young woman in a purple hat

[Eileen D]

My niece stopped by yesterday and I had a chance to do a few portrait shots with her, something I haven't done much of before. I tried some indoors and some outside (and forgot to change my ISO when we went outside, which is why this one was shot at 800!)

I want to know if the angle works, if the lighting is okay, and if the color seems right. If there's anything else you want to comment on, please do!

Camera: Canon 50D
Lens: 100 mm
Aperture: 7.1
Shutter speed: 1/640
ISO: 800
no flash

[zona5101]

I think it works well...but i think your color temp is a bit warm as seen in the whites of her eyes.

[MrJones]

I think it feels flat. try adding contrast and brightness. I think it will help a lot.
also, if you can, try emphasizing her beautiful eyes, make them pop.

[Rpulliam]

I would lighten the photo up a bit and increase the contrast. Also, use the dart tool brighten her eyes up. I usually set the dart at about 20% to do the white in the eye, then bump it up to 50% to do the color in her eyes.

There may be a better way to do the eyes, if so I would also love to know!

[Eileen D]

Originally Posted by Rpulliam

I would lighten the photo up a bit and increase the contrast. Also, use the dart tool brighten her eyes up. I usually set the dart at about 20% to do the white in the eye, then bump it up to 50% to do the color in her eyes.

There may be a better way to do the eyes, if so I would also love to know!

I'm not sure what the dart tool is. I use Elements so perhaps yours is a different program. I'm curious to know what the process is that you're referring to.

I'm finding the comments helpful and can see that the temp does seem warm. I'll work on it and see what I can do. Thanks everyone!

[Rpulliam]

Originally Posted by Eileen D

I'm not sure what the dart tool is. I use Elements so perhaps yours is a different program. I'm curious to know what the process is that you're referring to.

I'm finding the comments helpful and can see that the temp does seem warm. I'll work on it and see what I can do. Thanks everyone!

Sorry, the dart tool is in Photoshop (the C series). I should have mentioned that before. On Photoshop the tool lookes like a wand with a solid ball on the end of it. Hopes that helps at all. Like I said before, there are probably other ways to do it, that is just how I do it.

[Eileen D]

I tried a quick revision of the image based on the suggestions. Focusing on the eyes was a helpful starting point. Here's what I have at this stage:




Thanks for the help. I'm finding this site to be a great resource!

[MrJones]

I think it's better (though I can't recall the original completely).
now you have a really nice portrait

[Rpulliam]

Another thing you can do is paint her eye color in to make it pop. Chose a color close to her natural eye color and make the opacity of the color low, like 20% (other wise it will look very fake). Sometimes I add a dart of gold to reflect the sunlight.

I am not an expert in editing in ANY way, so just view my comments as suggestions to try out!