Introduction, picture included for CC

[MelanieAnne]

Hi everyone,

New here and already loving what I've been reading. I'm new to photography and fairly new with my 20D, (still trying to learn the camera) I'm shooting only natural light- for now. This is a picture I took of a senior, not sure I'm cracked up about it, would love your thoughts and playing is always welcome with any photo I post. Would love some CC on the overall color of the photo, I've been struggling with color issues. I'm in Indiana, married with a total of 7 children- 5 living at home and 2 wonderful step-children.


PS. is there any other way to make photos a little bigger when posting? I tried to make it 500pixels and kept going down from there until it would finally let me post this image, but it seems very small. Thanks in advance!

Melanie

[Actionphotog]

Hi Melanie, good photo.
what I do is make the longest edge of the photo 600 pixels long and then save for Web... mind you this is using Photoshop.

[Becki_D]

Welcome Melanie. Unfortunately, due to the small size of your photo, it's a bit hard to offer any CC. I too sometimes have a bit of trouble getting my pictures below the size limit. Do you use photoshop and have you tried "save for web". You may also want to reduce the quality of your jpeg file when saving.
From what i can tell, your photo is well lighted, and the eyes have catch lights. Looks well exposed to me.
Good luck learning your 20D, i'm in the same boat, still trying to master some of the more advanced features. This forum is a great place for learning, inspiration, and growth. Keep shooting.:D

[Curtis N]

Welcome, Melanie!

To upload a larger image, adjust the compression when you save the JPEG to get it under 100kb. Depending on the software you're using, it could take some trial and error.

[MelanieAnne]

Thanks for the tips on resizing- it worked. I'm using Photoshop CS2

Melanie

[Pinknee]

Hi Melanie, I cannot critique this photo as I don't believe I am qualified but I do like this shot. And yes you're right, this is a great forum. A wonderful group of people here.

[guitarman]

Its a great portrait shot. I may have just give it a bit more contrast and saturation (then again maybe not) but other than that I don't know what you mean by haveing trouble with color. Looks pretty accurate.

[Becki_D]

Oh great...glad it worked. Now for whatever it's worth, my opinion, i think you did a really nice job with the shot. Nice DOF and focus. Maybe try reflecting a bit more light into his eyes would help make them shine. Handsome young man you have there

[MelanieAnne]

Thank you everyone for the responses!!! I agree, I wish I would have better catchlights in the eyes! I'm glad to hear the color is looking ok!

Again, thanks
Melanie

[Titus213]

Welcome to the forums! I like the portrait. You've caught a great expression on the face but particularly in the eyes. I thought it might be a bit soft but after looking in PS it doesn't really look it at all. Handsome young man. My only suggestion is that he get a haircut.:lol: But that has more to do with my age than with his appearance or your photographic skills...It all looks really good.

[MelanieAnne]

Dave- I'm totally cracking up, I did a shoot for this same kid about 3 weeks ago and his mom really liked what we did so she wanted to do another shoot just last weekend. I absolutely HATED his hair the first time around because it was hanging so far in his face I couldn't even see his pretty blues. He actually JUST got a haircut, when his mother called and told me he was getting a haircut, I was thrilled- ok, it wasn't my idea of a haircut either but it sure is better then what I started with!! Maybe I can find a pic from the first and post it. He wore a hat in most of those shots so dunno if I have any that would really show what I mean.

Thanks for looking and the nice comments
Melanie

[MelanieAnne]

ok here's a pic attached from the first shoot, I actually had to clone out some of the hair hanging in his eyes so this isn't even as bad as it really looked.

Melanie

[skade]

I really like both these shots! Nicely done... and a very handsome young man!

[DavidEB]

nice shots. the first is wonderful. I like the pale blue background matching his eyes, the soft light on his face, the wraparound light on his arms & shoulders. Best part is the catchlight in his eyes. I'm trying to figure out how you did it, as the light isn't exactly above his pupil and isn't small like a flash. was it a window behind you, or did you have artificial lighting in this shot?

nice,...

[MelanieAnne]

David,

This was taken outside, sitting on a bench, downtown, all natural light using a 70-300mm. No flash
1/320
5.6
400

Thank you for the comments
Melanie

[Titus213]

Well, our youngest is 31 so I don't relate well to this new look. I will say your photos look like they belong in one of the new hip magazines. (My hip magazine is American Rifelman).:lol:

I really do think the photos are quite good. I look forward to your future posts.

[davidfig]

PS. is there any other way to make photos a little bigger when posting? I tried to make it 500pixels and kept going down from there until it would finally let me post this image, but it seems very small. Thanks in advance!

Melanie

One way would be to host your photo on your web page and then link it with url. I think that's how it goes.

[ShotByTom]

Good photos, these days it's not always easy making teens look good!

It's great to see another Hoosier on board, welcome!

[Salleke]

Nice pictures. I like the look in the eyes of the model.

[MelanieAnne]

a521 and Salle, Thank you both for the nice comments!

Melanie