My first formal portrait - C&C please

We needed a portrait of a new employee in our company. In the past we have alway hired a professional photographer, but for budgetary reasons, I was asked to do this shoot. I have always shied away from formal portraits because I felt my equipment wasn't really up to the task (I formerly used a Canon Pro 1; I also had a Canon A-1 until recently but hadn't used it in years, ever since I started shooting digital). I recently got a Canon 30D, so I felt more confident to handle it.

I was originally going to use the EF-S 17-85 lens for this, but at the long end, there was not enough DOF. So I pulled out the big lens, the 70-200 f/2.8 IS. I also bought a 5x7 collapsible background to use for this shoot. The lighting consisted of two 250 watt Smith-Victor quartz lamps angled off on either side, plus a Canon 420EX flash mounted on the camera, with an Omnibounce.

Post processing consisted of some color correction and skin touch-up. The young lady has a lot of freckles, and very oily skin. We eliminated much of that by having her put on some makeup (she never uses it normally) before the shoot, but there was still work to do smoothing out the visible freckles. I also cloned out a number of stray hairs on the left side (her right) of her head.

The Exif info got lost in the processing (I use Corel PhotoPaint) but the info from the original photo is shown below. This of course is a reduced size version to fit within the 800 pixel limit.

Comments and criticism invited. Thanks.

[Image]
Make = Canon
Model = Canon EOS 30D
Orientation = top/left
X Resolution = 72
Y Resolution = 72
Resolution Unit = inch
Date Time = 2007-07-03 13:37:25
YCbCr Positioning = co-sited
Exif IFD Pointer = Offset: 178
[Camera]
Exposure Time = 1/250"
F Number = F3.2
Exposure Program = Aperture priority
ISO Speed Ratings = 400
Exif Version = Version 2.21
Date Time Original = 2007-07-03 13:37:25
Date Time Digitized = 2007-07-03 13:37:25
Components Configuration = YCbcr
Shutter Speed Value = 7.97 TV
Aperture Value = 3.36 AV
Exposure Bias Value = -0.67EV
Metering Mode = Pattern
Flash = Flash fired, compulsory flash mode, red-eye reduction mode
Focal Length = 95mm
Maker Note = 3834 Byte
User Comment =
Flashpix Version = Version 1.0
Color Space = sRGB
Exif Image Width = 2336
Exif Image Height = 3504
Focal Plane X Resolution = 3959.322
Focal Plane Y Resolution = 3959.322
Focal Plane Resolution Unit = inch
Custom Rendered = Normal process
Exposure Mode = Auto exposure
White Balance = Auto white balance
Scene Capture Type = Normal

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I don't like the shadows. You shot at iso 400, f3.2 1/250.... For indoor portrait work I like iso 100, ...( maybe . . . 200) f11 and 1/125 depending on lighting conditions. I shoot manual take a shot and adjust from there if I have too.

Yep - indoor with tyhe studio lights you should be at iso100 and f/11+/-. EXIF indicates you were at 95mm zoom. In this pic you can see the shadows behind her - You could have backed down to 70mm and moved her away from the background and most likely eliminated the shadows on the BG.

This is a nice corporate pose

Thanks for the comments guys. I was able to eliminate the shadows in the final versions.

Not sure I understand the rationale for stopping down to f/11. I wanted relatively shallow DOF on this shot, and I got it (note her shoulders). F/11 would have made everything crisp. Why do you suggest that.

Finally, I got a laugh this afternoon. I uploaded the photo to Ritz Camera online service for printing and pickup at my local store. When I got there to pick it up, the tech tells me she could not print it without a copyright release, since this is obviously a professional photo! LOL! I convinced her that I shot it, so she did print it for me. But the episode made me chuckle.

Of course, one of you guys in going to say, "She's a Ritz tech, what does she know about professional photos?" There, I beat you to it.

All seems a little soft for me. Making it all crisp i think would have been a little better

Thats was my first impression. The photo doesn't look that sharp to me. Especially with a 70-200L

But better than what I could do

besides the shadows, the colors look funny to me. I think this might have to do with mixing tungsten light and flash? If you do this, you should try and gel the flash or lights to get them to match. I would consider bouncing the flash off a white wall or foam core to soften the shadows.

Image is a little soft.
http://abetterbounceca​rd.com/ Try this link. It is very valuable info and will get rid of those shadows.

The Ritz girl was doing her job, (no offense) it means she was trained well. Imagine if in the future someone tries to print one of your shots, you want her to challenge them.

You are right f11 will make it sharp, that what I would like for portraits. But to each his own.

For a 1st formal portrait it's nice. I like the composition, and her expression. Technically, I second what's been said about the shadow, and it does seem soft. Next time I would use a different background for 'formal' headshot. Just a thought.

Peace.
Eric

Jerry Klein wrote in post #3498678
Thanks for the comments guys. I was able to eliminate the shadows in the final versions.

Not sure I understand the rationale for stopping down to f/11. I wanted relatively shallow DOF on this shot, and I got it (note her shoulders). F/11 would have made everything crisp. Why do you suggest that.

Finally, I got a laugh this afternoon. I uploaded the photo to Ritz Camera online service for printing and pickup at my local store. When I got there to pick it up, the tech tells me she could not print it without a copyright release, since this is obviously a professional photo! LOL! I convinced her that I shot it, so she did print it for me. But the episode made me chuckle.

Of course, one of you guys in going to say, "She's a Ritz tech, what does she know about professional photos?" There, I beat you to it.

Not bad first attempt, IMO. But as others have mentioned it looks soft because of th eshallow DOF. While you may have wanted this effect I don't think it works because with a head shot formal type portrait BOTH EYES should be sharp and they are not. I would also desaturate the color section of the background, top left.

It's a good first attempt, better than my first attempt which was in a portraiture class luckily

I think you over complicated the lighting. It feels like it was lit by flash. The shadows look funky to me because they are resulting from light coming from different angles. I think one strobe off to your left and using a reflector to reflect softer light back onto her left cheek would offer a flattering, softer feel for the lighting. Do you use a light meter? It looks like you had some hotter spots and burnt in areas of her cheek, chin & forehead - they look a little grey. Moving her further off the backdrop would be a benefit also to reduce shadows.

The image does seem soft, looks like the hair at the top of her forehead was the focus point rather than the eyes. For portraits I typically try to shoot around f8, sometimes f5.6 but anything lower I usually regret the shorter DOF.