Senior - Practice, Practice

crockett

EDIT: TONED DOWN THE SHARPENING AND FOUND OUT SMUGMUG DOES APPLY SOME SHARPENING REMOVED THAT AS WELL. STILL TOO MUCH? OR ARE THEY OK NOW?

More shots with my live in model. Just practicing in anticipation of shooting some seniors.

C & C Welcome and appreciated.

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ShepsMom

Good shots, but way oversharpened. I would soften them a bit.

crockett

Holy Cow! Does Smugmug do additional sharpening? I posted these and ran out the door without looking at the post until now. They'll have to stay like that for 12 hours until I can get back to my desktop with PS and I'll change the sharpening. Thanks for the catch.

Elaine

I agree! The sharpening jumped out at me, too! That aside, there's a stripe of light on her face in #1 that's a bit distracting, but the light to her eyes is nice and I like the wood background.
Nice light in #2, but I wonder if it would be a cleaner, simpler image if the wood siding could be the entire background. Whatever is going on behind her head is a bit much.
Similar thoughts on #3...the bit of sky in the upper left could go and the placement of the windows is conflicting with her a little bit. The red wall seems a bit bright, and might be nice as an overall background if she stepped forward a bit, I think.

Uh...that all sounds much pickier than I intended! I'm conscious of senior pics at the moment as I'll be doing some myself, eventually. It looks like you found some very nice light and have a great location...as well as a pretty, helpful model!

crockett

That aside, there's a stripe of light on her face in #1 that's a bit distracting, but the light to her eyes is nice and I like the wood background.
Nice light in #2, but I wonder if it would be a cleaner, simpler image if the wood siding could be the entire background. Whatever is going on behind her head is a bit much.
Similar thoughts on #3...the bit of sky in the upper left could go and the placement of the windows is conflicting with her a little bit. The red wall seems a bit bright, and might be nice as an overall background if she stepped forward a bit, I think.

Uh...that all sounds much pickier than I intended! I'm conscious of senior pics at the moment as I'll be doing some myself, eventually. It looks like you found some very nice light and have a great location...as well as a pretty, helpful model!

Thanks for taking the time to reply. No, no, be as picky as possible, that's why I posted them. Every point you raised has been thought about.

#1 I caught the light streak as I was shooting and repositioned her without the streak of light (it's coming from some slats on a railing). Wouldn't you know, we both thought this one was by far the best shot because of her eyes and head position so I settled and posted this one.

#2 I considered making the wood on the right the entire background but I just thought it might look too faked or static. The 2 X 6 running vertical and the "C" shaped metal in the railroad tie is what botherd me. I darkened this area 'til it hurt but your right, cleaner is always better. I might clone out that wood chip, but other than I think I'm leaving it.

#3 The sky bit in the upper left was much worse. I pushed the crop all the way until it was gone and felt I was losing too much of her arm. Starting to look like an amputee. Dooh! It just occurred to me that I could crop from the top and right and lose that bit of sky. I'll try that,thanks. The red being so bright is probably my over saturation. My photoshop skills are definately in the category of "knowing just enough to be dangerous". I'll tone down the wall, I think. I purposely shot with the windows in the frame because I didn't want it to look so static against a flat background. But your right the white window frames compete for attention with her face. Maybe I'll try making them black? Also, good point about stepping forward. I think it would be an improvement but she is standing on the end of an old time caboose and I'm shooting from a ladder. To have her step forward she'd have to be able to levitate or I'd need two ladders.

Thanks again.

Elaine

crockett wrote:

Also, good point about stepping forward. I think it would be an improvement but she is standing on the end of an old time caboose and I'm shooting from a ladder. To have her step forward she'd have to be able to levitate or I'd need two ladders.

Thanks again.

Well, I knew it was a cool location! I thought perhaps a red barn, but a caboose is even better. Any shots where it shows a wider view of her surroundings?

crockett

Unfortunately, no. I definately learned in this last session that I have a phobia of shooting the subject in open space and distanced from a background. I still have that beginner rule "simplify the background" engraned in me. I've shot youth sports and still do occassionally, and backgrounds are a constant nightmare, getting up close and eliminating everything else is just so refreshing and easy (well, easier) but you definately need some variety like the posts I've seen on this forum.

However, we're having another practice session in a couple days and I have vowed to force myself to shoot shoots with more space around the subject and distanced from the backgrounds.

Wish me luck and thanks again.

Elaine

crockett wrote:

Unfortunately, no. I definately learned in this last session that I have a phobia of shooting the subject in open space and distanced from a background. I still have that beginner rule "simplify the background" engraned in me. I've shot youth sports and still do occassionally, and backgrounds are a constant nightmare, getting up close and eliminating everything else is just so refreshing and easy (well, easier) but you definately need some variety like the posts I've seen on this forum.

However, we're having another practice session in a couple days and I have vowed to force myself to shoot shoots with more space around the subject and distanced from the backgrounds.

Wish me luck and thanks again.

Ah, yes. Distance from the background is what helps you get that nice separation, along with your aperture setting and focal length. Since I've been taking pics more seriously, I think it's funny how often I have to ask people to take big steps forward. It seems that people naturally push themselves up against whatever is near. But hanging out in the open can give wonderfully blurred backgrounds. As you say, variety is great, so those backgrounds with interesting textures or colors are nice to include in close-ups, too. And going wider to include a sense of place is always great when the location permits and invites such a treatment. Have fun and keep at it!

crockett

Discovered Smugmug does do some default sharpening, so I removed that and also backed it off in PS. Better or still too much?

Thanks.

ShepsMom

Oh yeah, a lot better!! It looks so much more interesting now!!

searching the soul

sharpening tips

crockett wrote:

Discovered Smugmug does do some default sharpening, so I removed that and also backed it off in PS. Better or still too much?

Thanks.

When sharpening in PS it is essential to either go to mode and work in lab color and use the lightness channel . This will allow sharpening only to the contrast sreas of the image . Any other aspect of the file is left alone. You can also do the same type sharpening if you use USM and then go to edit and fade the USM to the luminosity mode . Same idea for the most part . Hope this helps .