My first attempt

[mtrothgeb]

From PhotoSchool

This is my first attempt of shooting a portrait. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks

Canon T2i
Focal Length: 50mm
F-stop: 2.5
ISO: 200
Exposure: 1/3
Light source: LED light on my cell phone

I decided to edit the picture to see if it would look any better. Here is the link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink
Which is better?


Added:
I wanted to add more detail about this picture. This was shot in my basement that is red and is my TV room. The lack of light was on purpose so you could not see the red curtains, table to the left, and TV to the right. This is my wife and we are shooting at 2am in the morning. I also wanted to do something different from most of the happy go lucky pictures that portraits seem to be. Its dark but its something different.
Thank you comments, I'm learning something everyday.

[TBrown00]

A hair light or some sort of light coming in from the side would have helped separate your subject from the background. As it is, her black hair blends in and it's hard to tell what the background is and where the edge of her hair is. Her head also seems to be floating in place since we can't see her neck.
I would also increase your ISO to get a faster shutter speed. A minimum should be 1/focal length or 1/60 in this case.

I like the choice though of using the light from your phone since the on camera flash - which can look really bad. Scott Kelby calls it the "ugly maker"

[fernampo]

Hi, agree with TBrown in all points.

Once this shot was a kind of dark / scarry, I'd think in a BW option. It would be probably nice!!

Another point I'd try is to do this in portrait orientation, so that less of the black background would be shown and you could still crop it back horizontally and apply in another material will need..

[mtrothgeb]

Thanks for the comments so far. I definitely have some learning to do and you have provided me with things to think about.

[metoo]

I like the idea but I would like to see it sharper for one thing, and a little less of her hair in her face. I feel like the hair is almost messy instead of just trying to hide her face and make her mysterious. I would like to see one eye clearly...

I'm in no way a professional though so take what i say with a grain of salt.

[Siadele]

Hey, I really like this shot. I think the fact that you just used the light from your phone makes it seem like she's about to disappear into the night. And she has haunting eyes!

[joep]

I agree with Siadele, but I would like to see a little less hair on the face and focus on the eyes, trying to get a little highlight in at least one of the eyes........

[tyasa81]

*!#%... sorry about that... had a shock... had this page load while looking at other tabs... when it came here i thought i was looking at sadako... the girl from the ring... not sure what you are going for... but it looks horror movie-ish... if that's the reaction you are looking for than great job... if not, maybe a little less scary eyes and hair and please burn more of the background in so it doesn't look like she just crawled from a well... hope this help... you are the first person to actually made my heart jump from seeing a pic...

[klam]

Originally Posted by tyasa81

*!#%... sorry about that... had a shock... had this page load while looking at other tabs... when it came here i thought i was looking at sadako... the girl from the ring... not sure what you are going for... but it looks horror movie-ish... if that's the reaction you are looking for than great job... if not, maybe a little less scary eyes and hair and please burn more of the background in so it doesn't look like she just crawled from a well... hope this help... you are the first person to actually made my heart jump from seeing a pic...

That's how I felt but less extreme. Yes, nice job if you're trying for a creepy mood.

[sabrina860]

Originally Posted by mtrothgeb

This is my first attempt of shooting a portrait. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks

Canon T2i
Focal Length: 50mm
F-stop: 2.5
ISO: 200
Exposure: 1/3
Light source: LED light on my cell phone

Dark, scary, creepy... whats her deal? I love it!! It could use a backlight though...