Criticize These Images. Not my super-hot models.

[cyracles]

Hello everyone. Based on what i have learned recently(especially here) these are some pictures i took recently at a community where i volunteer to teach maths to school children. Some of these wonderful kids accepted my request to take some shots of them.
What i need is for you to critique for me please:

1. Focus
2. Composition/Framing

and other things you feel went wrong in the shots. I will like to know what i did right too(if there are any). In chess when analysing, your losses are as important as wins so you know if you actually won by good play or opponent's blunder(luck)

No picture has been post-processed, the B&W were taken directly with the camera.

What kind of post-processing would this images benefit from?

All shot with Canon 1000D, Sigma 70-300mm lens.
Thank you.

All the best!

[rpcrowe]

What kind of post processing program do you have available? There are several free programs available if you don't presently have one on your computer. GIMP is one that is favored by many of our friends on CiC.

IMO, your photos are quite good but, would benefit from additional post processing. Here is one I played with in Photoshop.



Basically, I only used the Auto processing parameters because these should be generally available in any program you use. I also cropped the image a bit. I kept the door in the image left because that looked interesting to me. I got rid of some uninteresting area to the right of the image. Additionally, I think that the results of the cropping; shifting the boy to the right of the image rather than his being centered, generally helps the composition.

IMO, it is seldom that an image presents in the best manner directly out of the camera. A bit of post processing is always needed to enhance the image...

I would however, once you get an image pocessing program, that you shoot all of your images in color and then convert to black and white using your editing program!

[cyracles]

Some magic you've done there Richard...thanks a lot. I have lightroom and i have adobe photoshop cs2. Which way to go? Another question, how do i know or decide what and when to do what in post processing.

[Donald]

Ife

I do not have either of the software packages you own, so cannot advise on them. I think what you have to do is try to learn what each of them is capable of and then decides which best suits your purpose.

Regarding the second part of your query - "how do i know or decide what and when to do what in post processing" , I would suggest that the most important thing to do is learn to consider what sort of image you want before you press the shutter to capture the photograph. We can make some general statements about what you will need to do in post-processing, such as sharpening, checking levels and curves, placing black & white points. But before you get involved with this, you need to understand what these things mean. And that is where tutorials, such as you can find here on CiC can help a great deal.

But, the most important thing of all is for you to decide what sort of image you want.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Ife,

Good advice above, I will add one more nugget - look at the backgrounds before you press the shutter release and ask yourself; "is there is anything there that does not contribute positively to the image as a whole?" If there is, do something about it; change your position/framing, wait until passers by have passed by, or politely ask the chap watching/waiting to stand a little more to the left or right (assuming you can), so he's not in shot, or distract them by giving them a job to do to help (which takes them elsewhere) - obviously this latter doesn't apply if that person is their guardian/chaperone in some way.

Therefore; in the "what else went wrong" category are the legs and feet behind the subjects in #2, #3 and #4.

#2 is an interesting idea, I think with practice, it could be better, worth another go if you can; try different shutter speeds and get the model to have several goes at it to get different leg and arm positions.

In the "what went right" category is the use of a narrow DoF by selecting a wide aperture and the good raport seen in their eye contact, which makes these stand out.

Good first attempts,

[rpcrowe]

Here is one suggestion regarding post processing workflow...
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tu...orkflow1.shtml

I don't necessarily have a consistent workflow. I tend to look at an image and ask myself what is wrong or what can I change with the image (This is paraphrasing Scott Kelby's comments in his book Photoshop CS6 for Digital Photographers).

As far as how to do the specific tasks, you can find loads and loads of post processing information on the web and especially on some YouTube videos..

Piggy Backing on Dave's comments above:

There are a few things which will improve all photos of people...

1. As Dave mentions, look at the background when shooting. Don't just look at the subject. If there is something which doesn't contribute to the image. try to avoid it by shifting your camera position or wait until it goes away. However sometimes the background can add to an image like in this Holloween portrait of my dog, Holly.



Try to avoid anything like a tree or a telephone pole "growing" out of the person's head...

If the background doesn't add anything or if it detracts from your subject; a wide aperture and or a long focal length can knock the background out of focus (called selective focus) avoiding any competition between the subject and background for interest.



2. Peruse your image edges while shooting to make sure you have not cut your subject(s) off in an awkward area and that you do not have parts of someone or something intruding into the image...

3. Unless the background adds to the subject(s) as in an environmental portrait, try to fill the frame as much as possible with your subject.