"Bicycle, Bicycle, I want to ride my Bi-Cy-Cle" - Meet Maddy and her Bike

[theantiquetiger]

This is my other daughter, Maddy. She is my tomboy. She wants to play out side, get dirty, play with her science microscope & telescope, go garage selling with me, etc.

(BTW, "Bicycle, Bicycle, I want to ride my Bi-Cy-Cle" is the lyrics to a song by Queen)

I like this 50mm f1.8 lens shot better than the one of Morgan

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7006/6614828771_62a6cdd201_b.jpg

[Mad Aussie]

I like the pose again although her left arm look out of place a little. I'd say it's on her seat but without seeing the seat, it looks a little displaced. Possible cropping more arm off would solve that, or if the seat is in the original, leave it in and crop much tighter to her head perhaps.
With portraits, strive to get the right crop in camera, think about it careful at the time rather than later in post.

The first thing I see to critique is, again, you've missed the focal point, or shot too slow to get sharpness. Don't shoot under around 1/60 where possible until you are certain you can handle less. Even then I shoot at around 1/60 or more where I can.

The next thing I see is hot spots on her face again. If the light was so strong from that direction then perhaps turning her to her right might have created some nice side light and removed the hot spots.

Lastly, the actual location is blah. The house behind adds nothing but distraction really. Using the garage door or something with a constant texture would have provided a background with less interference.

[theantiquetiger]

When you say "don't shoot under 1/60, do you mean don't shoot any slower, or don't use a lower number (higher speed)?

Unlike 99% of my shots, this one was overexposed and I had to crop where I did because of a VERY white concrete behind her left hand.

As for the location, I had her behind where I stood for this image and shot the other direction. The sun was so bright behind her (she was in the shadow of the house), the background was white. I was at 100 iso f4.0 1/250 speed and she was too dark and the background was still overexposed.

Like I said in my Morgan post, I basically kept this the track my progression of the use of my new 50mm

[theantiquetiger]

I like the pose again although her left arm look out of place a little. I'd say it's on her seat but without seeing the seat, it looks a little displaced. Possible cropping more arm off would solve that, or if the seat is in the original, leave it in and crop much tighter to her head

Granted I did this crop with my iPhone because I am at work, but are you talking about a crop like this

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r198/theantiquetiger/f3d67e61.jpg

[Mad Aussie]

It's all a learning curve for sure ... and you can't expect too much brilliance for 2 months of experience.

What I think you are missing here is the ability to see when a dynamic range is too much for the camera to handle. IF it's too much then you need to move your subject perhaps.

I did mean don't shoot with a slower shutter speed than 1/60 as a rule of thumb. It actually depends on other factors but that's a good rule to begin with for sure.

[susan]

It's all a learning curve for sure ... and you can't expect too much brilliance for 2 months of experience.

What I think you are missing here is the ability to see when a dynamic range is too much for the camera to handle. IF it's too much then you need to move your subject perhaps.

I did mean don't shoot with a slower shutter speed than 1/60 as a rule of thumb. It actually depends on other factors but that's a good rule to begin with for sure.

Tiger - MA has wonderful advice and a ton of experience. 1/60th is a great rule for most. However, if you are shaky and old like I am, you may want to double it. :-/ But you aren't -- MA mentioned watching the light and looking around to see what else may land in the photo... as you go about your day, start training your mind and eye to see what he is suggesting. Light can make or break a photo and can be a toughie to manage, but once you learn to see the light, your photos will begin to stand out. Also - the back ground is so important. With your girls, you are going to be wanting to capture images that will remind them of their child hood. There are times when you want to show what was in their environment. But, if you are wanting to focus on more of a "portrait" look, what is in the photo can make it or break it. Photography is both intuition and trained. Follow both. Learn what you want to capture - then train accordingly. :-) You will learn so much here, especially from MA and Marko. So glad that you submit and want to learn. Plus- we learn from one another's images too.