Spontanous hairy portrait.

ulrikft

Another one of my spontanous portraits:

ArchiTexas

After 138 views you deserve (I think) a comment. I'm assuming, of course, that you posted here because you want feedback. So here I go:
For me, the "style" of your shot is a bit incongruous with the pose. Let me explain, your image is monotone, grainy, and a bit out of focus. None of that bothers me a bit, I think those qualities, in the right context, could bring a lot of character to an image. To me, however, these qualities suggest a type of spontaneous, almost voyeuristic, feel to the image. This feel is inconsistent with your pose: you're looking straight at the camera and you are pretty well centered in the frame. Why don't you try a similar shot but this time be looking off camera, maybe do something instead of posing - fill out a form, make some coffee, etc. Anything that will give the image the feel that you were photographed off guard, maybe without your knowledge. Also, if you stick with this style why not try to capture yourself in an odd angle, maybe shoot your face slightly from below or behind. Experiment with bold shadows.

In any case I offer these comments to be constructive, its just my opinion. To be fair, I've only been paid to photograph buildings, never people, so what do I know.

Thanks for sharing your portrait.

ERF

ulrikft

ArchiTexas wrote:

After 138 views you deserve (I think) a comment. I'm assuming, of course, that you posted here because you want feedback. So here I go:
For me, the "style" of your shot is a bit incongruous with the pose. Let me explain, your image is monotone, grainy, and a bit out of focus. None of that bothers me a bit, I think those qualities, in the right context, could bring a lot of character to an image. To me, however, these qualities suggest a type of spontaneous, almost voyeuristic, feel to the image. This feel is inconsistent with your pose: you're looking straight at the camera and you are pretty well centered in the frame. Why don't you try a similar shot but this time be looking off camera, maybe do something instead of posing - fill out a form, make some coffee, etc. Anything that will give the image the feel that you were photographed off guard, maybe without your knowledge. Also, if you stick with this style why not try to capture yourself in an odd angle, maybe shoot your face slightly from below or behind. Experiment with bold shadows.

In any case I offer these comments to be constructive, its just my opinion. To be fair, I've only been paid to photograph buildings, never people, so what do I know.

Thanks for sharing your portrait.

ERF

First of all, it isn't me, I'm not blessed with that much hair!

Secondly (and most important): thanks for your input! I appreciate it! I find it kind of hard to get the desired look from actual spontanous portraits (that is a fellow at work, just came in the door), I think I need to go with actual "posing" to make it look more random. Again: I really appreciate your input! I'll try to make a more suiting picture (on my way to work in 20 minutes.. :P )

Mitchell

Was this taken with a cell phone? If so, it's a pretty good snapshot.

If this was taken with an actual camera, it is not in sharp focus and the lighting is not particularly good. The central placement of you subject in this square frame also adds to an uninteresting presentation.

Try again.

ulrikft

Today's attempt on a spontanous portrait:



(as a quick note, these are not meant to be studio-lit perfect, more... street-shot where I try to capture the moment.. I guess portraits aren't a good cathegory for this )

wxwax

You're in the right category.

I like how the bright face jumps out against the dark background in the first one. The noise and soft focus don't bother me at all. I just think his expression is a bit snap-shot like, not terribly interesting.

In the second you have a good looking model and a pleasant expression. I wish he had more light on his face.

I think one thing that can help headshots is to catch an expression where it looks like something significant is going on in their heads (even if nothing is.) I think that's part of what's missing here.

I love that you're posting these, it forces us to think!

photogmomma

Let's see...

#1 - Try cropping closer - sure you'll point out the lack of focus, but I like the grain and the interesting look on his face. His hair being in such sharp focus detracts from the shot since the face is so out of focus. And I agree with ArchiTexas - watch people and wait until they aren't looking to grab something that's grainer like this.

#2 - While I like the cropping infinitely more (remember that rule of thirds - even if you have to crop to it!), the lighting detracts for me. Sometimes you just have to wait until lighting and expressions are right - and if one were nailed in this shot, you'd have it, but I think the lighting is hard and the expression looks a bit contrived.

My suggestions - think of taking candids as watching a sport. Look for interaction, wait for things to happen (ie, ball to be passed), wait a bit longer for the "punchline" or expression to start to show the inner person (or the ball to be shot for the basket - or whatever) and then shoot!

Shoot a LOT of photos. Some for you and some for them - to get both of you comfortable enough to forget there's a camera there or that you're using one. If you're shooting a friend just hanging out, don't just shoot 2 photos and leave it. Shoot 50 during the hour you're chatting or whatever. They'll get used to the camera being around - and you'll feel less self conscious about taking photos of them.

If it's in a group, try a longer lens - 85mm or longer (35mm equivalent). It allows you to get further away and be less obtrusive.

Go for expressions, worry about lighting later. Expressions are harder to catch just right. Look for interaction to get them - interaction with others, something they like, a thought they have, something that brings out a good expression.

And finally, don't give up! Keep it up! I know some may think of these as snapshots, but I do see more in them than that. The have a different something in them that, to me, makes them more interesting.

ulrikft

Thanks for the comments both of you! I really appreciate the feedback and it is great that you take the time to guide me! I tried to follow a few of your tips this time, watching a few of my collegues have an argument/story-telling from work-session, and tried to capture my boss while he was in the middel of a wild story . I kept taking pictures for 20-30 minutes, and after a while they seemed to "forget" the camera more. I tried to capture a more interesting facial expression. I also tried to crop a lot tighter, I don't know if you think it worked?

photogmomma

Much, much nicer! I think the crop is a little too tight - or maybe it's just too large a resolution in this post - but the lighting is great and the expression is much more interesting! I would love to see his body language, too - looks like a fun story. EDIT - I think it is too large a photo - I've got a large screen and I had to scroll. Try somethign with a smaller resolution - that's probably the trick for posting...

I find that a combination of closeups and further away shots can work really well together.

Watch bodies - do they sit there and do nothing, but their faces are animated? Take closeups of their faces.

Do they tend to use a lot of gestures when talking? Take photos of those -even use a very shallow DOF to get only the hands in focus for something different!

But this shot is really great! I'm just trying to give you some other things to talk about.... Keep going!

(Oh, and isn't it funny how the MORE you shoot photos, the LESS people notice you? It's cool and allows you more freedom to try different angles and ideas!)

ulrikft

photogmomma wrote:

Much, much nicer! I think the crop is a little too tight - or maybe it's just too large a resolution in this post - but the lighting is great and the expression is much more interesting! I would love to see his body language, too - looks like a fun story. EDIT - I think it is too large a photo - I've got a large screen and I had to scroll. Try somethign with a smaller resolution - that's probably the trick for posting...

I find that a combination of closeups and further away shots can work really well together.

Watch bodies - do they sit there and do nothing, but their faces are animated? Take closeups of their faces.

Do they tend to use a lot of gestures when talking? Take photos of those -even use a very shallow DOF to get only the hands in focus for something different!

But this shot is really great! I'm just trying to give you some other things to talk about.... Keep going!

(Oh, and isn't it funny how the MORE you shoot photos, the LESS people notice you? It's cool and allows you more freedom to try different angles and ideas!)

Thanks for the comments! Lots of good input, I've been trying to apply them the last weeks.. Got a kind of interesting spontanous portrait of a slightly different kind today.. I liked the focused look on his face and the motion blur on the left hand! Let me know what you guys think! (and again, thanks for your comments, all of you, i really appreciate it!)