Photo help - Advise on these pics from yesterday?

[kylieh]

Here are some pics from my daughter's 9th birthday party yesterday. I've only included my family here as I don't know what the other mums would say.

For all the shots..

Camera: Canon 60D
Lens: Canon 17-55 2.8 - this is the new one I purchased last week.
No flash
Big window at the front of the location, very cloudy and cold day outside, down lights only inside (as per first pic.)

My feeling isn't right about them. I'm ok with the subject placement, but I'm not sure on the colours, lighting, speed, etc. Can any of you see what I can't and help me out a bit please? Any suggestions?

Shot A: Location prior to all the girls arriving. The window is behind me.

Pink Mix Revesby by ~* Kylie *~, on Flickr

Shot B: DD in her painted mask

IMG_1680 by ~* Kylie *~, on Flickr

Shot C: My DD. I was at a funny angle and I just snapped it. It almost works!

IMG_1689 by ~* Kylie *~, on Flickr

Shot D: DH videoing. I think the white balance is out?

Birthday Party by ~* Kylie *~, on Flickr

Shot E: My niece, also coming on our trip next week.

IMG_1667 by ~* Kylie *~, on Flickr

And finally, Shot f: Birthday cake. I was at a strangle angle to get this, surrounded by 12 other 8/9 year old girls!

IMG_1687 by ~* Kylie *~, on Flickr

 

[TracyL1991]

I am not much help, I think the pictures look pretty darn good! It looks like such a magical time!
I am drooling over that lens right now. On the fence if I need it or not before Disney. Who am I kidding...of course I need it, right? I have until December to figure out how to pay for it. lol

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

Its hard to tell without the EXIF info, but it looks like you were shooting wide open with little DOF. If the OOF look was what you were going for, okay, but in cases like this I like a little more DOF. Also, there is some shadowing that fill flash with a diffuser bouncing off the ceiling may have eliminated.

 

[GrumpyGoat]

There also might be a bit of a white balance issue because of the mixed lighting, especially in the first shot. I can't tell if the overhead lights are incandescent or halogen but that could have an effect on the colors, especially if some of the lighting is fluorescent.

 

[Daisy14'sDH]

and theres a tonne of pink and reds in the room, any reflected light will cast that tone around. Great pics! Looks like they had a blast!

We will be in POFQ ourselves from Sept 24 til ? (trying to get more days) maybe we'll see you around... WOW!!! that sounds creepy

 

[mom2rtk]

Kyleigh, I think they turned out beautiful,l just like the birthday girl!

If you have questions on the white balance, do you shoot in RAW? I love not having to worry about it. I just put WB on auto and adjust in LR3 later.

Have an awesome trip!

 

[photo_chick]

I agree on the focus. A couple need better focus and/or more depth of field. And the contrast... it looks like the blacks might be clipped a bit on some and that's wonking the contrast and consequently the color up.

 

[kylieh]

Thank you - I'm shooting in RAW and then LR3. I'm on a Macbook Pro.

I agree on the focus. Does having more DOF means my background is more defined? Sorry about such a simple question, I get confused sometimes.

I'm at home today so I'll try changing them and make new versions. I have some ideas now about looking at the white balance and looking at the blacks

mom2rtk: Thank you for comment. I've shown DD

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

As you close down your aperture, f number gets bigger, you increase the depth of the focus so there is more of the image in focus. Distance from your subject also plays into this. Does that make sense. f8-f11 is the "normal" or as Bryan Peterson states the "who cares" setting. An example is a nighttime photo I took in Washington DC from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial looking across the Reflecting Pond to the WWII Memorial, Washington Monument and the Capitol Building. I wanted the foreground, mid-ground and background in focus. With my Sigma 100-300 f4 lens using a tripod, I set it at f32 and about a 30 second exposure and everything was in focus. Had I used a larger aperture and focused on the Washington then the Capitol and WWII would have been out-of-focus. Its all in the image you want to produce. By using a larger aperture and producing the blur you can draw the viewer's eyes to want you want them to see and tell a different story. Its all in the image you, as the photographer, want to create. I hope that makes sense.