Candid portrait

[carlyfan]

This is a candid shot I took of my cousin. I know there is some shadow on her face, but is it really that bad? Is there anything I could do in PP to help? I don't have Photo-shop, just the image editor that comes on Linux. Other than that, It doesn't really look sharp to me. Is this a focus problem? I know there is a lot of noise, (I don't know why the ISO was set that high, I usually have it lower) and the background is distracting. All critique is welcome and appreciated. Don't go easy on me. Thanks for looking!



Camera Brand: Canon
Camera Model: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT
Date Taken: 2010:08:28 15:29:46
Exposure Time: 1/640 sec.
Aperture Value: 5.66 EV (f/7.1)
ISO Speed Rating: 800
Flash Fired: Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode.
Metering Mode: Average
Exposure Program: Normal program
Focal Length: 50.0 mm

[MrJones]

it's a nice photo and I don't see a lot of noise.
there are some shadows you can take care of if you have a PP software which works with layers but they aren't really that bad.

the person in the back ruins it a bit but not that much, as a candid photo it is a good photo.

[zona5101]

You have done a really nice job of self-analizing the issues that are holding back this image. I think you can identify the fixes as well.

I know there is some shadow on her face, but is it really that bad? Maybe not bad for a snapshot...and the fix? watch for mottled lighting, move to full shade, use a gobo or scrim.

Is there anything I could do in PP to help? You might be able to minimize it but to eliminate it would be some work.

It doesn't really look sharp to me. Is this a focus problem? It looks more like a depth of field constraint than your focusing. Using f7.1 i would think you'd have enough...but with a 50mm on a crop body, focused at 2 feet, the depth of field is only .12' I don't know your camera to subject distance but if it was near 2 to 3 feet this could be why the eyes aren't super sharp. The lack of a catchlight is also leaving the eyes darker which maybe contributing to the appearent lack of sharpness.

I know there is a lot of noise, (I don't know why the ISO was set that high, I usually have it lower). I don't notice a lot of noise in the posted version. But easy enough to select a lower iso the next time.

and the background is distracting. and so a good thing to check for next time...

[carlyfan]

Thanks for the feedback Mr Jones and Zona! Maybe the noise was just me zooming in too far and looking too close for it. I'm glad you don't see it.
Having nice looking backgrounds is one of my biggest challenges, because almost all of my people pictures are candids of my cousins running around and playing. Maybe I should try asking them if they would be willing to sit for a photo shoot so that I could actually control the background and lighting.

[duneshot]

hi ... Your candid photo is quite good. For correcting the shaduws I don't think it can be done with this shot but practice having your subject, like with this shot, turn her head in such a maner to create a small shadow under her nose on her left side. This is called a butterfly. Study the lighting in the magazines and see how those photographers used the angles of lighting methods.

Duneshot

[carlyfan]

Thanks for the tip, I will check this out.