Playing with light....what could I have done better?

Question

http://sappygolucky.deviantart.com/art/They-re-My-Light-95048892

http://sappygolucky.deviantart.com/art/Squints-94991120

http://sappygolucky.deviantart.com/art/Have-A-Seat-94991258

Any criticism welcome. Thanks so much :)

Answer 1

i like the second one the best, i don't even have the slightest clue what you were trying to do in the first one.

Answer 2

I LOVE the 3rd picture!  You know I rarely say that, especially here!  But I really do like that one.  It looks a lot like one of the photographs I saw in B&W magazine.  The lighting is even, and the exposure is good...nothing too underexposed or overexposed.  Also, the composition is good.  The staircase draws your attention in, and with the tables on either side it helps to balance it.  The scene doesn't look too cluttered either.  It's clean, with a pretty cool moody feel to it.  That is definitely my favorite picture.  

I like the 2nd picture with the girl...I can only imagine how hard it must have been to get a little kid to sit still!  Is she your daughter?  (I don't have any kids...I'm not quite ready for all that!)  The lighting is good, and the colors are warm with nice tones.  

I don't really like the 1st picture too much.  It's not a bad picture, but it's just too stark - some parts are either too dark and others are too light.  The dark areas are way underexposed, and most of the light areas are completely blown out.  Her face looks like it's glowing and is a little washed out (although maybe that was the effect you were trying to achieve?)  But like I said, it's not a bad picture.  It's interesting...I just think the lighting wasn't quite right and your exposure was off.

About the only criticism I would say overall is that maybe the ISO was a little too high.  I'm seeing a little bit of noise (grain) in your pictures.  What kind of camera do you have?  Can you change the ISO?  If you push the ISO too high, like above 400, you will get a lot of noise in your pictures.  I especially see a lot of noise in the color picture of the girl.  This is actually true for both film and digital.  I usually don't go above 200 ISO.  

Of course, if you use a lower ISO number, that means you'll have to use a slower shutter speed or even a long, timed exposure.  With that picture with the staircase, it could help a little.  But I know that's not going to be possible with the kids!  Heck, I have touble just getting long exposure pictures of my cat!

Overall, they're pretty good!  But maybe next time try a lower ISO?