First portraiture attempts: Kristopher

DRT-Maverick

I finally did my first portraiture shots. A friend of mine had one of her friends help me out. I'm mainly focusing on proper color and skin tones, exposure, etc, as well as composition.

I used a 180mm F3.5 Sigma EX macro lens, and a gold/silver reflector.
Quick headsup, I didn't crop any of the images, as I'm practicing cropping in the viewfinder. I'll make sure to crop better via the viewfinder in the next series!


#1


#2


#3


#4


#5


#6



Personally I like 5 the best, 2 after. Any suggestions?

Agnieszka

Oh very nice! I really like them. Now, as for the skin tones, to me they look a bit too orange AND *I* would go with more contrast to make them look a bit crisper. But it's definitely a nice set (the only one I don't care for at all is #3, looks like a snap shot / looks like he closed his eyes by accident, not because you told him to do so ...)

reyvee61

I totally agree with Angie, great first attempt!

divamum

Agnieszka wrote: »

Oh very nice! I really like them. Now, as for the skin tones, to me they look a bit too orange AND *I* would go with more contrast to make them look a bit crisper. But it's definitely a nice set (the only one I don't care for at all is #3, looks like a snap shot / looks like he closed his eyes by accident, not because you told him to do so ...)

What she said

On my monitor, his face is a tad dark in all of them - when you play with contrast, you might want to brighten up there (dodge/burn, or on a brightness/contrast selective layer)

Love the rim lighting on #1!

aj986s

I find that some have a bit too much extra space at the top. Of course can be cropped. But some seem to be classic "image in the center of frame".

DRT-Maverick

aj986s wrote: »

I find that some have a bit too much extra space at the top. Of course can be cropped. But some seem to be classic "image in the center of frame".

Yeah I need to work on framing as I mentioned, not quite sure exactly what I should do though, any suggestions?


Also, I probably need to calibrate my monitor a bit better but it just isn't bright enough.

aj986s

I'm not pro, so just warning you. But Rule of Thirds is a good premise to use. Try to put primary subject on intersection of horizontal and vertical thirds. Be aware of how our tendency is to place the subject in the center of the frame. Move the frame up or down to fill it fuller. Of course depends on content too. Prefocus (as most DSLR's can do so) allows you to focus on the primary subject, and then recompose before taking the shot. Lots of good books, info, etc that discuss in much more detail.