My fathers portrait....trial shot.....

Hi there here is the same shot with the hands in it, however I cant work our remember exactly what I did in post.

Regards Darren

Tally ho!!

That is nearly the exact type of image I was thing of. Look at how the light wraps around his face. I am on my work monitor so I can;t see the level of detail in th shadows but I think this will be a very cherished image for you and your family.

Now, You need just a smidge more DOF, so that his beard and left shoulder are sharp. His beenie looks good the shadow on his face is spot on. It could be a touch lighter and less contrasty but like I said the monitor I am on now bites so I cannot get the full range in the image. But on a scale of 1-10 I think you have a solid 8 or even better. You will want to make as good a print as possible and take it to a local pro whose work you admire and get a critique from / or her. Or if you are in a good camera club do it that way.

Mat and frame a copy for your family, it's that good.

Les Baldwin

Very nice! I love how this one came out. It looks basically perfect. I love it. I don't know which I like more. Both crops are great.

I like the version with the hands and all. I think Les's comment about DOF is right as it looks a little shallow. You might also want ot try boosting the ISO a bit to get a slightly faster shutter speed as it's kind of hard for a subject to be still enough for 1/25th of a second, especially if they're working on a lathe. Otherwise I absolutely love the shot. It's definitely a keeper.
Reed

Thanks Les, Danielle and Reed,

will be printing and framing this for my dad thanks for the tip on the dof and iso, i forget that iso can be upped with a flick of a button

Thanks for looking

Regards Darren

Darren,

I really like the full shot as well as the cropped shot. I think I would give both to my father if I was in your shoes.

The DOF does not detract from the working shot IMHO as I feel this shot does not need to be a perfect portait. It's an image of your father working not posing in a studio, but after saying that I would clone out the light area in the top LH corner as well as the item centre RH side making the background overall dark.

The chips in the cropped shot I didn't notice until someone commented on them but I could live with them if my father was known for his wood working as most of his friends and relatives would understand and accept them as part of his environment/life.

Good shots either way.

Wardie

great portrait.

Great shot, I really like the shadows and composition.

Ok I finally made it to my monitor to take a nice close look. Again you have a very good, strong portrait that really does not need to be fixed.
Here are a few ideas to think the next time you are in a similiar shooting situation.

In this image, the elements are what make the shot. To you the subject is most imporant but lets set that aside for now.

1. In your image the subjects hat and the right side of his face lack detail. I may use a large white reflector (think 4'x8') piece of foamcore to add a smidge of detail along the right edge of the subjects head, shoulder, arm and most importantly, hands. this will NOT eliminate the shadow, but it will make the edge transfer less well defined. Remember to use your Inverted square rules to place the reflector to your desired contrast range. You can also put a piece on the floor under his hands, silver may work better here.

2. Use the lowest ISO possible and use a tripod, to keep the over all image as sharp as possible.

3. Focus should fall approx 1/3 into the frame or approx where his beard starts. You are looking for shot that rivals MF in its detail. The man is detail oriented. His visage is one of charachter, and a lifes devotion to himself and family, your image should try to reflect that in it's detail(s).

4. If possible try to get his eyes (both) clearly in the shot preferred with highlights. This will require subtle movements of his head and direction from you.

5. When placing his head within the frame try not to let his nose break the plane on the opposite side of his face (in this case his left side)

As you can see there is a big difference in creating a portrait and taking a picture. You have already created a portrait, very good.

Les Baldwin

wow!!!! You did an excellent job! I love it!

kp

edit to say i posted a response before lookin at the second pic...you make it hard to decide! I love the second one as well...

the shot with the lathe is wonderful. IMO thats the one that belongs on the wall...

Hi there thanks all, I appreciate the comments, I will post a front on shot soon.

Regards Darren

I really like the second post with the full picture. Other than a small DOF issue the picture is just right. Rules of thumb are meant to be broken every once in a while.

I have been waiting to see how this turned out. I like the full shot much better, but I thought the first was great until I hit page two.

Thanks Sam and Dbernard.

Regards Darren