Ok, here's the setup. Our Boys, Isaac and Isaiah NEVER share anything. So we figured why not set them up. We'd give one a sucker and let him enjoy it...then let the other one take it away! Good things aren’t meant to last, are they?
So, we set up just outside our apartment here in Shenzhen. Got everything ready...including me reading my camera manual on how to use RAW. Gave Isaiah the sucker and let him get really comfortable eating it...then had Isaac take it away. Well, the next 30 pictures were of them sharing, "lick for lick". We were completely deflated and have failed at our first attempt to submit.
We eventually had my wife take it (that’s her hand) and by that time, Isaiah was sick and tired of our antics...that's how we got the shot. It's a stretch for the title of this challenge but it's the best our uncreative minds could think of at this stage of our careers (I'm joking). Thanks for humoring us on our first entry with our first "real" digital camera; we hope to get better and more creative.
Thanks for all the helpful advice...I said it was a stretch...thank for making a point of it. Anyway, I'm looking forward to entering another challange on key this time.
I used crop, sharpen, white bal for outside, tone, contrast, saturation and brightness.
Statistics
Place: 73 out of 77 Avg (all users): 4.1091 Avg (commenters): 3.7143 Avg (participants): 4.0250 Avg (non-participants): 4.1278 Views since voting: 668 Views during voting: 358 Votes: 220 Comments: 8 Favorites: 0
First of all, welcome to the challenges!! I see it took about a year, but welcome nonetheless.
Camera Work/Technical: The tones you captured are very true-to-life and the coloring is nice. I do agree with Sandra that your focus could have been a bit sharper. In addition, I'd like to see your depth of field a good deal more shallow...or shallower...no, no, more shallow. You'd definitely add interest to the subject of the image if you blurred that background more.
Lighting: The lighting isn't bad, though I'd prefer a touch more contrast. That is strictly opinion, though. I do like the catch lights that you caught in the eyes, and sharper focus on the face would have accentuated these even more.
Composition/Content: Your composition adds interest to the image, though I'd like to see a bit more of mom's arm. I think that your idea of having the kids fight over the candy would have worked a little better. As this one is shot, the arm tends to lead my eye out of the frame rather than in and toward the child. With more of a leading line, read more of the arm's length, I think would have served better to draw the eye in.
My Opinion: I agree with your assessment in that this one is a stretch for the challenge. I understand that these entries are sometimes crazy-difficult, but the voters tend to hit images that they feel fall short of the spirit of the challenge the hardest. While it is a low score, it is also a fine place to start. You entered the challenge and got a feel for what the voters want to see (though that changes from minute to minute around here). 4.1 is a fairly accurate score for an image that most of your commenters felt was a bit of a shoehorn.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide a critique on your entry,
Eric
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