Alex: my First portrait session

Moogle Pepper

I had my first portrait session on Tuesday. This is my very very first time posing someone or taking photos of just a person.. ever! Seriously! I tried my best with posing the guy.

The sky was getting dark and there was overcast as it was gonna rain soon. And I am still not fully used to my external flash... :deal

But please give me C&Cs!! I wanna get better!



I think the flash is really strong here, especially the glare in his sunglasses.



I did my best to keep the guy talking and relaxed. I think his shadow is slightly distracting in this one.



This is probably the better ones from this session. He was more serious, I had a better handle at shooting a person.



I kinda hoped that I didn't cut his feet off in this shot.



I like this one, even though the light is pretty strong on our left. His feet is slightly dark too.



I should have taken more care in this shot. Like taking out all his wardrobe before doing the shots.



Like this one. I spotted the gear. I guess I been paying too much attention on focusing on the guy and not anything that could possible cause a distraction.



I thought that him sticking his foot out at me like this would cause a nice leading point.


Well my first attempt. Let me know what you think! Please whip them! I wanna do better!

ShepsMom

Not bad for a first time!!!

You cut his feet on couple of them
Flash is obvious on all of the shots, but like you mentioned, you are still learning your falsh system. What are you using?

Your shots are very clear and crisp and that great!

Keep on shooting, you have a great start!!

Moogle Pepper

You are right... I guess I didn't like his feet..

30D, 24-70, and 580 EX. This is probably the first real time I used my flash unit. I left my diffusers at home..sadly.


I am meeting up with him at the end of the month for another try. This time with better lighting outside.

jpl

I'm not a people photographer myself so take my critic with a grain of salt.

#2 The pose and expression are very unflattering to Alex.

#3 is your best shot over all. Alex's pose and expression look good and the background isn't busy.

#6 is the best shot you have of Alex but the background really kills the picture.

In general your backgrounds are too busy. You should try to frame your shots like #3 where there are no distractions in the background.

I don't know enough about posing to suggest better, but the poses here don't strike me as too flattering or portrait-esque.

Qarik

Did you have any kind of diffuser on the flash? I think that could improve your lighting significantly

Moogle Pepper

..I left it at home! :cry

crockett

Ok. Here goes...my disclaimer. I'm not a pro so I don't know how much my thoughts mean but they are my thoughts. Looking at the pictures I realize that my thoughts will be more towards the negative side but you did ask for feedback. However, I commend you, it takes major courage to go out and do what you did.

Good points overall: The shots are sharp. Not a small thing. Read this and other forums a lot and you'll quickly find this is probably the number one mistake us beginners are making. Posting shots that they shouldn't even being spending one second of their time on because of focus issues. These are clear and crisp for the most part. The model seems fairly relaxed. This of course is good. The photos convey you had a good report with him.

Negative points: You thought about background but didn't control it. I think your poses could be improved greatly. In most the flash is much too obvious. You need to diffuse the light somehow. Many different ways to do this, do some googling on bounce modifiers, flash brackets, or umbrellas and softboxes if you want to go that route.

Every photo he is openly smiling or smiling. Try some more serious looks, especially with men.

Don't be afraid of overcast. I'd rather shoot in overcast than bright sun anyday. Use the low light to your advantage and push the backgrounds dark. The last photo is a good example where you let the background go darker.

Number your photos.

Your camera can shoot at many different aperatures and shutter speeds, use them to your advantage.

Specifics....

#1 Why tack sharp front to back with even exposure? Blur or darken that background. Our eyes are drawn to that door in the back left. Move the subject to eliminate it, blur the background (wider aperature) or let the background go dark (i.e. under expose on the camera and let the flash make up the difference). The problem with making up the difference with flash is that your light is direct and it will cause even more of that "flash look".

#2 As a general rule men look better with their head perpendicular to their shoulders. Study professional photos and you'll see that men's heads are rarely tilted at angle to their shoulders other than 90 degrees. When men tilt their head we look dumb or silly, women look mysterious or sexy, why, I have no idea but generally it works as a rule. Watch your camera tilt. The columns should be vertical or it should be obvious that you're going for the "tilt look". This one is neither. The lighting is good in this one (in comparasion) but I would have slightly blurred the background with a wider aperature.

#3. I agree. One of the better ones. Remove the objects from the pocket unless of course this was intentional to show him at a work enviroment or just as who he exactly is, then of course good job and they stay. I would also have shot this one again, move the light further to your left to create a bit more shadow on the camera right side of his face to give myself a choice of which light I like better. I bet moving the light 30 degrees camera left would improve the photo, giving a bit more depth to his face.

#4 Again, DOF and the railing is a distraction. It would be fine if the railing match the color of the steps but the black creates contrast which draws our eyes. The glasses on the steps. Overall, not bad though, move him left, pose him many different ways, shoot both horizontal and vertical on this one.


#5 Lol! I didn't look at this one until after giving the critique above. I thought this one would look better as a vertical and it does, I thought a different pose would better and it is. Now move everything left to eliminate the railing and it easily becomes the best of the group. Maybe 1/2 to 1 stop less DOF? I might also try bringing up his left arm so his elbow rests on the knee but keep it bent just like it is.

#7 Move him one bench back, shoot lower and slightly to the left, blurring the bench which will now be directly behind him and make sure it angles back towards the center of the frame (this is why you need to move a bit to the left), include that street lamp if you can unscrew the blub, if not eliminate it so it doesn't create a bright light in the frame to distract us.

#8 Good idea about the foot but you see how it just doesn't work with a shorter lens. You might be able to pull it off with a longer lens as it will compress the subject. I would try having him turn his head to his right to eliminate the other ear, still looking at the camera and shoot again. See how his head is tilted but still perpendicular to his shoulders (because his right shoulder is lower than the left)? It is a nice pose and flattering (minus the foot jumping out at us).

What a great opportunity, I wish I had opportunities like this.

jeffreaux2

I am not going to disect each photo here...as i think most of what has been said is a good enough critique.

In the future...

-I'd stay away from using flash until you are comfortable in ambient light.
-Find good ambient light...The shady side of these buildings during the day or anywhere on an overcast day.
-Use a larger aperture. I rarely use smaller than F4 for a portrait with a single person in it. Most of my portraits are shot at F1.8 to F4.
-Don't pose your subject with hips and shoulders square to the camera...this rarely will work...but very rarely. In these it also adds what we call a crotchyness that no one wants to see.
-If the composition is of a complete body minus a foot or finger you have made a mistake. Common crops are head shot, head and shoulders, 1/2, 3/4, and full length
-Showing the bottoms of feet is a no-no in most cases...and probably in all cases for a grown man.
-Be mindful of head tilting with guys. If one shoulder is higher than the other in a particular pose, a slight tilt toward the lower shoulder is ok. A tilt to the higher shoulder is a feminine tilt. BTW a female is ok tilting either direction.
- For most people...and certainly anyone over 30 years old a camera position slightly higher than the subject will provide a more flattering angle.

-Lastly be methodical. It is obvious you can operate a camera. Nail a shot in natural light, then add fill light with flash. Use your FEC(flash exposure compensation) wheel to dial that flash power WaaaaY back. The idea with fill flash is to brighten the subject, lift the shadows (not knock them out), and definately try to avoid casting new shadows. You shouldn't need a diffuser for fill flash in decent daylight. I very rarely (mostly never) use one outdoors.

Moogle Pepper

thanks for the C&Cs, guys! I really appreciate it!

Moogle Pepper

The one thing that was a plus out all of this was that I really had a great time shooting! Even though the results weren't as great as I would hope for, I had a great time.