For me, it is a little distracting. The first image, not so much, but the second one, yes. The flag looks like it is sticking out of her head and the chair pulls my eyes from the boys face.
It might be web compression, but, I would run some NR on the second image.
hope this helps. Its just my opinion so take it or leave it
A bit distracting, but it adds context, if that's what you want. Helps that the bg is OOF.
Flag is definitely a problem in the second. Easier to fix are the table legs left image, which could readily be cropped out.
Sometimes I experiment with BW on images like this, to see if I can tone down some of the bg with different color conversions. Not sure if that would work on these.
sbeme wrote:
A bit distracting, but it adds context, if that's what you want. Helps that the bg is OOF.
Flag is definitely a problem in the second. Easier to fix are the table legs left image, which could readily be cropped out.
Sometimes I experiment with BW on images like this, to see if I can tone down some of the bg with different color conversions. Not sure if that would work on these.
There is an unflattering red cast to the adult's face. You might try playing with a hue and saturation layer - perhaps +5 for hue and -5 for saturation as a starting point for the first image.
I like 1 better - it would be better with bokeh but it is nice to capture a moment - nice eyes and expressions and focus on both.
2 has odd shadows in left boy eyes, and the lady has an "cheese" kind of posed expression. And way busier background. Needs bokeh. Rule of thumb your are breaking is cropping through joints, having complementary (not distracting background), and positioning in rule of thirds - you are breaking all three in 2. You could eihter move ap down a low as possible to create bokeh or rearrange the seating so the people are closer together in right or left hand side with school items behind.
1 is good, 2 is too much happening that moves it from artistic to forensic.
I'm assuming the lady is a teacher in which case the background could be telling part of the story. If that is so I would recompose to make the background more meaningful but less distracting. As things are, to me it does nothing for you.....
I also wish you (or the lady, as appropriate,) had pulled her sweater down, not to make her bosom bigger but rather to get rid of the unpleasant bunching of fabric. Remember, as a photographer you are often also a stylist to some degree......
