Daughter Photo (for Nat)

Tell me what you think and how you would improve it. Impromtu shot on Mother's Day at a home furninshings store with Nikon N6000 and 24mm lens at f/2.8 and something like 1/30 or 1/69. It looked very yellow from the tungsten lights and I've tried to correct it.

Your daughter has a great pose and expression on her face and really makes this shot a nice one despite what i think is rather flat lighting. Of course this was impromptu as you said and getting the lighting to be any different would have been difficult. I am undecided as to whether the bg is distracting to me or not. i like seeing the surroundings she is sitting amongst, but at the same time it looks a bit like to much going on back there. Overall i liie this image alot, but feel it would have been great with better technicals here.

For starters technicalities aside even beyond the fact it's your daughter...this look and pose is one of the reasons I want to shoot kids (no pun intended :) ) She has this "look" beyond her years that I simply adore. It really made me smile...I have a lot to learn as far as technicalities go but feel like I have learned enough to share---

lighting---what can you do with department overheads (carrying reflectors would be the great abswer but who really does that when you have kids) I don't think it's that bad I would definitely do a little post editing and bring some light into her face around her eyes and the sides...color- I like the warmer orangey look but a blue filter (PS) or adding blue tends tends to tone it down and give you better skin tones (just my experience--someone correct if need be) overall pic is a smidge dark just adjust the curves slight S

background- busy...here's where I got stumped....I actually liked the clutter when I first looked(still do but wish it would have been a bit more out of focus) I liked it in the shot because it seemed like such a contradiction to the pose and outfit she was wearing...what I might have done different is maybe gone from another angle and tried to use those nifty rugs hanging to the right side of her as a background. is that Pier 1Imports? and maybe come down to her level just a smidge (although I generally tend to forget).

Hope this helps and I appreciate the post :D overall I really enjoyed looking at this shot...sometimes having the perfect light and background would be WONDERFUL...but not necessary. Example: I have a friend who's daughter (6yrs old) is little miss shoe shopaholic...shooting her in a shoe department store for a back ground although busy would be something her mom could relate to and enjoy...for a portrait. kind like a chef in a kitchen ya know?

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Originally Posted by Lava Lamp

Tell me what you think and how you would improve it. Impromtu shot on Mother's Day at a home furninshings store with Nikon N6000 and 24mm lens at f/2.8 and something like 1/30 or 1/69. It looked very yellow from the tungsten lights and I've tried to correct it.

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Hi Lava Lamp, I hope you don't mind, but I applied a dark blue lens filter in photoshop to try and correct the yellow... that's the fastest way I've found. You could also select the background only and do a lens blur to try and reduce the busy-ness of the photo. I love the look on your daughter's face! :)

Ahh....when will the day come that I can take an "impromtu" shot, and make it look this good !!.... I would change very little about this picture.

I like the yellow tone, in general, I kind of like pictures that are more warm... I like how not totaly blurred the background is, and I like how all of your daughter is in the picture, which is explains the wide angel lens.

I agree with Nat on the lighting, the only thing I would improve (no clue how though), would to show a little more light in and around the eyes.