Portrait Attempts (4 pics)

[vfilby]

Inspired by TimmyQuest's 'Pretty People Pictures,' I decided to try to learn more about portraiture. Any suggestions are welcome!

http://www.filbar.org/Pictures/IMG_3931_WP.jpg
1/160 sec, f/4
http://www.filbar.org/Pictures/IMG_3942_WP.jpg
1/50 sec, f/4
http://www.filbar.org/Pictures/IMG_3965_WP.jpg
1/500 sec, f/2.8
ISO: 100
http://www.filbar.org/Pictures/IMG_3926_WP.jpg
1/1250 sec, f/4.5

Vince

[Meerkat17]

The first image is beautiful and really well composed.

The second I think it would have been better if you had moved to the right a touch and included more of her right hand in the shot. However, it could benefit from being cropped at the left as the lighter edge of the wall is distracting.

The third, is also a beautiful image but I find the wall? in the bottom right distracting - possibly clone it out?

The last I would give a tighter crop to the whole image but leave more to the right of the picture as the subject is looking in that direction.

Nice work
David

[LightHunter]

The first: Well composed but sharpness is in the hair instead of the eyes.
Second: The model is not really relaxed and therefore her smile looks "artificial". The sharpness could also be better.
Third: Underexposed, clone out the concrete and the brand of the DEO is missing :wink:
Fourth: Agree with David but additionally you should have considered a little bit more of her body.

[timmyquest]

Inspired by TimmyQuest's 'Pretty People Pictures,' I decided to try to learn more about portraiture.

It's helped me a ton. I've gone from this:

http://www.antiwall.com/Photos/people/images/meghan.jpg

To this:

http://www.antiwall.com/june2004/dakota.jpg

So keep up the good work :wink:

[Calis]

I agree with what David & Lighthunter have said. and would add that the third one:

a) needs rotating a bit to straighten it out

b) you should try to avoid shooting people when the sun is that high in the sky. See the dark shadows under her eyebrows and nose! Not very attractive. If you can, leave it till later, or move your model into the shade. (a reflector might help to bounce some light back up into her face, but I've never used one so I don't know for sure?)

[vfilby]

b) you should try to avoid shooting people when the sun is that high in the sky. See the dark shadows under her eyebrows and nose! Not very attractive. If you can, leave it till later, or move your model into the shade. (a reflector might help to bounce some light back up into her face, but I've never used one so I don't know for sure?)

Believe it or not I took all but the last in the shade just to avoid that problem. I had assumed that 4:00pm would be late enough but once I was there I realized I was wrong.

Thanks for the suggestions on the crop for #4 meerkat17, I'll bear that in mind when I have models looking away from the camera. I also agree with you on the wall in #3, I left it in at her insistence.

LightHunter, I am afraid the DEO joke went straight over my head. Care to elaborate for a soft-headed canuck? I also agree with your crop suggestion. Perhaps there is a school for those who are challenged crop-wise.

Also with regard to the sharpness: This is a problem I experienced with most of the photos from that day. On my G3 LCD screen it was almost impossible to tell that the eyes and face weren't sharp. I scrapped some images that were wonderful just because of the focus. With any luck I'll be moving to a rebel before too long, and I can shift the blame from the camera to myself.

All-in-all I was really happy with how they turned out for my first attempt. I guess I'll just have to keep dragging my girlfriend back to the university until I get it right.

Thanks for all your comments guys.

Vince

[Claire]

Hi, I tried a search but didn't manage to get TimmyQuest's thread. Can someone give me a link?

Thanks!
/Claire

[vfilby]

The pictures can be found here: http://www.pbase.com/timmyquest/portraits

If you are looking for the actual threads do a search for "pretty people pictures" and make sure to click the 'search for all terms' button.

Vince