First portrait shots

famas

famas

famas

Soldato
Joined
12 Dec 2004
Posts
3,303
Location
the south
I've been wanting to try some portrait shots for a while but never found the time.
i had a free day sunday so invited Beth round to take some pictures. this was my first attempt at any thing like this, and having only my camera and flash gun i had to improvise with backrounds and lighting.

i knocked up a frame with a white sheet covering it, which i used for the back round in most of the shots, i tried to get it as crease free as possible but this proved pretty hard and i think the wrinkles in some of the shots are distracting.

i tried bouncing the flash off of walls and the
ceiling but didnt really have great results, in the end i found that bouncing the flash off of a white board worked best.

had a really fun day non the less and we both enjoyed it.
i went through the pictures with Beth and we both chose some of our favorite.

C+C welcome as always but please be respectful to the model.


this is a quick shot of the set up we had.

setupou2.jpg


1
beth012008zc4.jpg


2
beth022008cs3.jpg


3
beth032008wg3.jpg


4
beth052008cf7.jpg


5
beth042008mx5.jpg


6
beth072008lc0.jpg


7
beth062008qk8.jpg


8
beth092008ig0.jpg


9
beth082008qe2.jpg


cheers for looking
Dan
 
She looks bloody miserable :p

Right, ok on to some constructive criticism


My biggest issue with all of them is the cropping. You've cropped it a bit too tight on some of them...6 is my favourite because it looks processed but not OVER processed, giving her skin a silky smooth look :).

Good effort though, I got my first one on Monday :eek:
 
she looks a bit miserable on the first few, shes rarely smiling or looking into the camera

lighting is quite flat also

8 is the best imo, not just because of her cleavage :p

maybe try a few at eye level or lower?
 
Well, I'm no expert, but I have a few comments.

For #7 and #9 I think they might have benefited from a larger aperture to blur the background a bit more as it's a bit distracting, and generally the photos seem a bit yellow to me.

Also with the posing, I think the shots would benefit from more eye contact, mainly #1 - #3 and #5, where she is looking straight on at the camera, like you have done with #8.

Looks like a good effort though :)
 
The photos look professionaly done (in terms of arrangement and lighting) but she hasn't really given you much to work with in terms of expression. Makes it a little boring.

Is that a real tattoo as it looks like it was done with a byro?
 
I will have another look at home as the work monitors are not exactly the best for viewing photos - but here are my first impressions:

  • Shots look too dark - on my monitor (albeit an old work CRT) they look under exposed and the first is terribly under exposed
  • She is so moody! She doesn't seem to impressed to be photographed.
  • The images appear very flat and unfocused - the depth of field does not seem to effectively bring her out from the photos at all.
  • Some of them are too heavily cropped - and I feel would only work if you had used a heavier depth of field to isolate her from the background.

I hope that the points we have raised don't get you down and hopefully you will take them as positive criticism!

Rich
 
cheers for the comment guys.

i was using the 50mm and was very limeted on space, why most of the shots are pretty close, that and i was trying to cut out most of the rubbish back round. very little/no cropping tho.

yeah the yellow light is a bugger! its from the sun coming through the curtains, think i'll try the garage next time, its nice and dark in there with not much natural light, needs a good clear up first tho!

this was the first time for both of us for portrait work and i struggled at bit for poses she could do, my fault entirely, she's really a very happy person "most of the time :)"


i was shooting in Raw so had a fiddle with the white balance, this any better? also no boarder especially for D.P

bethtestue8.jpg


cheers
Dan
 
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