Caleb: A selection of portfolio pics

[rasmussen4]

Just a few of my son that I'm working into a portfolio.

http://greghowellphotography.com/temp/1.jpg



http://greghowellphotography.com/temp/3.jpg

http://greghowellphotography.com/temp/4.jpg

http://greghowellphotography.com/temp/5.jpg



http://greghowellphotography.com/temp/7.jpg



http://greghowellphotography.com/temp/9.jpg

http://greghowellphotography.com/temp/10.jpg

http://greghowellphotography.com/temp/11.jpg

C&C is always welcome!

~ greg

[AndreaBFS]

I really don't want to be harsh or seem mean and please take this as just one person's opinion, but in the interest of improvement and growth since you asked for C&C... I have to say that I'm not sure if these are quite there yet for portfolio inclusion. I'm seeing issues with the basics -- focus, exposure, color, noise, composition.

I really feel bad saying that because you have such an adorable subject, but I think that if you add these to a business portfolio you may be disappointed in the long run. If you're open to hearing specifics, I'd be happy to elaborate.

[KatiaShermanPhotography]

same thing as PP (previous post) said..
#1 is color cast...i see alot of yellow color cast. Do you know how to set costom white balance? That helps TONS
#2 harsh light on the forehead to the poing where its blowen away...

hey we are here to learn! we ALL started this way =) dont feel bad!!

[FocalPrincess]

I have to agree with Andrea, I'm sorry. I too feel badly saying so.

[sevillafox]

Sorry I have to agree too but you have definite potential. #2 is the best one...try and clone the people in the background out and see what it looks like.

[christyjo2]

Im sorry :( I have to agree as well. But it looks like you have a lot of potential. Your son is adorable as well. Here is a quick edit i did on one of the pictures. the wb was off. Its hard to edit such small photos and i usually dont like to, but thought i would go ahead and give it a quick go. this is with some curve/contrast adj and sharpen and wb adjustment. Excuse the bit of graininess...thats the main reason i dont like editing small pics lol

BEFORE
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e370/christyjo2/61a09acb.jpg

AFTER
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e370/christyjo2/e5a0d740.jpg

[rasmussen4]

Wow, guess I'll just go back to the drawing board. Can't say I like the edit on the last post but it's probably just preference. Maybe my monitor's color profile didn't come out like I thought. The colors look pretty good on my monitor. Thanks for the feedback. Rather depressing, but oh well.

[rasmussen4]

Ok, so after I've gone and felt bad about myself for awhile, let's get into specifics. What's wrong with each of them? Anyone?

[Skrim17]

Good for you for coming back and wanting the constructive criticism.

I think the WB is off on a few, if ChristyJo's after shot didn't look right to you check your calibration. I use a monitor calibrated with a huey II and hers looked good. Also the shots look a little soft, what is your post processing work flow? output sharmpening is important. Also, do you shoot in RAW?

[christyjo2]

Ok, so after I've gone and felt bad about myself for awhile, let's get into specifics. What's wrong with each of them? Anyone?

Ok...first off...DO NOT feel bad about yourself. This site is here for you to learn with. I have learned A LOT in the 2 years i have been on this board. When i first started out, i was only using flood lights and a point and shoot camera and let me tell you...i got A BUNCH of constructive critisism from other people and most of it helped me SO much! It has gotten me to where i am today. I feel that my pictures have gotten extremely better and i am now building up a clientele. So...dont worry and just keep practicing. You wanted to know what was wrong with them ...here is a few things i can point out to you

#1- is way overexposed and very grainy (looks like you had your ISO setting way too high for one thing)
#3- The white balance seems way off and it could use a little bit of sharpening
#4- white balance is off as well and it looks a bit soft and needs sharpening as well. the lighting looks harsh in spots as well (needed to be diffused some)

what are you using for lighting?

[AndreaBFS]

Ok, so after I've gone and felt bad about myself for awhile, let's get into specifics. What's wrong with each of them? Anyone?

I think we all go through a phase where we put images out there and realize we weren't quite where we thought we were. I definitely went through the same process when I started.

The main thing that stands out is that most of them have an orangey cast. If the color you're seeing on your monitor looks OK to you, I would really suggest investing in a very affordable monitor calibration device like the Spyder2Express.

Quickly going through each image with some "to the point" critique just in the interest of time. I' critiquing these as if they are for inclusion into a portfolio as opposed to how I would critique a basic snapshot, so obviously you can take or leave the "hard line" stuff. :)

1. A good portion of the detail has been lost in overexposure. You also have a lot of noise perhaps due to bringing your exposure up in processing. It looks like maybe he was more silhouetted against the door in the original? It's hard to tell from looking at this. It's also out of focus because of the slow shutter speed that was used.

2. This one is getting closer. Better composition, but also unfortunately out of focus and a bit oversaturated for my tastes. The hat is JUST on the edge of being blown out. I'd crop out some of the blown sky in the background and some of the excess foreground dirt.

3, 4, 5. These are where you can really see the red color cast you have going on. They're all also still not in focus. It seems like your camera is setting a slow shutter speed and you just really have no chance here. Composition on #4 is getting better, though.

6. It looks like the focus is better here. I can't tell, but was the pink tint intentional? There is a pinkish purple tint over the image. You've chopped both of his arms at the wrists/fingers, which is generally not advisable for a portrait. You might want to crop in a little bit closer to make the crop look more intentional.

7. He's cropped at the fingers again, maybe a little bit tighter on this one, too. The color on this one is getting a bit closer to correct. However, you have quite a bit of noise in the shadows, which tells me this was shot at high ISO. Did you try to run some noise removal? It might help you recover this one. It looks like the focus fell on his nice contrasty jacket sleeve as opposed to his face, though.

8. You can see a bit of the color of the stroller in his face. This one looks like it suffers from some camera shake. Your shutter speed was pretty low. Color overall, aside from the cast from the stroller, is looking a bit closer to correct than the first group.

Again, not trying to be harsh. I just thought that since you mentioned they were for a portfolio, you may want some more intensive critique. I've been in your shoes and it's uncomfortable for sure, but I learned so much that first time I got "bad" feedback. It only pushed me to want to do things even better. :)

[Ceyber]

From reading the EXIF's, I think that you're shooting auto (green box). The first thing that I would suggest is to look around the forum, and start working on using manual (or at least AV) properly. This will give you a TON more control over your shots. The auto mode tends to choose quiet slow shutter speeds, and cranks the aperature closed.

Finally, shoot auto white balance and in RAW, that way, you can fiddle with WB to your hearts content, but the camera actually does a pretty good job in most situations.

EDIT: Oh yeah, from your gear list, you don't have an f2 lens, but your last shot looks like f2. Borrowed? Just wondering, it helps provide input :)

[Kauaicrazed]

Ok, so after I've gone and felt bad about myself for awhile, let's get into specifics. What's wrong with each of them? Anyone?

I'm sorry you felt bad about yourself. But really you will learn a lot! I wish I would get this kind of critism...sometimes I have to bump my own post to get any response! LOL! I want to learn! Consider yourself lucky to get advice from these pros!

[Skrim17]

Pick up a copy of Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure (http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Photographs-Digital-Updated/dp/0817463003/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222643339&sr=8-1).

[KatiaShermanPhotography]

also try compose it better...use rule of 3rd...also if yuyr baby looking right leave more room on the right...also if you have busy background keep it with nice shellow depth of field,...when you do that everythign that was busy desapears and you have nice cute baby =)

[KatiaShermanPhotography]

i just wanted to add...the photos here look EXACTLY like regular mom would take with regular camera...you said you wanted to use those in your portfolio...If i was the mom you show it to i will be like "i can do this myself"..

What you need to be is learn your camera and it can be your best friend.

I take it that you dont have a studio set up, then if i would take a photographer-on-location then i would expect something that i cant do with my camera. And that is when expencive lens would be handy. If you use 70-200mm lens and use with 200mm (full zoom) then you can get some super awesome photos that will have nice depth of field. And THATS what is good for portfolio - something that regilar mom cant get with her disposible camera...

Also, when i started getting good shots i wasnt ready to go in public to advertice yet - because all those good shots were taken by chance... i couldnt even repeat the shots if i wanted to...so again, learn your camera so you feel confedent in what you are doing..

[Meeshee]

Well, I almost cried the first time I ever posted anything on a forum. I thought it was really good, and got about 85 negative responses. I actually really would have loved #2 if it was in focus. The major 1st thing that jumped out of me was that almost every picture was out of focus. That would be the first thing I would work on before I did anything else, because no matter how creative, cute, artistic so on, a picture is, if it is soft, the whole thing really is great at all. I do like how kind the people on this forum are, they like to say WHY pictures are not excellent rather, then just saying they need work.