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I wanted to take a photo of my two boys to hopefully convert to a jigsaw puzzle for my parents for Christmas*. First rule - don't work with children.

Anyhoo, this is the photo we have chosen, out of about a dozen I took in the 2-3 minutes I had! Two light set-up.

Whilst I can provide excuses for the composition, my primary question would be, if you were a portrait photographer charging people for photos of their children, should you be happy with a photo such as this where the younger boy's hand is slightly cut off, the space underneath the chair doesn't seem to match (and yes, this will be cropped anyway), and the cropping on the right seems a little haphazard (plus any other defect you can notice)? In summary, the question relates to the balance between capturing the photo of unpredictable children and getting the 'perfect' photo.

As the father, I am stoked because of the eye contact. As the photographer, I am reasonably happy with lighting and exposure, but not so much with the composition.

Sorry for the ramblings...



C&C appreciated.

* Does anyone know a company that converts a photograph to a jigsaw puzzle?

First rule - don't work with children.

nope, thats the second rule...the first is, dont have kids...

balance between capturing the photo of unpredictable children and getting the 'perfect' photo

I think this image is great, my first impression was, 'great eye contact and facial expression', I think most parents are looking for those two items over the perfectly lit and composed/cropped image, so in my book the image is perfect.

jigsaw puzzle for my parents for Christmas

thats a great idea, unfortunately I do not know anywhere this is done, however have never looked...

biggerry wrote:
nope, thats the second rule...the first is, dont have kids...

But I must admit to having broken it once or twice

Reschsmooth wrote:* Does anyone know a company that converts a photograph to a jigsaw puzzle?

I have tried to do this myself. All I can say is "Don't do this at home"
You might try a sign maker. They can usually do fairly intricate laser cutting. I know some people who have used them to make furniture templates from photos. In their case they were cutting wood, but I doubt they will see a difference.

http://www4.snapfish.com.au/photo-puzzles

No experience with the puzzles, however I've had prints made up there which were decent enough.

Reschsmooth wrote:Does anyone know a company that converts a photograph to a jigsaw puzzle?

No personal experience, no.
But Googling "jigsaw puzzle photograph" brought up a few likely looking links.

Thanks guys, and for the links. I hadn't had a chance to google puzzle providers and didn't expect anyone to do this for me - but I appreciate that nonetheless.

Reschsmooth wrote:if you were a portrait photographer charging people for photos of their children, should you be happy with a photo such as this where the younger boy's hand is slightly cut off, the space underneath the chair doesn't seem to match (and yes, this will be cropped anyway), and the cropping on the right seems a little haphazard (plus any other defect you can notice)? In summary, the question relates to the balance between capturing the photo of unpredictable children and getting the 'perfect' photo.

If you were a PRO and the client is happy with the photos, that's all that needs to happen. If you want to better yourself next time, you'd just learn from this and move on. Next time the same client comes to you, then they'd be even happier. Before you knew it, you would have photographed their grandchildren.....

I love this photo. Great crisp light and expressions!

I think the expressions in their faces and posture tell lots of stories. Congratulations on a very well done portrait, and the good looking kids!