a freind of mine asked me to do a few photos for her.
this is about my 3rd month doing photography as a hobbie, let me know what ya think:
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
My 2-cents:
#1 doesn't look comfortable for her.
#2 the glasses lose her eyes, and the pose doesn't really work for me.
#3 she looks annoyed. Also her skin is uneven and the lighting is making it very apparent.
#4 best of the bunch. Like the angle. Skin looks smooth.
#5 can't put my finger on it. Nice picture, just not in the same class as #4.
#6 feels like she's worried about falling off. Her clothing choice and the bike don't seem congruous.
One single settings change would improve nearly all of these......
A larger aperture (smaller F #) would help to blur your backgrounds and isolate your subject. The whole scene in focus look that all but one of these exhibit does nothing for me, and in fact gives the impression of being shot in full auto with a kit lens, or with a point and shoot style camera.
One single settings change would improve nearly all of these......
A larger aperture (smaller F #) would help to blur your backgrounds and isolate your subject. The whole scene in focus look that all but one of these exhibit does nothing for me, and in fact gives the impression of being shot in full auto with a kit lens, or with a point and shoot style camera.
In portraiture, the entire focus of the image should be the subject.....Jackie in this case. There are various "tricks" that photographers use to achieve this...a few being...
-Choose backgrounds that are not distracting
-Choose backgrounds that actually lead the eye to the subject
-Use lighting techniques to "lift" the subject from the background
-Use a shallow depth of focus to let the background fall off into a non distracting blur.
The last of these is what I referred to. A typical lense may have an aperture range of F2.8 to F22. F 2.8 would be "wide open" aperture on such a lens, and anything else would be called "stopped down". The smaller the F number, the larger the opening. Larger openings allow more light into the camera......but at the expense of depth of field (DOF) or depth of focus. A landscape photographer, for instance, might want to shoot a scene at F11 or F16 so as to get as much of the setting he is shooting into sharp focus whereas a portrait shooter might never have a call to use such settings. I shoot a LOT of what I shoot at F2.8 to F4....and now and then venture to F8 depending on what I am after and the focal length lens I am using which also is a huge factor in how thin your DOF will ultimately be. A shorter lens....like 50mm....will yield a thicker DOF at F4 than a 135mm lens at the same distance and aperture. Distance, of course, also is a big factor as exhibited by #3 in the set that you posted.
And all of this is well and good IF you can control it. There are two modes in which you can have control over the DOF. Those are "manual" or " aperture priority".
The kit lenses that come with todays DSLRs are pretty capable for general use, but do not offer the advantage of a large "constant" aperture. Constant aperture zoom lenses do not change maximum aperture size at increased focal lengths....a big turn off when shooting aperture priority.
For example, the shot below was taken at 135mm and an aperture of F2.8
You can easily see how thin the DOF is in this portrait and how that draws attention to the subject rather than away from her.
Im not sure what gear you are using, and whether it will allow for this type of effect....but if you are serious about portraiture you should look into lenses that have large constant apertures.
...and sure, I understand you are "new" to this......we will let you use that as a crutch for..... .....one more week!!!
Comments
#1 doesn't look comfortable for her.
#2 the glasses lose her eyes, and the pose doesn't really work for me.
#3 she looks annoyed. Also her skin is uneven and the lighting is making it very apparent.
#4 best of the bunch. Like the angle. Skin looks smooth.
#5 can't put my finger on it. Nice picture, just not in the same class as #4.
#6 feels like she's worried about falling off. Her clothing choice and the bike don't seem congruous.
Who is wise? He who learns from everyone.
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FWIW, my husband would totally dig the sexy librarian look in the 2nd shot.
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the outfits def were not my choise. i guess next time ill have to help her pick it out.
i think shes a pretty girl i just didnt know how to make her look innocent and sexy while having a respected look. thats kinda what she wanted.
A larger aperture (smaller F #) would help to blur your backgrounds and isolate your subject. The whole scene in focus look that all but one of these exhibit does nothing for me, and in fact gives the impression of being shot in full auto with a kit lens, or with a point and shoot style camera.
Jeff
-Need help with Dgrin?; Wedding Photography Resources
-My Website - Blog - Tips for Senior Portraiture
im new to this so should i be shooting in A?
In portraiture, the entire focus of the image should be the subject.....Jackie in this case. There are various "tricks" that photographers use to achieve this...a few being...
-Choose backgrounds that are not distracting
-Choose backgrounds that actually lead the eye to the subject
-Use lighting techniques to "lift" the subject from the background
-Use a shallow depth of focus to let the background fall off into a non distracting blur.
The last of these is what I referred to. A typical lense may have an aperture range of F2.8 to F22. F 2.8 would be "wide open" aperture on such a lens, and anything else would be called "stopped down". The smaller the F number, the larger the opening. Larger openings allow more light into the camera......but at the expense of depth of field (DOF) or depth of focus. A landscape photographer, for instance, might want to shoot a scene at F11 or F16 so as to get as much of the setting he is shooting into sharp focus whereas a portrait shooter might never have a call to use such settings. I shoot a LOT of what I shoot at F2.8 to F4....and now and then venture to F8 depending on what I am after and the focal length lens I am using which also is a huge factor in how thin your DOF will ultimately be. A shorter lens....like 50mm....will yield a thicker DOF at F4 than a 135mm lens at the same distance and aperture. Distance, of course, also is a big factor as exhibited by #3 in the set that you posted.
And all of this is well and good IF you can control it. There are two modes in which you can have control over the DOF. Those are "manual" or " aperture priority".
The kit lenses that come with todays DSLRs are pretty capable for general use, but do not offer the advantage of a large "constant" aperture. Constant aperture zoom lenses do not change maximum aperture size at increased focal lengths....a big turn off when shooting aperture priority.
For example, the shot below was taken at 135mm and an aperture of F2.8
You can easily see how thin the DOF is in this portrait and how that draws attention to the subject rather than away from her.
Im not sure what gear you are using, and whether it will allow for this type of effect....but if you are serious about portraiture you should look into lenses that have large constant apertures.
...and sure, I understand you are "new" to this......we will let you use that as a crutch for.....
Jeff
-Need help with Dgrin?; Wedding Photography Resources
-My Website - Blog - Tips for Senior Portraiture
+1
Well Nik......I said that based on the fact that for most all of us, some facet of photography is "new" to us at any given time.
That is...if we choose to continually pursue learning our craft.
...and I hope the OP doesn't take it as a personal jab!:D
Jeff
-Need help with Dgrin?; Wedding Photography Resources
-My Website - Blog - Tips for Senior Portraiture