Attempted portrait of active toddler

[gredawarha]

Hello all

I would apprecaite some comments on a photo I have taken of my Son. Bit of background, this was taken shortly after I got my Nikon D3100, I was playing around trying to take shots of him which isn't easy as he is active and quick (unlike me!).

I was pleased with the original below but now that I understand post processing a little more I thought that I would make some changes before converting to a JPEG for my mother.

Okay so here is the original image taken in RAW and simply converted to JPEG:



And here is my processed image:



I cropped the image to get rid of the TV, I then sharpened the image slightly and added a subtle vignette. I also removed some food particles that were around his mouth using the clone tool. I processed this using http://www.darktable.org/

I would appreciate any constructive critique that might help me learn.

Many thanks

Darren

[lightdrunk]

I like the relaxed spontaneity of this shot - it doesn't look posed. I think the cropped version is quite good.

[gredawarha]

Hi Doug

Thanks for your comments. At this age it's almost impossible to, get him to pose

[AndyB1975]

I like it too, he's a cute looking little chap. I think you could still take some more off the right hand side. The curtain gets a bit dark and featurless, maybe crop in until the next fold (if that makes sense).

[CougarFool]

Very nice, natural, portrait. I agree with Andy's suggestion on the crop. Then I think you will have a picture that you and your mother will cherish. If I was being really, really picky I might try cloning out the food splash on his collar!

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Darren,

I also agree with the revised crop idea, but it is already a much better image than the capture, well done.

If I was being really, really picky I might try cloning out the food splash on his collar!

and this

While you are at it, you might want to 'clean the windows' too - Mothers tend notice that kind of thing

Cheers,

[gredawarha]

Hi all thank you for your helpful comments.

Andy, I shall crop the image some more when I have the time next.

Nigel, I did think about cloning the stain on his shirt. At the time I wasn't comfortable of using the clone tool using Darktable. Now I am more comfortable I hsall give it a go.

Dave, you are right about the windows. There is always house work that needs doing

Thank you all again for your comments, much appreciated.

[Dave Humphries]

Dave, you are right about the windows. There is always house work that needs doing

Nah, housework is over-rated, cloning is easier

[WJT]

A great shot a far as a natural pose goes. A good habit with children is to sit down or squat so that the camera is at their eye level. This is a keeper and well worth a spot on your wall. Cute kid.

[gredawarha]

A great shot a far as a natural pose goes. A good habit with children is to sit down or squat so that the camera is at their eye level. This is a keeper and well worth a spot on your wall. Cute kid.

Thanks for your comments Wayne.