If only the tree branch wasn't hanging down over his face...
If only...
This image was taken early on in my "kid pix" career. I had just been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and, not knowing how bad it was going to get, I felt the need to get every image possible while I could still function. I was following the boys through the woods, trying to keep up, when Zack unexpectedly stopped and looked at me with such a natural expression. It was a moment I had to capture and, in my haste, I missed the focus. Of course, as soon as he heard the camera noise, he knew I had taken the picture, and he continued on, so I never got a second chance.
I have learned patience since then and I now know that I don't have to rush to capture every once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Some day, somewhere, another one will present itself. Even still, I love this shot and, even though I will never use this image (other than now), I will always keep it for it's sentimental value.
Has anyone else missed an opportunity due to haste?
Sure, practice makes perfect but, unless you learn from your mistakes, you are only perfecting your ability to fail.
I think this is a glass half full or half empty situation. There are rarely perfect photos. A lot of things can be a little bit wrong with the way the photographer does something, or the subject, or just the way the world lines up in a photograph.
You mention the natural expression. That still comes through strongly. Would being able to count his eyelashes really make this photo better? Be in sharp focus is a rule most of us find difficult to break, but there is precedence in the history of photography for softness, particularly in portraiture. Look to the early portraits of Edward Steichen, and Gertrude Kasebier.
Blocking the eye the branch would be a killer. But it's not. The eyes pull enough attention; once I see them I don't see the branch.
You love the shot. Printing is cheap. There will be flawed shots worth printing and looking at.
This is a really nice spur of the moment capture.. don't give up on it though - that branch can be removed from his face and hair and a little sharpening & brightening on his eyes and lips will give it a nice, dreamy kind of "soft focus".. Do you use Photoshop?
And, yes.. I've missed plenty of shots because I just snapped without thinking or checking.. haste makes waste.
Dave Speicher I thought I wanted a career.. turns out I only wanted paychecks.
dlspeicher.zenfolio.com
I like the picture. I think it's pretty good. Don't be too hard on yourself. The picture isn't completely messed up. It's easy to see what the subject is and I love the expression on his face. You were able to focus on him...not the tree on the right side. I think you did a good job.
You have a keeper there, its a moment that will never happen like that again, who cares about focus and branches, I look at this photo and think "yeah thats nice", so dont be hard on yourself its a family moment that you can look back on and immediately it will take you back to that time.
yes you could photoshop it but why its a moment in time.
lost count of the opportunities missed or screwed up but hey life goes on.
www.dcimages.org.uk
"A good photograph is one that communicate a fact, touches the heart, leaves the viewer a changed person for having seen it. It is, in a word, effective." - Irving Penn
with the comments above. It is the connection with the subject I try to achieve when attempting portraits, whether for myself or a client. And you have it here. I agree with Henry that the face trumps the rest. But I would suggest that a simple slight blur and darkening of the background would give the image the added presence that crackling sharp focus sometimes provides.
Still a nice portrait. Sometimes when you just go for it and don't think about it so much you get a great picture and sometimes not so much, still worth giving it a shot.
Just pretend you meant for it to have a softer look LOL! But no, really, it's still good, and if you enjoy having the picture that's sometimes what's important.
If you use Photoshop or Lightroom for photo editing then the
InFocus plugin from Topaz Labs
might help. I did a quick test using a poor quality screen capture of your larger image and there is a definte improvement, quite noticeable around the hair and eyes in particular. Some time spent with this plugin could improve the apparent sharpness of the image. A comparison of the head is given below. I don't know how evident the difference will be here. Bear in mind that this is a low quality jpeg of a screen capture.
cod wrote: If you use Photoshop or Lightroom for photo editing then the
InFocus plugin from Topaz Labs
might help. I did a quick test using a poor quality screen capture of your larger image and there is a definte improvement, quite noticeable around the hair and eyes in particular. Some time spent with this plugin could improve the apparent sharpness of the image. A comparison of the head is given below. I don't know how evident the difference will be here. Bear in mind that this is a low quality jpeg of a screen capture.
Wow, thank you "cod." I have Photoshop but it is too complicated for me. The more I read about its potential by others using it, the more I think I should learn how to use it.
Thank you for putting forth the effort to show me this.
Sure, practice makes perfect but, unless you learn from your mistakes, you are only perfecting your ability to fail.
There are plenty tutorial videos on Photoshop - just Google whatever action you want to accomplish and you'll probably find something.. I played about a bit with the Patch and Clone tools and also the Dodge, Burn, and Brush tools.. the hair obviously needs a bit more work but the face turned out nicely considering it's from a low-res screenshot.. A little sharpening, brightening of his eyes, and a boost in saturation.. I hope you don't mind my taking the liberty of doing this...
Dave Speicher I thought I wanted a career.. turns out I only wanted paychecks.
dlspeicher.zenfolio.com
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with the comments above. It is the connection with the subject I try to achieve when attempting portraits, whether for myself or a client. And you have it here. I agree with Henry that the face trumps the rest. But I would suggest that a simple slight blur and darkening of the background would give the image the added presence that crackling sharp focus sometimes provides.
I like the original shot just fine. I like the sharper image even more. The eyes are the subject here and they seem very attractive. 
