Walking with Grandma

[ken1953]

This is photo 2 of 2 of my first assignment for NYIP. Object is to photograph one or more persons or objects in bright daylight. Your opinions and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Thanx, Ken

[poker]

The exposure looks good to me since the white building in the back and her shoes are not BLOWN OUT....you still have detail there.

Nice idea and photo.

Although the assignment topic apears to be specific, will they grade you on all aspects of the photo? Let me know if they if they feel shooting their backs work. I never like shooting people's backs unless there is a strong focal point.

[Alison]

Excellent photograph. The exposure, clarity and colours are fantastic.

I don't mind back shots at all. Makes a change from cheesey grins to be honest. Something I can't seem to break free from lol.

I am a little distracted by the red pole. Nothing that a little cloning wouldn't fix though.
Would they mark you down if you left the red pole there?

And would you be kind enough to let us know how you acheived such good exposure and colours.
What lens did you use?
Outdoor shots aren't my strong point but from what little experience I have a SS of 500, ISO 100 and an aperture of 6.3 usually works well. What settings was your camera on?

You did a superb job with this.

[ken1953]

Hi manacsa and Alison, Thank you for the comments.
As this is my first assignment, I have gone back to the basics on this shot. It is straight out of the camera.
manacsa, I imagine that I will be critiqued on the entire picture. One of the objects in the lesson was to use a technique to easily identify the subject. I chose selective focus and centering, since reducing clutter was a bit difficult for this shot. So I shot it trying to soften the background. I will try to post their critique here, however, I understand that it can take some time and I also have 3 more photos to take before even send in my first unit.

Alison, I struggled with the "backs", but the interaction between my wife and granddaughter was so touching, that I just couldn't resist. I'm hoping that my portrayal of this interaction comes through, without the faces, kind of a subliminal thing, I guess..hehe..
Thanx for pointing out the red "cover". It is actually a plastic cover they put over guide wires on the telephone poles to prevent people from clotheslining themselves. haha..As this is the "Digital Course", I imaging that I will get a comment about cloning it out from my advisor/instructor. But, as I said above, I'm going back to the basics to try to break some bad habits and to try to "learn from my mistakes". I debated long and hard as to whether I should jump ahead and start using some of the techniques I already know, or to wait and see what the instructor says about each attempt. My problem was that I want to learn my camera and how to take the photo correctly the first time and to understand what I am shooting and why!!! That is why I want it critiqued SOOC.
Sorry that I forgot to put them on here, my camera and settings are:
Pentax *ist DL w/ SMCP DA 50-200mm ED @ 200mm, ISO 400, WB set to Daylight, f5.6 @ 1/3200sec, Multi segment metering mode, Autofocus set to spot/continuous, and in camera "Photo Finish" set to Bright. Shot in "Best" quality .jpg. I used "Mikes Framer for CS2" for the framing, title and signature.

Again thanx for the comments.
Ken

[OldSchool]

Hi Ken,

I think you did a nice job capturing a special moment here. There is good expression in the body language such that the faces are not needed. This shot is also technically together with good exposure, focus, and dof.

My only recommendation would be to try and crop it in real tight such that your two lovely subjects take up most of the frame.

Good luck,
Tim