slightly more stopped down aperture would have helped no end.

It's not the whole of the shot - my wife is to the right of it so I cropped her out (actually pictured level and looking slightly up at my daughter). Missing the flowers was my mistake - still getting used to shooting with a prime lens and sometimes i don't quite move back fast enough. As was having the lens opened up too much.

Anyway - interesting the different reactions this shot has generated from people. It's certainly not technically correct by any stretch of the imagination.

[GrahamH]

Can you get her to sulk again?
Seriously though, the composition is fantastic (for me). But as said, if the focus was on the flowers, leaving the face even more out of focus, then even better.
What it says to me (subject to change without prior notification) - cheerful headband, so why the so sad face. Love the contrast there. Also love the soft skin, further enhanced by the OOF blur.
You've also cropped out the shoulder straps (almost completely) and that removes them as a distraction. Ditto the cropping to remove other distractions (nothing negative intended to your wife).
Potentially a great shot.
Graham

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Can you get her to sulk again?
Seriously though, the composition is fantastic (for me). But as said, if the focus was on the flowers, leaving the face even more out of focus, then even better.
What it says to me (subject to change without prior notification) - cheerful headband, so why the so sad face. Love the contrast there. Also love the soft skin, further enhanced by the OOF blur.
You've also cropped out the shoulder straps (almost completely) and that removes them as a distraction. Ditto the cropping to remove other distractions (nothing negative intended to your wife).
Potentially a great shot.
Graham

I'm a master at making her sulk - so I might need to try it again The headband does need to be in more focus so I might try a more deliberate set up rather than a candid shot.

Thanks for the feedback.

(and yes, my wife came through, read the comments, and had words with me!)