Children in a Chinese Village School

A friend and fellow photo experimenter, just bought a Nikon D40, which is a serious upgrade from my loaner all-manal Vivitar. He and I were already sending e-mails back and forth with photos and comments on each other’s photos. So, since I was already writing far too much for an e-mail, we decided to just move that information here to benefit all.


Children in Chinese Village, Yunnan

His comments:

Village Kids — All the kids at the school where we stayed were really friendly and loved me showing them the pictures after I took them, and because of that, I was able to get in pretty close to their faces. I liked the lighting on this one, although it’s kind of dark in some areas.

The first comment I would make is about the psychology of photography. We have to keep relationships in mind. We are not paparazzi, forcing and tricking the masses into our photos. Often just letting people know first what you are doing and why you are taking photos will ease any discomfort on their part, bringing about much better and more natural photos.

In this case, and I can confirm the same in my own experience, people around here, especially in the rural parts of China, love to view that photo through the camera’s LCD. Just letting them do so allowed my friend to be able to shoot away without strange looks or uncomfortable situations. Good move!

Anyway, comments on the photo itself. He feels it is too dark, but I would disagree. I would say the contrast is pretty good myself, especially the color and lighting. I would say “no worries” to that one. It is a very warm, realistic photo.

I do have two comments, though. One is the composition of the photo. Because the photo is perfectly balanced between the two boys, I do not know what the photo is trying to say or on whom it is focusing. Granted, this is just my first thought. I would suggest “highlighting” one of them by moving him on to a “third” line. If it were me, I would have gone for the boy on the left, but I do not really know why. Why not try both? Just move one of them more to the center to bring more focus and attention to him.

My friend then asked, “But what if I want two kids in the picture? Should I have their heads closer together?” Basically, yes. I would pull out just a little bit, thus bringing both of them more to the center of the photo. I would like to see a “good buddies” themed photo, too.

Still vital to pulling any of those suggestions off, is my second suggestion: focus. The photo is focused just a little further back than their faces. Take a look at the green in the right-side-boy’s shirt (on this size photo, you cannot see easily see the clear texture of the fabric like you can in the original), and you will see how clear the shirt is, compared to their faces.

And speaking of this topic, I just got a good hint myself a couple days ago when listening to a podcast interview with a wedding photographer: focus on the eyes. If you get the eyes right, the viewer will not think about any of the other focus. And if you are a narrow depth-of-field guy like me (using the wide open f/stops on my f/1.4 and f/1.8 lenses), focusing on the eyes will often “soften” the other facial features in a close up shot like this, thus creating a very complimentary portrait.

“But how do I focus the camera on their eyes when the eyes are not in the center of the photo?” Simple…and this tip is for every camera from point-and-shoot to professional: focus and compose. First, center the frame on the point you want in focus and half press the shutter-release button to make the camera focus. Then, keeping the shutter-release button half-pressed (which locks the focus), reframe the photo to where you want it.

Still, I like this shot. I like what my friend was trying to do with it. We just have to get the little technical stuff right, though, to allow the audience to keep from noticing the umimportant details instead of what we want them to notice in our photos.

Cooper Strange Written by: