Splash!

[Jims]

OK photo number 2 for critique...

On Hols with the family and have tried a few times for a decent splash picture but the models (normally one of my four kids!) is not always willing...

One of my daughters complying on this occasion...



What could be better in terms of composition, focus etc.

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured, you could have included more limbs but it's the expression that counts.

[Loose Canon]

Hi Jim,

I’m a big splash fan and I think this is a great shot of Daughter hitting the drink! You nailed her at a great moment. A good splash and just before her face went under. Nice timing.

As a matter of purely personal preference I like my splashes to be “clean”. Which means I usually like to clean up a lot of the stray droplets as needed. They typically photograph as specular highlights and usually can be quite pinpoint in nature.

So to this end if this were my shot I would be tempted, in fact I wouldn’t be able to help myself, to clean these droplets away from Daughter’s pretty face! I wouldn’t consider them necessary at all since all the rest of the splash certainly tells the story and I would want Daughter’s face to be unobstructed from the specular droplets.

Also, what would you think about a suggestion to add a bit of contrast (curves/local contrast enhancement) to the water and Daughter’s swimsuit top? This to add more definition and depth to the surrounding water/splash. I would do this as a local adjustment and leave Daughter’s face and mid section out of it.

A quickie illustration of a before and after to give myself an idea of what the heck I'm talking about! And also with a wee tad crop off the top.

Either way I like your shot Jim. Well done.

[Mike Buckley]

Jim,

As much as I like Terry's suggestions, consider that more often than not, when he is photographing a splash he has broken something in his studio. Don't let him get near your daughter.

[Manfred M]

Jim,

As much as I like Terry's suggestions, consider that more often than not, when he is photographing a splash he has broken something in his studio. Don't let him get near your daughter.

Says the master of photographing broken glass....

I think I would be very careful whenever either either of you two are around doing something creative with a camera...