My first portrait

[Kevin Held What]

Hey, I'm very new to photography, been at it a little over a month.

I was wondering if there was anyway to improve my photography or any things I should keep in mind while shooting in the future. Also, various crop recommendations would be helpful. I kept her entire head in the photo, yet a lot of the portraits I've seen cut off portions of the head and face. For your consideration, I'll put up my first portrait. I played with the curves and levels, and also used multiple layers of different darknesses at different opacities. I forgot to save the photoshop file, so I can't outline my entire work.

I highly recommend viewing the large version of the photo on flickr, as the detail in the eyes becomes much more apparent.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinheld/2285134224/" title="Day 1/365 by Kevin Held What, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2130/2285134224_9365c1797a.jpg" width="500" height="314" alt="Day 1/365" /></a>

Taken with a Nikon D40 w/ kit lens
Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0/6 EV

Thanks a lot guys.

[peeperita]

welcome, kevin....

for a relative stranger to photography, you sure have an eye for composition...your subject has good placement on the frame..... .was that crop original?...

you're right about her eyes.....at a larger size, i can really appreciate the detail there....even the wispies of her hair are locked in......and at 5.6 you stopped just shy of the wall....

the only distraction is the reflection of light off the center brick.....i'm not sure if this was done in post or not....but maybe it could be corrected....

the left shadowed side of her face is a little too dark for my taste....a little less and your model would have been more........"modeled"...

thanks for sharing this image

peeper

thanks for sharing

peeper

[Kevin Held What]

Thanks for the comments,

The crop was minimal, I took off a little bit of top (about 5 inches) and moved it in from the left a little to make it look a bit more pleasing. I didn't like how square the other shoulder was because of her jacket, so I got rid of it. I've decided I don't like using flashes, though I suppose I could have used it to "fill" and supplement the sunlight.

The center brick highlight was because I made her stand in a little patch of light coming in from the trees.

As for the modeled look, it wasn't really a planned thing. We were on a walk enjoying the weather (It was 25 in St. Paul yesterday...which is about 40 degrees warmer than normal!) and I decided to start taking pictures. And that's how my first portrait came to be. :)

Should I have used the flash to fill?

[peeperita]

yes, i think a fill flash would have worked well for this scene....

what i meant by "modeling" is how the light hits her face.......because the shadows are so deep, most of the details are missing from the image....giving that side a one dimensional appearence....half the shape of her face is a mystery....

with a fill, the shadowed side could still be just that, shadowed.....but, the light would add a little shape to them.....softening up your model's face....

all in all, still a really nice image...

peeper

[Kevin Held What]

I'll admit it: I'm terrified of using the flash. All the images I take with it are less than desirable. I always get really uneven light dispersion when I use my flash...
Maybe because it's the one on my camera, I guess I don't know...

[photofun]

Kevin, check you manual on how to do this but I've been experimenting with decreasing the output of your flash. I'll try the same shot with each option, full, 1/4, 1/16, & 1/64. I also tried a piece of white tissue paper held on with a rubber band, I especially like doing this. Don't be afraid to experiment - no film to waste. LOL! Keep on trying, your first attempt was very good!

[Kevin Held What]

Thanks photofun,

I've got about 3 hours to kill before my first "assignment" meeting (I recently got hired by our school newspaper as a photographer) so I think I'm going to experiment with various things blocking the flash and checking out the different power options. I didn't know that was possible!