david vt Loc: Vermont

Hi,

Looking for a bit of help with the €selfie€ that my daughter took of herself. My skills are still very much the amateur end, especially on portraits, so looking for advice that I could give her to encourage her exploration and development in photography. She really likes to shoot herself and friends. (13 y.o. Girl - imagine that!!!!)

So, she took this of herself holding at arms length with a Nikon mirrorless P600 camera, and minor PP in photos on her apple laptop

The picture is what she sent to me after her PP. She is shooting jpeg at this point. I did check off the store original, but not sure what will come through from her system. On my tablet, it comes through more of a vertical crop, which I think looks better, but not sure what else to tell her.

What advice would you give her to help improve and encourage?

Thanks in advance.

(Download)

Charlie'smom

I actually like this. Her expression is wonderful, and leaves a lot for the viewer to interpret. I would suggest she get her entire head in next time, and not chop off the top.

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

The P600 is not a mirrorless, it is a point and shoot. "Mirrorless" or MILC'S have removable lens.
The photo, she needs to smile a bit more; shouldn't look so serious at 13. Don't know if it's the post processing or what but her skin tone is way to light and it would be nice if she had a top to her head.

Unclehoss

at arms length, to cover as much area as she did, the camera configuration is so wide angle that any forward protruding feature (ie. nose) is magnified and can give the appearance of W.C. Fields. Sorry, no insult intended. She would be much better off practicing if one of her friends or father would 'play' model for her so she can move back a bit, get closer to a standard to slight zoom on the lens and practice composing that way. There are numerous online tutorials that the two of you can read and practice the tips and techniques together step by step. A google search of "free online photography tutorials for beginners" returned 298,000,000 possibilities. The only helpful tip for the image posted that I would add is like the others said, include the top of her head. I know there is no stopping teenage selfies, I had teen girls before, my encouragement here is for the two of you to explore together. I started photography in high school, took the photography arts class and part of our grade was to act as a model for so many other's to be the photographer. Talk about being uncomfortable, don't worry about that, do it for the shared memories with your daughter and the experience with her.

ebbote Loc: Hockley, Texas

She did very well David.

rdgreenwood Loc: Kennett Square, Pennsylvania

Whoa!!! The young lady was taking her picture, not yours. If she feels serious, it's her perogative to appear so in her photograph. And do you doubt that she has a top to her head? I like the crop; it forces the viewer's eye to her face, and I suspect that's what she was trying to capture. As for the lightness of her face, again you're trying to dictate the content of the image. The light complexion that we see is beautiful. She looks like a porcelain doll. I'm not nuts about her wardrobe, but it does bring a sense of "realness" to the image that a fancy satin dress would destroy. Had she been smiling and less cropped, we'd tend to look at the image and think, "Yep, that's a pretty girl." As it is delivered to us, we're more inclined to look at it and say, "I wonder what she's thinking." I suspect you'd have the Mona Lisa giggling.

Dad: The kid is on the right track. If she were my daughter, I'd just smile and say, "Nice, very nice..."

Joe 88

GREAT JOB

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

Yo, mushroom breath, the dad was looking for constructive criticism, not pointless approval. You accuse me of trying to dictate the content of the image; are you out of your mind?! I wasn't dictating anything, I was expressing my opinion by offering what I felt would have improved the image, as the OP requested. A meaningless "nice, very nice" offers nothing, absolutely nothing towards helping the young lady improve in any way.

The light complexion in the image is more than likely due to over exposure from excessive flash. It tends to cause detail to suffer and detracts from the image. As for the top of the head cut off, gee, do I doubt she has a top to her head? That's simply portraiture 101, or is that too advanced for someone in southern Chester county?! As for the crop forcing one to look at her face, it's a self portrait, what else is there to look at!?

Judging from your avatar photo, if she were your daughter she'd be my age and I just recently retired.

Dad wasn't asking if his daughter is pretty, he already knows that, he is asking what she may do to improve and by improving, develop a stronger bond with photography, something that goes beyond simple selfies.

As for your Mona Lisa comment, where the heck did that come from. You don't know me and you never will. It's mighty presumptuous of you to say that, and how do you know the subject wasn't giggling. Da Vinci put a lot more of a smile on her face than our 13 year old selfie photographer did.

rdgreenwood Loc: Kennett Square, Pennsylvania

You’re a bit hostile.

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

Maybe, maybe not. It all depends on ones perspective.
I offered my opinion to the OP as requested and you attempted to tear it to shreds and twist my words. I in turn offer a spitited rebuttal and you accuse me of being hostile. You sir are the one who started the hostility by opening with "Whoa" as is I am some sort of wild animal. You are the one who attacked and riddiculed me for my opinion on the head crop. Instead of offering any constructive criticism to the OP as requested, you attacked me for my simple offering. Now you accuse me of being hostile and still have offered nothing useful to the OP. Hostilities may be used to attack or defend. I was defending myself, what were you doing?!