Suggestions

[PhotosbyHollyWood]

I have a subject that I just can not get good photos of...Beautiful girl not so great photos!!!!

she is nearly impossible to get some good ones... any suggestions? maybe angles that will help flatter her a little more?? I dont know I need help... BTW she is my daughter and I have hardly any pictures of her to go on the family wall... I know it sounds horrible but there are none that don't make her look goofy!!!

no sure if it is me or just an ackward subject to photograph...
this is by far the best photo of HER... but not a great photo in itself...grrr... go figure...




I think I may just not be getting the right angles on her .. I need some creativity pointers!

[Duffy Pratt]

The first picture is marred some by not handling the backlit situation as well as you might have, and by having the partial figure in the right hand side of the frame. The same pose without the blown background could be a real winner. Also, the bench behind her is a bit of a distraction. Typically, this sort of shot would be done with as wide an aperture as you can stand, to blur the background as much as possible, and also with the subject as far away from any noticeable background stuff as possible, so that all the background becomes a pleasant blur.

The swing shot is off mostly because you missed the focus. You ideally want her eyes in focus, but this is hard, because she is swinging. There are a number of ways to try to get the focus right -- you could do manual focus at a particular point and try to fire at exactly the right time. Or you could try to catch the shot at the apex of the swing, where the motion stops. Or you could take enough shots with servo on and hope to get lucky. The other slight problem, for me, in this shot is her eyes are not quite wide open, and I can see in the first shot how beautiful her eyes are, so I'd like to see it. This shot is just much harder than it looks. But I think you are headed in the right direction.

Hope this helps.

Duffy

[PhotosbyHollyWood]

Thank you Duffy... that will help alot!

[PhotosbyHollyWood]

okay after taking your advise I played with it a little...

is this better?

[carrbowl]

Hey Holly, just a question or maybe something for you to think about...only because I have a child in the same place!! Sometimes, it the photographer!! And by that I mean, they will you take the photo, but only if someone else is instructing them, etc. It's wierd how kids react differently to parents, My husband can get the best smile from this kid, and me...I'm minced meat...I couldn't get a smile for love nor money...kinda erks me, but that's live I guess!!

One of the reasons you ask you to contemplate that, was she looks more relaxed holding the boy than on the swing....maybe she is just self conscious?? and with holding the boy, the focus isn't all on her?? Just a thought.....

[Wes]

No EXIF data on your second image so I can't really comment on the settings. On your first image it shows that you were at 45mm, f/5.6, 1/250, ISO500. Couple of questions.... ISO500? How come? I probably would have shot something like ISO200 or lower, f/3.5 (max aperture on your particular lens) and 1/80 or so. IMHO, higher ISOs tend to be a bit softer. F/3.5 would have given the nicer bg blur that Duffy was talking about, and it would have lessened the impact of the bench behind her.

As for the shot on the swing, what focus mode were you in? Continuous or single? If Single, change it to Continuous. It just looks out of focus, either because you lost focus as she moved, or you were shooting with too slow of a shutter speed. I probably wouldn't shoot something like this with anything slower than 1/250 or maybe a bit faster.

My .02 cents.

[PhotosbyHollyWood]

thank you and you could be right...

she is very self concious about her teeth, and I think that has alot to do with her smiling, in general...

Her sister... oh lord I am in trouble with her!!! she does everything right... she knows how to move, hold her body... just stunning results everytime!!!

here are sample of what I am talking about with her sister!

was still learning new camera in this shot but none the less agreat ophoto of her I think!

[PhotosbyHollyWood]

the ISO 500... I was shooting indoor shots as well and I think may have forgotten to change the settings!

I am still playing and relearning the setting on this camera...thank you for commenting and opening my eyes!

[my3peas]

Not sure what age she is, I'd guess 12ish? This is an age where they are finding themselves, their tastes, the things that help define them. Since she's yours, you know what her interests are, mabye incorporate those. Posing is such a hard thing for any one. But interaction is the key, IMO. You could just ask her to sit somewhere and as you begin taking pictures, talk to her about what she likes, what she wants to do, what her favorite this and that is. As you take the pictures, change your angles, your focal length, etc. When looking through the viewfinder, pay attention to the little things: hair, placement of bodyparts, smiles, head tilt, etc.
Practice makes perfect :)

[123canon]

most kids i've worked with pick up on parents and photographers vibes more than you think. the comment about her sister doing everything right makes me willing to bet a dollar to a donut that she picks up on how you feel about her pics. kick back with a double margarita and just shoot for fun-let her take some of you and see how much her demeanor changes.. just a thought

[toverman]

I'd try some candid shots of your whole family (indoors or out), so that she doesn't feel like her picture is being taken. I can usually get the best expressions when my kids least expect it. Besides, my 5-year-old's brand of smiling these days is looking like he just saw a ghost while smelling some really old cheese ... I have to catch him off guard to get anything worth printing. The more pics you take, the better you'll learn your camera's capabilities.

[carrbowl]

Holly, let us know when you get some more...I'll be anxious to see if we have given you anything that works!!!!

[PhotosbyHollyWood]

will do thanks for all the input...

Hope I don;t overload you guys with my kids pics... but they are my favorite subjects to practice on!!!

[fikes0422]

The pictures of your daugthers are very cute. I don't have any technical advice for you but, I just wanted to comment on how good the images are of your other daughter (the smiley one)! Good luck and keep shooting!