Evan & Dana

Bsimon

Hey everyone! I have been practicing, practicing and practicing some more. This was my second portrait session. They have been married for two years this past oct.

The couple wanted some photos they and their parents could frame for their homes.

We had some fun candid ones as well.

CC Welcomed!

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2


3


4


5


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7


8


9


You can see the full set here http://www.bsimonstudio.com/Friends/Evan-and-Dana/10318013_Q4iFh#713131598_sne7C

Good Day!

adbsgicom

I think 4 is the best of your group. What is really hurting these is the open sun that is coming through. For example, #1 has the one side of his face totally blown out from the sun. Their hands are also really over-lit, but that could be corrected relatively easily compared to getting the faces to look right.

I think you have some really nice compositions here, but the uneven lighting is your biggest enemy.

1downfall

adbsgicom wrote:

I think 4 is the best of your group. What is really hurting these is the open sun that is coming through. For example, #1 has the one side of his face totally blown out from the sun. Their hands are also really over-lit, but that could be corrected relatively easily compared to getting the faces to look right.

I think you have some really nice compositions here, but the uneven lighting is your biggest enemy.

I am agreeing here. Although I am fond of #8 more so. The daylight hurt you on these, but I think you have some keepers. Maybe, although time consuming, you can spot edit in LR2 and lighten and darken just specific areas of the face to "bring" them back sort-of-speak.
Really do like your compositions here.

Bsimon

Thanks guys!

I am curious what I should have done differently in these situations. It was early in the morning when the sun was low. For some of the shots it was really tough to eliminate all hotspots but decreasing the ev made the rest of the frame too dark.

It seemed like when I exposed so the right side of the histogram was not clipped that the rest of the shot was way too dark. I tried to expose to the right as much as possible with as little clipping as possible.

My guess is I could have gone lower iso/narrower ap. Prob with that is the background wouldn't be blurred as much.

Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated since I will likely run into the same problem again.

Thanks again everyone!

adbsgicom

I don't believe there is much you can do to avoid the problem by just adjusting your exposure. You could underexpose by a bunch and use artificial light to create the bulk of the lighting for the foreground. Or, you can use what is called a scrim, which is basically a big white sheet that diffuses the sunlight enough that you get some even shade where you need it. In general, you need to avoid dappled sunlight because of the problems it presents.

Some of the pro's may have some better ideas and suggestions.

Bsimon

Thank you all for your help, it is greatly appreciated and wonderful to know there is a community like this full of people truly willing to help!

Swartzy

Bsimon wrote:

Thanks guys!

I am curious what I should have done differently in these situations. It was early in the morning when the sun was low. For some of the shots it was really tough to eliminate all hotspots but decreasing the ev made the rest of the frame too dark.

It seemed like when I exposed so the right side of the histogram was not clipped that the rest of the shot was way too dark. I tried to expose to the right as much as possible with as little clipping as possible.

My guess is I could have gone lower iso/narrower ap. Prob with that is the background wouldn't be blurred as much.

Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated since I will likely run into the same problem again.

Thanks again everyone!

There are techniques to using the sun to your advantage. These types of shots required you to move to full shade. Fill flash can help but not at these angles. For instance, there are pillars in the background and on the shaded side the subjects could have been posed there....using the brighter sun areas in the BG but your subjects remain in shade...then metering for the bg, use flash to correctly expose the subjects.

Here's a rule of thumb to help you....faster shutter speed=less ambient..slower shutter speed = more ambient. The trick is to mix ambient properly without blown highlights. Rather than getting into the sensitivities of ISO, in broad daylight ISO 100 will suffice...sometimes 200. If using mounted flash on camera, set your flash to high speed sync as you may be over 1/200th sec. It doesn't look as though you had any flash here judging by the omission of catchlights. Very seldom will I ever shoot outdoor portraits without an addiitonal light source. Understanding how to use additional light/mixing with ambient/on camera/off camera, etc. is yet another series of practice sessions. Keep working....nothing of any benefit comes easily.

sweet caroline

You have some great advice here to help you for the next time around, so I'll just say that it's a cute set. Despite the blown out bits, I think the couple will enjoy these. I like the gentle, warm colors.

Caroline

Bsimon

Thanks Caroline!