Ballet

[paulm]

Today was my daughters school ballet open day. I figured this was an ideal time to have a go at portraiture and also get photo's of my daughter to show the wife as she couldn't make it.

Please feel free to leave CC. As i said this was the first time i have ever tried to do this.







This is my daughters teacher


My Daughters friend

[JPS]

Hi Paul,
looks like you had a very nice day.
Well done.

[paulm]

Thanks John. Is there any constructive criticism out there? Nothing about the children obviously but if you have anything about the taking of the photos then please say and don't feel awkward because children are there

[JPS]

Hi Paul,
I did notice you used a high ISO 1600 from memory; this has produced quiet a lot of noise particularly in picture number 3.
I have tried to remove it myself and think it looks better, I would suggest to give it a go to see what you think; unless that was the ‘feel’ you were aiming for. In the last two you got good DOF in my opinion and I would have liked to see the same in the first few, so as to stop the background from being so distracting.

[Quinn]

Hi Paul...
Man, have I been there !!! Ballet shows with my 6yr old. So I have taken Quite a lot of these!
As JPS points out, the dof in the last 2 is much shallower, and significantly improves the shot, drawing the eye to the subject. I think the last 2 are also improved by the tighter crop, just head and sholders. The others have a significant amount going on in them, chairs, other people arms etc. With portraiture, it is generally best to draw the viewers eye to the subject as quickly as possible. Darkening the background around your daughter would help as would a little Gaussian blur if you have some PP software.
A very tricky situation to get good shots in, I know !!!!!
This is about the best I have achieved with my daughter. I have tried to draw the eye to her by darkening the background and introducing the 'Sun beam' effect.

Anyway Hope this helps
Cheers
Phil

[Mike Buckley]

Paul: You did a great job of catching the action in ideal positions. Very well done!

In addition to the other comments made for improving the images, notice that the white balance varies tremendously from image to image. Accurate white balance is perhaps no more important than when displaying skin tones.

For me, the best white balance is in the first image of your daughter's friend. Notice by comparison, the other one of her friend. The second and third images (of all images) are acceptable at the least but the first one is far too orange.

You might have mixed light sources in situations like this, perhaps two different kinds of artificial light and sunlight. When that happens, you need to select each area one at a time and adjust the white balance for each using your post-processing software. Sometimes that becomes difficult and, frankly, more trouble than it's worth if the image isn't otherwise stellar. If you at least get the proper white balance on your skin tones, inaccurate white balance in the other areas often becomes very difficult to detect.

Phil: Very nice image of a gorgeous daughter! You used a great post-processing trick to overcome a difficult situation.

[jjbacoomba]

Paul, I agree with the comments left by John, Phillip and Mike. Looks like you had some fun. I've never had the chance to do this type of photography but well maybe some day. Your daughter looks like she had a great time. Very well done!

[paulm]

Cheers for the input guys. I'll have a play with the white balance next time I go and take some photos somewhere. And I think she really enjoyed herself too.
The high ISO was because of the shutter speed I was using and not using a flash. I tried to get rid of the noise using software recommended by someone on here.
Phillip I have to say I love what you have done to that shot. I just wish my PP skills were up to that level.

[Quinn]

Easy to learn Paul.
There is a tutorial on youtube for that.
Incidentally, Youtube is a fantastic learning resauce. I use it all the time !!!
Cheers