Early Morning Portrait Practice

[StephenJay]

Hello folks, I am very very green to portrait photography. I did some practice yesterday, thanks to a good friend and class mate of mind, and I will like some input on any and everything that would help make for better shots. These are pretty basic, which I was aiming for. Taken with the early morning sun, about an hour or so after sunrise. I know there is supposed to be some guides to shooting shots differently depending on the shape of face and such.

Can your critique please include the good and the bad, so I know what I need to work on, do you think my depth of field is too shallow?

These were shot with my 35mm f/1.8 nikkor. ISO @200 and aperture @ 3.2.







thanks for looking and the critique, I really appreciate all the help.
regards,
SJ

[PeterArboinePhotography]

hi stephen, first of all, i must say i rather like the shots! my advice to you would be to play with different angles & perspectives, also the second image looks a little washed out, maybe apply a little contrast?, otherwise, great work

[StephenJay]

Originally Posted by PeterArboinePhotography

hi stephen, first of all, i must say i rather like the shots! my advice to you would be to play with different angles & perspectives, also the second image looks a little washed out, maybe apply a little contrast?, otherwise, great work

thanks Peter, I appreciate the feedback, Different angles = different perspectives. I see what you are talking about in the second image, you are right I simply adjusted the contrast slider and it makes a big difference. Thanks for looking Peter all the best, and I appreciate every tinge of advice. Have a good one.

regards,
SJ

[BigFuzzy]

I like where you're going with these, and like the style you were going after seeing as it's something I do a lot. Having said that, i do have some suggestions which i think could help.

First, I see a general need to think a bit more about the light you're using. I know you tried to get early morning, which is good, but the light is still harsh (at least in the first two photos). I say this because look at the shadow cast by her nose.. very sharp and (to me) distracting. You fixed this issue in the 3rd photo by moving her into shade, which helped, but now there wasn't enough light because her face isn't lit as well as I'd like to see. In these sorts of photos I tend to use spot metering on the face to ensure it's well exposed, even at the expense of a blown background (which can be either good or bad depending on the photos themselves).

Do you have/use a flash? I think all of the images could have done with a bit of fill-flash, even if it was on-camera as opposed to the better off-camera use.

Though it's hard for me to tell since I can't see larger versions, it appears to me that the eyes aren't as sharp as they could/should be. It appears you may be using a central focal point and autofocus? If so, consider using "focus lock" on the subjects eyes and then recomposing.

I agree with Peter in that the images could use a bit more interesting composition as these are a bit straight on head shots. Add a bit of flavor to it by changing angles and perspective.

Still, despite all that, they're still good first efforts. Just be aware of the light and how it falls on your subject (especially if on the face) and be careful with the backgrounds as in the last image, there's a big branch going through her head... looks painful!

Keep it up!
Al

[mandyatm]

I like the second shot, would agree a little contrast would make it even better. I would go with a larger DOF. I can't tell exactly with this size of images, but it looks like her bangs and lips are sharper than her eyes in the first one, and in the 3rd one, it looks like the focus fell on her shirt. You could improve that by selectively sharpening her eyes, but a larger DOF would be better next time I think.

[StephenJay]

Originally Posted by BigFuzzy

I like where you're going with these, and like the style you were going after seeing as it's something I do a lot. Having said that, i do have some suggestions which i think could help.

First, I see a general need to think a bit more about the light you're using. I know you tried to get early morning, which is good, but the light is still harsh (at least in the first two photos). I say this because look at the shadow cast by her nose.. very sharp and (to me) distracting. You fixed this issue in the 3rd photo by moving her into shade, which helped, but now there wasn't enough light because her face isn't lit as well as I'd like to see. In these sorts of photos I tend to use spot metering on the face to ensure it's well exposed, even at the expense of a blown background (which can be either good or bad depending on the photos themselves).

Do you have/use a flash? I think all of the images could have done with a bit of fill-flash, even if it was on-camera as opposed to the better off-camera use.

Though it's hard for me to tell since I can't see larger versions, it appears to me that the eyes aren't as sharp as they could/should be. It appears you may be using a central focal point and autofocus? If so, consider using "focus lock" on the subjects eyes and then recomposing.

I agree with Peter in that the images could use a bit more interesting composition as these are a bit straight on head shots. Add a bit of flavor to it by changing angles and perspective.

Still, despite all that, they're still good first efforts. Just be aware of the light and how it falls on your subject (especially if on the face) and be careful with the backgrounds as in the last image, there's a big branch going through her head... looks painful!

Keep it up!
Al

thank you so much for an in-depth reveiw. Everything you said makes perfect sense. Thanks for doing an excellent job, being a critic. Be hard on me! lol... I am going to use your suggestions, and see how best I can improve using fill light like you mentioned. I am thinking of purchasing a Honl Photo 8" speed snoot reflector. Any thoughts or experience with one of those?
]

Originally Posted by mandyatm

I like the second shot, would agree a little contrast would make it even better. I would go with a larger DOF. I can't tell exactly with this size of images, but it looks like her bangs and lips are sharper than her eyes in the first one, and in the 3rd one, it looks like the focus fell on her shirt. You could improve that by selectively sharpening her eyes, but a larger DOF would be better next time I think.

I must agree I fell victim to not selectively focusing for the eyes which is a must for good portraiture. Great points, I am going to work on these and try my very best to improve.

thanks guys, I truly appreciate the criticism. I need it to get better!

regards,
SJ