available light portrait

That is well lit with the available light. I like it as an executive portrait. I understand that you want the background out of focus, however, I think it would have more impact if we could tell what is in the background so it can be a part of the story. It is so OOF, it is distracting to me.

johnaengus wrote in post #12273822
That is well lit with the available light. I like it as an executive portrait. I understand that you want the background out of focus, however, I think it would have more impact if we could tell what is in the background so it can be a part of the story. It is so OOF, it is distracting to me.

Trust me, you would find it a lot more distracting if it were sharp. Way to busy for this kind of thing and the focus needs to be entirely on the subject.

Awesome shot as usual from you and that subject isolation with the background blur is great. I love what that 200 f2 can do!

Q

Q-Man wrote in post #12274439
Awesome shot as usual from you and that subject isolation with the background blur is great. I love what that 200 f2 can do!

Q

Thanks Q

I'm guessing subject is a newscaster? I really like the color pop you have there. Nice job.

dave

I saw this and immediately knew it was the 200/2.

her eyes seem to be distracted else were in a kind of wired way.. but very nice and very good use of available light.

Those blurred blue bright spots in the background kind of distract me\y eye from the subject.

Nice shot. I like the background blur. Having said that, if it were my shot I'd crop it, perhaps square, so there was less of it. So it wasn't competing with the main subject for attention due to how colorful it is, the "mass" of it and whether or not the viewer is supposed to understand what it was before it got blurred.

IMHO, I think we, as photographers, also kind of get caught up a little too much in evaluating background blur (or bokeh if you prefer) at the expense of what we're really supposed to be doing. In this case, capturing an image of an executive, news personality or whatever she is. I think that was done well.

This lens does produce some really pleasing depth separation!

Again, nice shot!

essvee wrote in post #12274938
Nice shot. I like the background blur. Having said that, if it were my shot I'd crop it, perhaps square, so there was less of it. So it wasn't competing with the main subject for attention due to how colorful it is, the "mass" of it and whether or not the viewer is supposed to understand what it was before it got blurred.

IMHO, I think we, as photographers, also kind of get caught up a little too much in evaluating background blur (or bokeh if you prefer) at the expense of what we're really supposed to be doing. In this case, capturing an image of an executive, news personality or whatever she is. I think that was done well.

This lens does produce some really pleasing depth separation!

Again, nice shot!

Thanks and I like space around my subjects. I picked the location because I got the right catch lights in her eyes and because of the blue n the background and the way it balanced the subject. Her eyes, the color of her jacket and the background with just enough warm brick color to balance the cool I think all work well together as well as the negative space. Well, anyway, this is the way I saw and shot it. Art Directors happy, so is the client and so am I.

Don't know if you noticed but I also had her in a place where I was getting a little hair light too.

Damn nice shot! I love everything about this photo. Negative space works well here. Bokeh is nice and right for this shot. If I had a critique, I might have fixed her slightly off color tooth in pp. But hey...who am I eh.

Nice shot!

distraction to me as well. if you wanted this much bokeh and separation, i woulda just went with a different background. makes you wanting to wonder what was behind her or at least see more of it.

try shooting at just a tad bit smaller, like at 2.8

I can see its her desk and monitor, but I'm of the mind that it would've been better if you'd taken a step to your right and framed her in the white/beige, the red and the screens compete with her for attention. The portrait is a nice one, and the depth of field is really beautiful, but I don't think the background helps you much here.