My favorite model

divamum

deigned to let me take some pictures in the field of trees behind her school - I've been dying to try shooting there for a while, but hadn't had both time and a cooperative model AND light before (she's great when she's in the mood, but if not...? DOn't even bother!)

C&C of course welcomed :thumb

These were the first outing with ::drumroll: the Xsi, which arrived yesterday (just hours before I found out my main contract for next year may be collapsing and cancelled, but if we're going to suffer slings and arrows at least I'm going to do it with NICE TOYS. Still, verrry scary couple of days especially having just spent money on something which, by any standard is a "non-essential"... :uhoh). I am LOVING the way it handles, the screen and viewfinder make it sooo much easier for me, and it definitely has faster AF, all of which added up to more shots that I liked. YAY. Have to handle them slightly differently in post (exposure and colour are both different than the XT produces), but that's just learning the new gear, I presume.

In any case, here we go (all taken with the xsi, 50mm 1.8 and 420ex when I used flash)

1.


2. I think this one is probably my favorite...


3.



4 I didn't realise she still had her gum and was blowing bubbles!! On the upside, I persuaded her to take off the hairband (I think it's surgically attached!!)




5.


6. after rolling down the hill in the leaves

7. I wish she'd been able to throw a bigger handful of leaves, but it will still pretty fun!

crockett

I think your off to good start with these.

Things that would make these images much stronger in my opinion.

1. Your shooting angle is too high. Get on your belly for almost all of these.
2. Watch your exposure. I'm on a very crappy laptop monitor and I'm not certain, but 2 look under and 1 over. Certainly though they could be more consistent. Even free software like Gimp will allow you to adjust the levels. Do a search on these forums or Google on how to set your white and black points.
3. The images overall could use a bit more punch in saturation. They are quite contrasty though. Are you shooting JPG format? With a mode that boosts contrast?
4. Image 6 would would work with that crop if the leaves were of brighter colors. Given what you had I would crop it differently (mainly tighter).

Looks like you had fun!

divamum

Thanks so very much for the response! I really appreciate you taking the time.

These actually WERE adjusted for b/w points and curves in CS3. However, I'm working with a new laptop vid card (ATI Radeon), so although they look right here, perhaps I'm being misled... Can anybody else comment? Would really help to know what they look like on other screens so I know if I can trust this one!

The low saturation of all of today's shots was actually one of the things I noticed that's different from the XT - I was shooting jpeg (i REALLY need to make the jump to RAW soon, but am still intimidated by it!), but I haven't had a chance to fiddle with all the XSi's settings on that score, so it was on whatever the default is. I saturated them a bit in PS, but perhaps not enough from what you're saying....

I did a couple of low down shots, I just didn't like them as much for some reason. Here's one of the better ones, though - not quite sure WHY it doesn't work for me, it just didn't seem to "sparkle" - although that may just be my own misjudgement!



Thanks again for the comments!

crockett

Like I said, I'm on a very bad and inconsitent monitor so I very well could be completely off on my judgement of exposure. Perhaps the black and white points are correct but it still appears as 2 and 3 could use a bit of brightness boost then.

This is very small stuff...still nice and fun images.

sweet caroline

I like the low shot, except that she's leaning too hard on her hands. Maybe when you are up she holds her head up a bit more. Next time, ask her to put her arms down or only touch her face without really leaning.

To me #2 has the best balance of contrast, exposure, saturation. The low shot looks pretty good, except her cheeks look a little over exposed to me.

Caroline

divamum

sweet caroline wrote:

I like the low shot, except that she's leaning too hard on her hands. Maybe when you are up she holds her head up a bit more. Next time, ask her to put her arms down or only touch her face without really leaning.

To me #2 has the best balance of contrast, exposure, saturation. The low shot looks pretty good, except her cheeks look a little over exposed to me.

Caroline

Yes, #2 is the one I like best as well.

Excellent point regarding leaning on the hands - now you mention it, I totally see what you mean. Posing is something I don't think about all that specifically, particularly with her, and I freely admit that i just turn her loose in front of the camera - when she's in the mood, she can turn her personality off and on like a switch so I just let her go (and, of course, because I'm MOM, if I try to direct too much she just gets stubborn and clams up, so when she's feeling cooperative for the camera like she was on Saturday, I just try to steer her towards the light and push buttons at the right time!) Thanks for the comments - much appreciated!

sweet caroline

I'm just lucky if my girls don't run when I pull out my camera! When they do let me photograph them, they are directing me rather than listening to direction. To be fair, the 12 year old is much better now.

Caroline