Beach Boy

[Scoota]

This photo was taken during my son's first trip to the beach. I loved how he was staring out at the powerful water. Any advice on how I could have made it better? I'm a beginner and not sure how to improve lighting most of the time.

[Frog]

I think you did quite well considering the conditions.
I like how you placed the boy off to the side and not in the center.
I'd clone out that swimmer or whatever on the edge of the left frame.

And welcome to the forums.

[jetrim]

I agree w/ Frog, you did great compositionally, the exposure is good, just nip a quarter inch off the left edge and you've got a keeper!

[Scoota]

Thank you for the suggestions! I can't quite figure out how to get a fill flash to work with my camera...it's pretty new to me so I still have lots to learn!

Do you think a fill flash would've been better to reduce the darkness on his back? But would the fill flash also have removed his shadow on the sand (which I like)?

[SmartWombat]

Fill flash would lighten his back, and lighten the shadow, but not remove the shadow completely.
I would have stepped a bit to the left so that the whole whatever-it-is on the horizon was visible. It's nice having it over his shoulder, but it's too close.

And aimed a bit more to the right to remove the half person on the left.

[PRB]

I like the advice that Paul gave you and, I think this is a terrific "memory" shot you will enjoy looking back on.

[shootme]

I'm with Jetrim, nice capture. I'd possibly also clean out the boat on the horizon, near your sons head. S

[GB1]

Welcome.

There's not much to improve regarding the lighting. It's spot on and dramatic as far as I am concerned. Suggestions for improvement: hmm.. perhaps a little wider angle to capture more of his shadow, which seems really neat (but dont lose the placement you have him in in the frame: it's perfect). Perhaps crop out that very far left object. Also, when you resize you tend to get a little softness, so you may need to sharpen just a tad.

G