Feedback on my first attempt at portraiture

[warrenjwalker]

Hi,

I recently attempted to take a portrait of my little sister, who is 3, and I would like to hear your feedback. There are two versions of the photo, one of which is processed. The other is the original JPEG. Which one do you prefer? Did I ruin the original picture by editing it? Do you have any suggestions?

Thank you,

- Jacob

[Donald]

Jacob

When you say that this is the original JPEG, do you mean that you shot it as a JPEG?

Does your camera allow you to shoot images in the RAW format? If not, then that's fine. But if it does, I think most folks would suggest doing that.

As for portraiture, I think the best advice I can give is that you should study the series of lessons that Colin (Southern) led on here some time ago. For anyone who's serious about wanting to get into portraiture they offer a great way of learnign some of the fundamental 'dos' and 'don'ts'. You can access the series via this link.

[warrenjwalker]

Donald,

Thank you for your feedback and helpful advice! Yes, I shot it as a JPEG because I was using a Kodak EasyShare camera. It doesn't offer the option to shoot in the RAW format, though I used the highest quality JPEG compression that I could, which was Fine. Thank you for providing that link, I will be sure to read those lessons.

Thank you,

- Jacob

[Kittelsaa]

Jacob, I don't think you ruined the photo by editing it. I like the vivid colours

When it comes to advice and such, I've got some friendly advice for you.

You have cut her top off, something that might be bad or not depending on how you crop the rest of the photo. The way you have cropped it, it's "considered bad" by "most people" (although quite a few professional photographers do it to tell a story). If, on the other hand, you crop closer on the sides, so you cut away some more of the girl, "most people" will like it. I am not able to tell you why though. It must be something with the overall look, and pleasing the eye.
You could try cropping the photo to a square, and cut her shoulders with the crop. Perhaps you like it, perhaps you don't. In my opinion - if you're happy with your crop and the subject (model) likes it - you've done great!

Another thing is her expression. I love it! She doesn't look straight at the camera and smile, and that's (again in my opinion) good!
One of my photography teachers once said that "If the human race died out tomorrow, and a hundred years from now an alien race arrive Earth, they will think we smiled and ate all the time. It's all we ever put in our albums!" Photos showing people doing something else makes him happy, and I agree with him.

I look forward to see more portraits from you in the future!

[JPS]

Hi Jacob,
certainly a good try. As Donald has already said the series of lessons by Colin Southern, will help you move forward with this kind of shot.
Well done and thank you for sharing.

[warrenjwalker]

Kristian,

Thank you for your feedback and friendly advice . I can see why it may be more appealing if I crop closer on the sides. I will definately try that! That was quite an interesting quote that you shared. I agree, and I enjoy photographing people more when they are doing "something else." I look forward to taking more portraits!

Thank you,

- Jacob

[warrenjwalker]

John,

Thank you for looking and sharing your feedback! It is much appreciated.

Thank you,

- Jacob