Ready for my thrashing....

enigmachck

Well I just signed up here and I haven't had the opportunity to troll too much, but I'm looking forward to participating a bit more in the future. I got a sweet light setup for xmas and am looking to get into photography a little more seriously - I've never really taken portraits but I'm interested in getting more into it.

All of this means that...I need help! I'm posting a picture I took over the holidays - i would love any advice or comments that anyone would like to give. Don't worry, I'm a big girl, I can take it!

Many thanks in advance.

Scott_Quier

- Welcome!!!

Light actually looks very good, especially for a first attempt!!

What I find less than flattering is what appears to be the combination of short focal length and short focus distance - causing what looks like some serious distortion. His head/nose looks way too large compared to the rest of him. If his head thrusts forward, like many older people, this would only increase the opportunity for this distortion.

So, assuming I'm right about the above, how does one fix it? Shoot with a focal length of between 50mm and 105mm and then back away from your subject enough to properly fill the frame - like you did here. That combination will fix the "problem" I see here.

Then there's other posing techniques to be researched. For example, consider turning your subject's body just a bit from the camera and then turn his face a bit back toward the camera.

enigmachck

Scott_Quier wrote:

- Welcome!!!

Light actually looks very good, especially for a first attempt!!

What I find less than flattering is what appears to be the combination of short focal length and short focus distance - causing what looks like some serious distortion. His head/nose looks way too large compared to the rest of him. If his head thrusts forward, like many older people, this would only increase the opportunity for this distortion.

So, assuming I'm right about the above, how does one fix it? Shoot with a focal length of between 50mm and 105mm and then back away from your subject enough to properly fill the frame - like you did here. That combination will fix the "problem" I see here.

Then there's other posing techniques to be researched. For example, consider turning your subject's body just a bit from the camera and then turn his face a bit back toward the camera.

Thanks so much for all of the advice. I really appreciate it! The distortion that I think you were referring to is in fact old age - his face really looks like that! I'll try changing the focal length and see f that makes a difference.

du8die

enigmachck wrote:

The distortion that I think you were referring to is in fact old age - his face really looks like that!

I think the distortion I see (and maybe Scott was referring to) can especially be seen in his ears. They are disproportionally far away from his eyes. It doesn't look natural. Perhaps the very shallow DOF is contributing to the "distorted" effect.

I'd suggest a slightly closer crop - the plaid on his sleeves is just barely in the frame, but is there enough for it to be pretty distracting.

It seems you have a good handle on exposure, and I really like the BW conversion.

Thanks for posting!

enigmachck

du8die wrote:

I think the distortion I see (and maybe Scott was referring to) can especially be seen in his ears. They are disproportionally far away from his eyes. It doesn't look natural. Perhaps the very shallow DOF is contributing to the "distorted" effect.

I'd suggest a slightly closer crop - the plaid on his sleeves is just barely in the frame, but is there enough for it to be pretty distracting.

It seems you have a good handle on exposure, and I really like the BW conversion.

Thanks for posting!

I see what you mean about the ears. I'm going to have to get a good look at him next time I see him so I can see where the baseline is and go from there.

Slightly closer crop - check!

THANKS!

codiac2600

Wonderful start indeed!

I think it's fine but there does seem to be a bit of barrel distortion...

What focal length were you using? Typically the best focal length for shooting this orientation would be 75-135mm.

I love the post processing work as it's a great B&W conversion.

baldmountain

Oooo, I really like this. I think the short focal length works and enhances the image. I love the effect.

My only criticism would be the reflections in the glasses. And they are SO hard to get rid of. (I normally wear glasses, but if you look at my avatar, I'm not wearing them. )

codiac2600

baldmountain wrote:

Oooo, I really like this. I think the short focal length works and enhances the image. I love the effect.

My only criticism would be the reflections in the glasses. And they are SO hard to get rid of. (I normally wear glasses, but if you look at my avatar, I'm not wearing them. )

With glasses there are 3 fixes to try to stop reflections.

1. Chin down, since glasses already have a slight downward tilt moving the chin slightly down will make the reflection disappear because the angle the light reflects will go below the lens.

2. Turn away from the flash. Again this will make the reflection go the other direction.

3. Polarize the light source (super expensive as polarized filters of this size tend to be $100 a piece) then use a polarizer on the camera. NOT EASY, but workable.

enigmachck

codiac2600 wrote:

With glasses there are 3 fixes to try to stop reflections.

1. Chin down, since glasses already have a slight downward tilt moving the chin slightly down will make the reflection disappear because the angle the light reflects will go below the lens.

2. Turn away from the flash. Again this will make the reflection go the other direction.

3. Polarize the light source (super expensive as polarized filters of this size tend to be $100 a piece) then use a polarizer on the camera. NOT EASY, but workable.

Thanks for the advice on the glasses. I really like the way that they frame his face, but I agree, the light is sort of distracting. I'll try all of these tips the next time I am faced with glass!

baldmountain

codiac2600 wrote:

With glasses there are 3 fixes to try to stop reflections.

1. Chin down, since glasses already have a slight downward tilt moving the chin slightly down will make the reflection disappear because the angle the light reflects will go below the lens.

You have to be careful with this. Chin down will cause a double chin. A double chin is the reason I still have my goatee even though it is so 1990s.

codiac2600 wrote:

2. Turn away from the flash. Again this will make the reflection go the other direction.

One of the things that bothered me while looking through my high school yearbook is most everyone is facing the camera except people wearing glasses. Sometimes you want the subject facing the camera.

codiac2600 wrote:

3. Polarize the light source (super expensive as polarized filters of this size tend to be $100 a piece) then use a polarizer on the camera. NOT EASY, but workable.

That'll work.

You could also be a bit more careful with where your light sources and reflectors are. Treat the glasses like you are lighting any other glass and decide where and the shape of the highlights on the glass. Use gobos and dark reflectors to help mask unwanted reflections. I haven't worked all this out hence the no-glasses avatar.

Qarik

maybe his ears really are fuzzy

enigmachck

Qarik wrote:

maybe his ears really are fuzzy

they're a little fuzzy.