A penny for her thoughts....

[Capstone]

My favorite photo subject + if I can improve my photography skills then I could badger my wife into us getting a new camera
I have a Nikon N65 that I rarely use anymore and use my wife's Canon A75 point & shoot. She doesn't see the point in spending more money on a camera (I would like a Nikon D50 or D70) when her camera "works fine".

Oh well...the time will come.

I wish I knew what she was dreaming about in this photo....

[dennylee60]

I like the shot. Maybe crop a little out to the left of the image may balance it out a little.

I know what you mean about buying a new camera. I bugged by wife for 6 months before she let me buy the Nikon D50. She did not understand why we needed a new camera when we have a perfectly good point and shot. Well, she started to see the need when she tried to take pictures of kids playing and running. It was impossible due to the shutter lag. So she finally agreed that I could buy something better. I love the D50. It is really fun to use and the pictures turn out great.

[readingr]

Nice photo and well composed - my only suggestion would be to have left a little more room above her head. Personally I would leave the left if you can add more space above her head.

From reading your text I got the impression that the photo would have been of your wife - cradle snatcher :-)

Roger

[payn817]

I would like to see the color version. Why did you, and how did you convert it? The reason I ask is because it looks murky to me. The composition is great, and I disagree about more over her head. Would I be right if my guess was that you converted because the sky was blown out?

[Capstone]

Didn't convert it. Before I realized there was a digital world out there I used my Nikon N65 film. I love B&W's so I took a roll of BW on a family vacation. I did crop it some.
I learned that without my zoom lens it is much harder to take pictures of my daughter. My best pictures of her are when she has no idea I'm actually taking the photo. Zoom lens lets me get closer without getting a fake "pose" ;)
Which is why my wife's canon a75 is driving me nuts

[dbutler]

Murky? Maybe that's what is bothering me. I love the shot and I love how it's composed but something just isn't hitting me right. I thought maybe it was the lack of tonal range (too much either light or dark, without enough around in midtones maybe?). The darkness of her head gets me too. The hair seems to need more detail. I honestly can't put my finger on what it is that is not sitting right with me, but it's not the comp. I would, however, like to see less grain (perhaps not any).

[dbutler]

Yeah, I believe that that is what is bothering me. Between the extremes of dark and light patches, it was the color of the photo as well. I changed the color, and already it's appealing more to me. Not that it's the right choice, but that the other just didn't work for me. I'm sure you can find a more suitable cast that would truly work. The highlights and shadows are more than I can work on at my level.