Black and White Portrait.

[vindolanda]

Hello,

Critiques welcome on this photo shot in colour and changed to Black and white with channel mixer in PS CS. I know I didnt get a fast enough shutter speed for the focal length I used. It was 1/20 for 85 mm on my EFS 17-85 IS. As you can see I did have IS though. I did a bit of sharpening on the eyes to try to salvage what I though at first impressions a not bad shot. Kinda restricted to taking these shots candidly in well lite places as I do not have that much photographic equipment. For instance flash or external lighting.

Trying to learn more.

Any thoughts appreciated.

[Hards80]

it appears your focal point is on her fingers.. next time use your center AF point only and focus on the eyes.. also, use a bit smaller aperature(so f8 instead of f5.6, etc)so the entire subject is rendered in focus.. also, the lighting seemed to be a bit harsh, so it has rendered the hair overexposed and thus you lose the details of it..so next time get in the shade, just beyond where the light falls on the ground, and let the ground reflect the lighting back to your subject.. to get a faster shutter speed to prevent blur from shake, just bump up the ISO..

that all said, it wasa good first attempt.. why don't you go try some of these things and let us see what you come up with.. i'll be looking forward to your next post...

regards, dustin

[gwei]

Nice shot! Excellent comosition/cropping. As Dustin said the light is bit harsh. Also I prefer to see relaxed lips rather than streched in suction motion.

Here is justmy editing experiment....

[RodneyBlair]

The edit is much better, but a wee bit too much. Learn when to stop. :-)

The lighting for this image is soft with specular highlights. The highlights are a bit too much. Especially on the nose, but still isn't unflattering for this girl.

The hand, glass and straw are distractions instead of supporting elements. I generally suggest to avoid anything in front of the face unless you know you have the skill to incorporate it correctly.

The lack of defined catchlights in the eyes make them look lifeless and sharpening attempts only create over-processed looking eyes. You'll have better results if you selectively brighten the eyes and sharpen slightly. Also, you can paint a couple catchlights if needed.

Always look at the eyes when posing subjects in natural lighting environments. Anything reflective in front will create catchlights. If you see no catchlights, try a different position until you have them.

I agree with Dustin that the highlight on her hair is too hot.

Though there are many areas for improvement here, this is still a great image.

Thank you for sharing and I look forward to future attempts. All you need is a camera...Fancy lighting equipment will not make a difference.

Rodney

[gwei]

RodneyBlair wrote:

The edit is much better, but a wee bit too much. Learn when to stop. :-)

Agree...it's not easy to decide when to stop. It might be a good idea for begniners justalways back down a couple of steps. :G

[vindolanda]

Hi,

First I'd like to thank all for the positive comments toward this effort, they certainly give me encouragement and make meenjoy thisshot all the more.

The critiques, hints and tips I will print off and try to implement in future.



dustin,

I think your spot on with all you have said and will certainly think more about the points mentioned. Like I have said it was a candid shot of my girlfriend sitting in a cafe.She would nottake kindly at the momentfor too much time and direction behind the camera. So moving her around to where the light is "right" is a non starter for me .. lol ;-) . If I can produce some nice shots as best I can then she'll possible gain more confidence with that at some point. I think I was using the center point, but your right I probably had it on her nose as I was more concerned (maybe wrongly) with framing the shot as I wanted. (the shot was un-cropped). I should probably have focused on the eyes and then composed ? As I have also mentioned I could have done with more shutter speed, although I think she also tipped her head around her mouth just as I hit the shutter button. I was on multiple exposure mode and this is the best of 5 or so shots of which have a worsening blur. Thanks



gwei,

I like your edit a lot. However do you mind telling me what you did there. I will try to implement it to the tiff file and then havewe'll nice print for her. And as has been mentioned, without overdoing it. Thanks for that.



Rodney,

I will have another try with the eyes using your tips to see if it can be improved.

The lack of defined catchlights in the eyes make them look lifeless and sharpening attempts only create over-processed looking eyes. You'll have better results if you selectively brighten the eyes and sharpen slightly. Also, you can paint a couple catchlights if needed.

Always look at the eyes when posing subjects in natural lighting environments. Anything reflective in front will create catchlights. If you see no catchlights, try a different position until you have them.

As previously said I did'nt have the luxury of posing the subject. (she's a bit to modest for that in a busy cafe). Maybe next time ?

I did kinda like the glass and straw thing though and thought it was adding to the composition, but stand corrected on that one.

Many thanks for yourvery detailed help and advice - as always.

Regards