I was baby sitting my friends kids the other day. The almost 2 year old wasn't getting "gentle" so when he finally touched the dog without impaling it at the same time it is a picture moment. The background isn't exactly what I would be wanting but in photoshop elements I put a gaussien blur on it. Any comments or critique is welcome. Since that is the only way I will get better. The blur is alot crisper when it is saved in it's 11 mb file. It is condensed down to 211 kb right now.
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The Little Ones
- Thread starter HomeingPigeon
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I've been known to "whack" backgrounds a lot more than what you did. Not only can you put a strong blur on it but you can desaturate the color by maybe 20%. I'll do both to just before the point where it looks fake or "photoshopped". Cropping might help too. back when I was in school an english prof. told me the best way to improve my writing was with a red pen. Cross out every word I can so long as meaning is unchanged. I think the same applies to photos. Crop, blur, or clone out every element that does not contribute to the story.
What camera are you using? I just got a D40 and I love it.
Here are 2 shots of my daughter from last night
Here are 2 shots of my daughter from last night
I have a d40 and love it as well. I am taking a course on betterphoto.com and it is amazing. If you really want to get better and have spare time look at the website and you might want to sign up for a class.
Thanks for the info. I was looking into taking a class from them and with your recommendation I am going to look into taking that class in the near future.
I know for sure that they are great classes. My teacher is amazing. He actually realizes that people have lives to so when your stuff is a couple days late he is fine with it. Great classes for any talent and skill level.
a few suggestions
I don't think the background is the problem here, it's the subject. In both photos, we don't really see the boy's personality. With portraits, the eyes tell the story. There isn't really any action here, so what's going on? It's hard to tell what this boy is thinking or feeling. He's just resting his head. Or putting his hand on something... what it is, I don't know.
If you're worried about the backgrounds, rather than manipulating the image in software, why not compose the photo with a clean background to start with? Or use a big aperture to create shallow depth of field? Software manipulation that isn't done well can be more distracting than the problem you're trying to solve.
Lastly, are these images dark and dull, or is it my lousy monitor at work?
Just one stranger's opinion.
-Andrew
I don't think the background is the problem here, it's the subject. In both photos, we don't really see the boy's personality. With portraits, the eyes tell the story. There isn't really any action here, so what's going on? It's hard to tell what this boy is thinking or feeling. He's just resting his head. Or putting his hand on something... what it is, I don't know.
If you're worried about the backgrounds, rather than manipulating the image in software, why not compose the photo with a clean background to start with? Or use a big aperture to create shallow depth of field? Software manipulation that isn't done well can be more distracting than the problem you're trying to solve.
Lastly, are these images dark and dull, or is it my lousy monitor at work?
Just one stranger's opinion.
-Andrew