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View Full Version : Portraits - Up for some C&C

rushhour
28th of April 2010 (Wed), 23:13
I've been doing more reading and absorbing rather than posting since picking up my camera, but it's time to get in the face of fire.

Have been fortunate to have an (occasionally) willing model in my son, so here are some more recent ones. What I'm looking for essentially are tips on how I could have improved on these, specifically with camera settings.... Hopefully the EXIF data is intact.

These were all shot wide open at 1.8, and since that time I've learned on these forums that going up a couple of stops would have help add some sharpness. No flash used (for the simple reason that I didn't have one at the time).

All that said, fire away.

1.
http://www.atypeofmagic.com/POTN/IMG_1602.jpg


2.
http://www.atypeofmagic.com/POTN/IMG_1599b.jpg


3.
http://www.atypeofmagic.com/POTN/IMG_1862-k.jpg


4.
http://www.atypeofmagic.com/POTN/IMG_1995-k.jpg


5. Same shot, cropped tighter and with some Photoshop treatment
http://www.atypeofmagic.com/POTN/IMG_1995-silverfxantique.jpg
Flo
28th of April 2010 (Wed), 23:45
You called it.focus is an issue for sure.#4.B&W.the best for me.Tighter crop.
rushhour
29th of April 2010 (Thu), 08:45
Yes, I agree the focus is softer than it could be.

Any other tips/suggestions/criticisms?
Flo
29th of April 2010 (Thu), 10:56
Get the focus down, and better light.watch when you are aiming the camera.see what you want for a final shot...the compression in the first two is terrible.alot of pixels....
rushhour
29th of April 2010 (Thu), 11:04
The compression isn't an issue - the hi-res versions are actually fine. It's only saving it down to keep the file size manageable that is introducing the artifacts.
Flo
29th of April 2010 (Thu), 11:23
The compression isn't an issue - the hi-res versions are actually fine. It's only saving it down to keep the file size manageable that is introducing the artifacts.

Thats what I figured;)
PhotoCupcake
29th of April 2010 (Thu), 17:49
Reviewing the first two photo the focus seems to be on his hands and not his face. Either you just didn't point the AF right or it could be an issue with the AF of the nifty fifty (I have the same issue with mine).

Also, you used ISO 800 which shouldn't be necessary for portraits. What kind of lighting were you using?
rushhour
29th of April 2010 (Thu), 20:45
Reviewing the first two photo the focus seems to be on his hands and not his face. Either you just didn't point the AF right or it could be an issue with the AF of the nifty fifty (I have the same issue with mine).

I've had other pictures with the Nifty that were very sharp, so it could well be a hit and miss with this lens. Or more likely, it could be user error. ;)


Also, you used ISO 800 which shouldn't be necessary for portraits. What kind of lighting were you using?

Natural light (near window) + fluorescent room lighting on the indoor shots. I took these before I picked up a flash (and the on-board flash is a joke anyway).
rushhour
29th of April 2010 (Thu), 20:46
What ISO would you have recommended?
hk-len
29th of April 2010 (Thu), 21:46
1&2 is soft on focus on the subject's right eye. Could be the resizing and compression of the photo though. You have a link to the original file?
rushhour
29th of April 2010 (Thu), 23:32
1&2 is soft on focus on the subject's right eye. Could be the resizing and compression of the photo though. You have a link to the original file?

Here they are:

Image 1 (http://************/POTN-01)

Image 2 (http://************/POTN-02)