Practice on People

PedalGirlPedalGirl Registered Users Posts: 794 Major grins
edited July 31, 2012 in People
I don't have much practice at shooting portraits so my BFF headed to the park so I could get some practice. These are a couple of my favorites.

1.
Tina072812-041-Edit-Edit-L.jpg

2.
Tina072812-026-Edit-L.jpg
Pho-tog-ra-pher (n) 1. One who practices photography 2. one obsessed with capturing life with their camera. 3. One who eats, sleeps and breathes photographs. 4. One who sees the world in 4x6.
www.lisaspeakmanphotography.com

Comments

  • D3SshooterD3Sshooter Registered Users Posts: 1,187 Major grins
    edited July 29, 2012
    Good start , I do like the second one. Although the first one isn't bad, however the crop compo is a bit odd (not full body, or American plane, torso or head). Maybe a bit more legs or no legs.
    A photographer without a style, is like a pub without beer
  • GothamGotham Registered Users Posts: 187 Major grins
    edited July 29, 2012
    #2 is very nice. But to make it jump more, I think you would need to get some light onto her face -- some reflected light or an off-shoe flash coming from frame left to give her eyes some sparkle and some shape to her face would really help.
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  • jimpurcelljimpurcell Registered Users Posts: 7 Beginner grinner
    edited July 30, 2012
    I love the second photo! Well done.
  • Quincy TQuincy T Registered Users Posts: 1,090 Major grins
    edited July 30, 2012
    I think 1 might've been good had you just used her face and the brim of the hat as a really close up shot, and #2...I'm not sure what's going on with the post-work, but the pose is nice.
  • PedalGirlPedalGirl Registered Users Posts: 794 Major grins
    edited July 30, 2012
    How about this one... this is from a shoot with a co-worker yesterday. She actually paid me... so I guess I could say I've now had my first "paid gig".

    Bridget
    Corinne-061-Edit-Edit-L.jpg
    Pho-tog-ra-pher (n) 1. One who practices photography 2. one obsessed with capturing life with their camera. 3. One who eats, sleeps and breathes photographs. 4. One who sees the world in 4x6.
    www.lisaspeakmanphotography.com
  • Quincy TQuincy T Registered Users Posts: 1,090 Major grins
    edited July 30, 2012
    pedalgirl wrote: »
    how about this one... This is from a shoot with a co-worker yesterday. She actually paid me... So i guess i could say i've now had my first "paid gig".

    Bridget

    iris enhance. Activate. Form of: She Who Must Not Be Named.
  • PedalGirlPedalGirl Registered Users Posts: 794 Major grins
    edited July 30, 2012
    Quincy T wrote: »
    iris enhance. Activate. Form of: She Who Must Not Be Named.

    I did VERY Little on her eyes... she seriously didn't need it, she's got eyes that just won't quit. And NO teeth whitening either.
    Pho-tog-ra-pher (n) 1. One who practices photography 2. one obsessed with capturing life with their camera. 3. One who eats, sleeps and breathes photographs. 4. One who sees the world in 4x6.
    www.lisaspeakmanphotography.com
  • RyanSRyanS Registered Users Posts: 507 Major grins
    edited July 30, 2012
    PedalGirl,

    On your picture of Bridget, I noticed a couple of issues you may want to be aware of.
    * You were shooting a 50mm on a crop @f/6.3 ISO 100. Consider shooting at f/2.8 (or below) for this type of shot.
    * This exposure gave you a shutter speed of 1/25th which is causing some big quality issues in the photo due to either camera or subject motion. Try to keep the shutter speed above 1/60th.
    * The smaller aperture left the leaves in the background too much in focus, resulting in a less-than-pleasing background. Open that aperture.
    * Her head is tipped slightly to (her) left. Putting her on the right side of the frame with that head tilt gives a compositional sense that she is part way out of the shot. You might have had the subject tilt in to the frame, or, placed her a bit more centrally (not too far) back in to the frame.
    * The skin tone is really off. Setting a WB should solve a lot of the issues, but you may also need to make other adjustments.
    * When shooting digital, always check that histogram.
    * You've got almost zero tone variation on the face, making it look very flat. To see how flat it is - convert the image to B&W with a green filter effect. You'll see her nose almost disappear in to white. There isn't any way that I know of to fix this in post. Therefore, a re-shoot may be the only way to fix the lighting across the nose.
    * The background is just a tad too bright.
    * Because of the color issues, etc, you might get a lot of mileage by using a post technique that moves the colors in to a more pleasing range. Like a cross-processing look, etc. It might also help her eyes pop even more. And I know that may seem counter-productive in this shot - but trust me. Make the eyes REALLY pop.

    Here is a visual example of what I mean (for illustrative/educational purposes only):
    i-JJTrQ4m-XL.jpg
    Please feel free to post any reworks you do of my images. Crop, skew, munge, edit, share.
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  • PedalGirlPedalGirl Registered Users Posts: 794 Major grins
    edited July 31, 2012
    Thanks for the tips Ryan... I'll work on this one a bit more. One question... seems like when I shoot people with a wider aperture, I don't get all of their face in focus. So, to be safe I upped my aperture to make sure I was getting her face in focus and the background did suffer. Any tips on how to avoid that?

    This is a friend of mine who has seen my photos, mostly NOT Portraits, and I think she thinks I'm better than I think I am... no pressure! I clearly need more practice in regards to portrait type photography...some day I hope to be as good as she thinks I am. I appreciate the helpful suggestions on how to improve.
    Pho-tog-ra-pher (n) 1. One who practices photography 2. one obsessed with capturing life with their camera. 3. One who eats, sleeps and breathes photographs. 4. One who sees the world in 4x6.
    www.lisaspeakmanphotography.com
  • RyanSRyanS Registered Users Posts: 507 Major grins
    edited July 31, 2012
    Everyone has their tricks, but here are the basics.

    * Shoot at 2.8.
    * Keep the eyes in the same "focal plane" which means that they need to be parallel to the front of the lens.
    * Focus right on the eyes. What I do is set the camera to use only the central focus point, aim at an eye, lock focus, wait for the subject's expression, then shoot.
    * If the subject's head is turned, that is fine. Close down to f/4 or f/5.6 and then just pay attention a bit more to what is in the background.
    * You can get a really dreamy effect at 1.8 and below. It is possible, it just takes practice. I think it is worth mastering "wide open."
    * Hate to say it, but some cameras are just better at locking focus wide open than others. Your camera may just have a hard time with that. Dunno.
    Please feel free to post any reworks you do of my images. Crop, skew, munge, edit, share.
    Website | Galleries | Utah PJs
  • Quincy TQuincy T Registered Users Posts: 1,090 Major grins
    edited July 31, 2012
    ryans wrote: »
    everyone has their tricks, but here are the basics.

    * shoot at 2.8.
    * keep the eyes in the same "focal plane" which means that they need to be parallel to the front of the lens.
    * focus right on the eyes. What i do is set the camera to use only the central focus point, aim at an eye, lock focus, wait for the subject's expression, then shoot.
    * if the subject's head is turned, that is fine. Close down to f/4 or f/5.6 and then just pay attention a bit more to what is in the background.
    * you can get a really dreamy effect at 1.8 and below. It is possible, it just takes practice. I think it is worth mastering "wide open."
    * hate to say it, but some cameras are just better at locking focus wide open than others. Your camera may just have a hard time with that. Dunno.

    +1.
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