Opinions wanted from amateur and pro photographers

[MrLabGuy]

I'm being told by friends and family to enter this into the amateur photography exhibit at our County fair. Though I think it is a great photo I don't want to enter if I don't think it has a chance. I've never entered any photos but I've won some first place ribbons with some oil paintings and drawings.

This was taken on Easter Sunday with my Olympus E10 soon to be replaced with a new DSLR.

[soccerjunky]

don't see why not

[soccerjunky]

but a judge might like to see more of a facial shot if it is a child pic

[MrLabGuy]

Originally Posted by soccerjunky

but a judge might like to see more of a facial shot if it is a child pic

I agree. I always like a full facial shot on kids; however, it does capture a moment. It was his first easter egg on the hunt on his first easter.

[PersonaNonGrata]

It's a cute image for sure but I know you'll have some more to choose from after you get your new DSLR.

FWIW, I think a shot where you capture the look in his eyes, that pure and innocent excitement that only a child can exhibit, would be the money shot.

[B-Line]

Nice shot.

Give it a chance.. No one can tell you if it will win, place or show. It's a subjective thing.

I would like to see some retouching though. The sprinkler thing near the right foot. And there seems to be some fly away hairs.

I agree though, not seeing the eyes hurts the nature of the shot. But you never know what judges are thinking.

[Thunder22]

I agree with B, give it a shot, you never know what the judges are looking for. From a technical standpoint, it's a bit soft, the white in his shirt is blown out and the focus point looks to be on his shoulder because his head is oof.

[MrLabGuy]

Great eyes guys. I'm now seeing things in the photo from a more critical aspect.

Sprinklers
Hairs
White Shirt

I noticed the focus point being near his knee or shoe but I was focusing on his head when I took the shot. One big reason I decided to move up to a new DSLR was that the focus point on the Olympus was always slow to pick up and more pictures were out of focus than not in a typical shooting session.

The camera was on full on auto on an overcast day which should have been an ideal situation for some easy photographs.

[motordavid]

No xpert or pro, but I agree with all the above opins...
very cute pic; you might have whispered your son's
name and got him to look at you.

Worth entering though, imo.
He's a beautiful boy, LabGuy!
BR,mD

[Thunder22]

Originally Posted by MrLabGuy

Great eyes guys. I'm now seeing things in the photo from a more critical aspect.

Sprinklers
Hairs
White Shirt

I noticed the focus point being near his knee or shoe but I was focusing on his head when I took the shot. One big reason I decided to move up to a new DSLR was that the focus point on the Olympus was always slow to pick up and more pictures were out of focus than not in a typical shooting session.

The camera was on full on auto on an overcast day which should have been an ideal situation for some easy photographs.

If you were focusing on his head then that camera has a front focus problem, you might want to get it checked. Did you have multiple focus points enabled or just the center one? (I've never used an E10 so I don't know how the focus system works in that camera). On new DSLR's you can select which focus point to use, I use the center one exclusively to avoid the camera choosing where to focus, which will always be the area of the subject with the most contrast.