Jennifer

anonymouscuban

Another practice session with the wife. We went for very late lunch in Glendale and I had my camera so I convinced my wife to let me take some portraits of her at Brand Park.

Here are a few of my favorites. Would love to hear some feedback on them since I am trying to learn how to shoot people. I really struggled with the poses. Not sure how I did as I am a total noob when it comes to portraiture. Also, I tried the Orton effect on a couple of these.... not sure if it looks to hokie.

Oh... and what a hard time I had metering properly due to her blouse. The material had a sheen so it was extremely reflective. Had a bear of a time trying to dialing in the right exposure and get the fill correct on my speedlight. I really love #7 but the blouse is blown out a bit even after all my effort to get the highlights within range.

Thank you for looking and am looking forward to hearing what you think.

#1


#2


#3


#4


#5


#6


#7


#8


#10

ivar

I prefer #2, #5, #6, #10 simply because she seems most relaxed/natural in them. I'm not too crazy about the angle in #1. #2 very nice! #3 is nice, but the shadows are a bit distracting. #5 and #6 are a bit blown here and there, but it doesn't bother me really. She seems to be relaxed. She seems uncomfortable in #7, whether it is the pose, or the light in her eyes? #8 I would have liked a bit brighter, but is nice.

kdog

I think these are good all the way around. Fill light looks natural in all the shots, and I like the way you used the sun to accent the hair in most of the shots. You're lucky to have such a cooperative model to practice on.

Cheers,
-joel

anonymouscuban

ivar wrote:

I prefer #2, #5, #6, #10 simply because she seems most relaxed/natural in them. I'm not too crazy about the angle in #1. #2 very nice! #3 is nice, but the shadows are a bit distracting. #5 and #6 are a bit blown here and there, but it doesn't bother me really. She seems to be relaxed. She seems uncomfortable in #7, whether it is the pose, or the light in her eyes? #8 I would have liked a bit brighter, but is nice.

Ivar,

I really appreciate the feedback. It's encouraging because this is all new to me. Like I said, I really struggled the most with poses so it's nice to hear that she looks natural in some. I just had her sit and talked to her for a bit, got her relaxed and then fired my shot when she looked comfortable.

Yeah, the shadows in some were rough. I am finding that you really have to pay attention to shadows when shooting people a lot more than shooting landscapes or inatomate objects. Shadows on the face are really distracting and I had a few other shots that would have been really nice if not for the shadows.

As for the tilt on the first one, I was trying to add a little something with it but maybe it just distracts more than it adds. Here is the same shot without the tilt. I also brightened it just a tad. Better?



I also reworked #8 a bit. Brightened it up a little. Better?



As for the few shots that have some blown highlights, like #6, wha'ts acceptable? Is there any amount of blown highlights that are OK? I would assume if they are not distracting, it's OK.

I happen to like #6 a lot because she really looks natural and her personality really show through in that shot. I took several in that pose/location and tried very hard to get a shot without the blown highlights but the dynamic range was just too much.

Again, thanks for the feedback.

anonymouscuban

kdog wrote:

I think these are good all the way around. Fill light looks natural in all the shots, and I like the way you used the sun to accent the hair in most of the shots. You're lucky to have such a cooperative model to practice on.

Cheers,
-joel

Thanks Joel. Yeah, she's a good sport. She's not shy but she also is a very showy person so I really appreciate that she is willing to help me with this. We've been married for almost 18 years and she's put up with far worse, like when I went through my skydiving phase. She actually jumped with me once.

anonymouscuban

Here is one other of a similar pose as #7. I think she looks more comfortable but I am not sure how I feel about the position of her right foot. Does it look odd to you? Also, is there too much grass to the right of her?

Hackbone

I really like #1 the best. Remember when photographing ladies they like to look slim so ask them to turn this way and that and catch the body where it looks slim. Try to turn the head in the opposite direction the body is going for a more interesting look. Keep the face looking toward the light. On the metering issue you can step up tho her position and meter off you hand or step up to her and meter off her face. Good job for your first try at portraits.

anonymouscuban

Thanks for the tips Charles. I'm going to try to talk her into doing another session next week. I will try some of the tips you suggest and also some things I think I could have done better with flash and metering.