Bad lighting

[Amanda0102]

But I really like this photo. Crazy?



f 5.6
1/30
35mm
ISO 200

[IABoomer]

I'd guess you like the photo because the subject is someone close to you. From the viewpoint of an impartial observer, you've blown out the side of his face so there's no detail there. There are no catchlights in his eyes, so they're flat and empty. The background is distracting. The white balance seems overly warm.

You kept him out of the middle of the frame, which is good, but the rest of it just doesn't work, IMHO.

[Cola]

Well it is all about opinion really. I agree with the above post and would like to point out It is a bit blurry but I think that has to do with you using 1/30 shutter speed. For general hand holding 1/80 and faster is usually best to get a sharp image.

[Amanda0102]

In all honesty, I probably like it because the rest of the photos from this session totally suck and I was ridiculously frustrated. This was a spur of the moment "Hey, you're in weird contrasty lighting!" shot and it mixed things up a bit and distracted me from the project at which I was failing.

Sigh...

[Oobeidi]

Originally Posted by IABoomer

I'd guess you like the photo because the subject is someone close to you. From the viewpoint of an impartial observer, you've blown out the side of his face so there's no detail there. There are no catchlights in his eyes, so they're flat and empty. The background is distracting. The white balance seems overly warm.

You kept him out of the middle of the frame, which is good, but the rest of it just doesn't work, IMHO.

@ IABoomer : wat do u mean by "There are no catchlights in his eyes" ?

[Cola]

From a personal perspective it is a quick snapshot for something to keep as a memory or something quick to send to family members.

From a photographers standpoint, it's a quick snapshot.

I'm not sure if you just want general quick opinions on the shot or if you really want critique. I am willing to go in depth with my thoughts and share tips where I can, but if you just wanted to ask before I type it all out.

[Amanda0102]

Originally Posted by Cola

I'm not sure if you just want general quick opinions on the shot or if you really want critique. I am willing to go in depth with my thoughts and share tips where I can, but if you just wanted to ask before I type it all out.

Thanks for the offer, but like you said, it's a quick snapshot - nothing that I'm trying to hone and replicate.

I interestingly came across a local photographer's website tonight - highly-regarded, expensive, dynamic - and many of her images were similarly as poor as this. Lots of flare, blurry distracting portions of images, blown-out backgrounds - just curious how/why some people seem to make this kind of thing work.

[IABoomer]

Originally Posted by Oobeidi

@ IABoomer : wat do u mean by "There are no catchlights in his eyes" ?

Catchlights are the reflected light from the eyes. It's what makes the eye sparkle. Looking more closely, there's a small light in his right eye (camera left), but his left eye (camera right) is so overwhelmed with the window light that there's not a sharp shiny point of light there.

Looking for a sample image, I found an interesting writeup about processing the eyes that discusses catchlights.

It's All About the Eyes | Kevin's Photo Studio

[Cola]

Alot of it has to with personal preference and style. If all photographers were the same there would be no reason to have so many. Customers will come to a photographer and look at his/her portfolio with the expectation that their work is consistent in both quality and style. Your style that you develop as a photographer over time can be the very thing that gets you hired over another photographer and some may want that look.

If you share a link to the website you are talking about maybe I could get a better idea about the style you mean.