BermBuster Loc: Hi Desert S.Cal

I thought this C&C might be a good place for this picture I had on another post, even if for no other reason than to see why a picture doesn't "look" right.
Taken by my cousin of his daughter, sunset is behind her, she is on a balcony, and he said he aimed the flash "over her head'.
This is 'Out of the camera'…no manipulation..except for me converting the .CR2 file to .Jpg.
Canon rebel XSi, 18-55 lens at 24mm,aperture at f/14,manual exposure, shutter at 125th with a Nikor Flash.
Has anyone had this happen to them? What do you think threw this picture "out of whack"?

GW Loc: Idaho

I think it would be better in a vertical format...

Bmac Loc: Long Island, NY

Just going to mention a couple of things you may wish to relay to your cousin who took the picture.

The image has a crooked horizon line which can easily be rectified in post processing. One should also try to avoid cutting off limbs at the joints and your cousin might want to think about posing his daughter more off center. Learning the guideline called the "rule of thirds" would be a plus. The brightness of the sun over the lass' head distracts from her pretty features. The fill flash seems to have done a reasonably good job.

Thanks for posting a photograph for critique. 8-)

BermBuster Loc: Hi Desert S.Cal

Thanks, I agree- I also don't like the horizon cutting thru the head--or how Swollen the head looks.

Bmac Loc: Long Island, NY

Hahaha.....hey slow down a bit, he is your cousin after all. :wink:

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Hey BermBuster - The out of whack seems to be her size relative to the scene ... after downloading the file, here's a few quick observations including a comment on the focal length:

It's a nice picture with the flash filling her face against a heavily back lit background and the sun is placed well behind her head without creating too great of a halo effect.

I can't confirm the focus point from the JPEG, but zooming in 100%, the focus is not sharpest on her eyes. Actually, the water seems sharper than her eyes.

The aperture at f/14 gave a good depth of field as noted by the sharpness of the water. But, a wider aperture with focus set on her eyes would have been better for a portrait and provided more background blur even though the water and clouds are nice in the background of this picture.

The focal length as 24mm gave a wide field of view, but probably exaggerated some of her features, the nose, chin and head relative to the overall scene. A longer focal length would have toned down the exaggeration as well as cropped the picture closer.

Zoomed 100%, there's a good bit of noise on her shirt even for an ISO-100 capture.

I cropped and edited the version below that changed the horizon. I'm usually for a level horizon so I'm not 100% on whether this change distracts or makes it more interesting. These are some ideas to generate still more ideas for working toward for a final version...I like BMAC's comment about the joints, but working with a 1x1 orientation, I didn't find a better crop that captured this input in a way I liked.

Cropped and other edits

Heirloom Tomato Loc: Oregon

Little girls don't need golden halos. The only way to remove that effect is to crop quite a bit, which will also de-emphasize the hunched pose. Unfortunately, the girl isn't really in focus. I suggest removing some stray spots and hairs. I can post an example if you like.

BermBuster Loc: Hi Desert S.Cal

Excellent observation and edit. I didn't notice the focus or the noise. Just reloaded it to look - You are dead on! Here is a pic of the focus points the camera captured.
This picture makes me afraid to use my wide angle on people. You're right, her head-nose-ear-chin…don't resemble that.
Thanks! more notes in my book :)

Heirloom Tomato Loc: Oregon

I noticed the ocean was sharper than she was. I can do an edit that is a partial save except you'd have to keep it small because of the focus issue. Want to see?

BermBuster Loc: Hi Desert S.Cal

Thanks, That would be great to see. Hunched pose…gotta write that down too. Yes I think he was trying for the halo effect..but it didn't seem to work. I'm not sure why this is the case. Can't get much brighter than a setting sun, maybe the shutter speed combined with the flash overpowered some of it??

BermBuster Loc: Hi Desert S.Cal

Yes! Thanks

Heirloom Tomato Loc: Oregon

The halo seems like a special effect. It looks too staged. Solution: get rid of the rest of the sky!

Heirloom Tomato Loc: Oregon

Wrong photo, just a minute....

Heirloom Tomato Loc: Oregon

Let's try this one...

BermBuster Loc: Hi Desert S.Cal

Thats much better…Care to share your recipe? High pass filter and a crop maybe?