Lady in red

[pj1974]

Hello everyone,

Here is a photo of my better half, my wife Tundi. She is still as beautiful to me now in 2008 as the day I met her back in 2003.

I already liked the original photo, though I have to admit I did some work in photoshop to get it to what I wanted.

Would like your comments on this photo.

Regards,

Paul

[musket]

Nice to meet your wife...lovely shot.............musket.

[lomitamike]

Good composition/natural lighting. Great looking woman. She looks so shy.

I've got a thousand photo's of my wife maybe I'll post one. Thanks for the idea.

[pj1974]

Hi Musket,

Thanks for your words, I'm also glad you could "meet" my wife this way and appreciate the lovely shot.

I appreciate the chance we have to get to see each other and their families via this forum too.

---------------

Hello lomitamike,

It's good to have your compliments about the composition & lighting as well as my wife's natural beauty. I am very thankful.

I think I've seen a photo you posted that I believe is your wife... will comment appropriately.

Actually, I agree that in this photo my wife Tundi might look shy, but to be honest, she's not at all shy in front of the camera. While she might be shy to talk in front of large groups ... that's different if all she has to do is pose! :G I'm more confident about public speaking and talking in front of large groups or on live media (which I did a lot of in my career)... than being in front of the camera. (usually I'm taking photos!)

Anyway, I'll post a few more photos of Tundi...

Here's one of her with me (from the same evening, with the sun just about to dip below the horizon) - my dad took the photo (and I cropped it.)

Regards,

Paul

[pj1974]

... and here's another photo from that evening, as we were strolling along the streets before we reached the beach.

Paul

[Mark1616]

Hey Paul,

Looks like you are having some lovely weather down there!!! Much nicer than here lol.

You know me, honest and open...... so here goes.

As you know, you have a beautiful wife so that goes without saying, but I think there are a few things that might help next time out.

First thing I would do different is to switch the leg which is raised so you are not shooting in to the crotch but rather covering it. This is one thing I'm very careful of when doing a portrait shoot as it can feel you are leaving the realm of normal portraits (if you get my drift). Next thing I would move her up the bench so her hand is on the arm of the bench, this would enable her to bend her elbow, anything that has a joint looks better if it is bent rater than locked straight.Also with the other arm, put a bit of a bend in that.

The two of you look great together, and can still tell you are the happiest man on the planet..... one day I hope to be in the same boat!!

The last one is nice, and the only thing to change would be the back leg being locked straight, apart from that very cool.

Hope these will help you to get even more beautiful/relaxed shots of Tundi, you are very fortunate to have a 'willing' model.

Blessings,

Mark

Edit I forgot to say, I would use slightly more zoom in the portraits as well rather than the 28mm end of your zoom. With the 1.6 crop, I would go for at least 50mm to remove some distortions. This is not set in stone so move back and play around. If I'm using wide, I like to deliberately go for something low or something. Here I've used about 50mm on my 5D to accentuate their actions.

[pj1974]

Hi Mark,

Thank you so much for your constructive comments! You points are truly appreciated!

I do feel honoured to have a beautiful wife and yes, a willing "model" as well... As you rightly read into photo 2, yes I am a thankful happy husband!

The first photo (having looked at it, after taking it) yes I did feel her dress and leg position wasn't the most modest, it was just a quick, spontaneous shot. (as were all from this day, as my parents were visiting us in Adelaide, and and we were just capturing some shots along the way... yes I have some photos of them too)! so yes, you point out something I'll try to remember as a "general rule" when doing more of this type of portrait photos.

Glad you like the last photo, next time I'll try to see if a leg locked straight back would help, appreciate the tip! I also like this photo, a 2 second idea and shot! I like it that the flower Tundi was carrying sort of matches the flower in the bush.

You're right that typically for portraits one doesn't use the 28mm end of your my zoom lens (on a 1.6 crop DSLR) In fact most of the time I use between 70mm and 135mm of my zoom for people shots... and I'll put a link up soon with a photo of Tundi in the critiques section... I see what you mean that you used the 50mm to accentuate actions, the guy's leg and their body positions are noticable.

Regards

Paul