Karly in the Park

[Phodawg]

Hey everyone!

This is my beautiful GF Karly. We took a trip to Congress Park in Saratoga today and I snapped (more than a) few pictures of her. Please let me know what you think.

I've had the camera for less than a week and this is my 1st venture out of Auto Mode. I have thick skin and am here to learn.

I used Lightroom 3 for PP.



Camera: Sony a330
Lens: 70-210mm f4.5-5.6
Exposure: 1/640 @ f5 - ISO 100
Focal Length - 100mm

[StephanieS]

I like the pose and the exposure- and I like the background. But the shadows from the tree branches are taking away from the picture IMO. Plus her hair in front of her glasses would bother me.

[Phodawg]

Originally Posted by StephanieS

I like the pose and the exposure- and I like the background. But the shadows from the tree branches are taking away from the picture IMO. Plus her hair in front of her glasses would bother me.

Thanks for your feedback!

I agree that the shadows are distracting. It was about 1pm and there was little I could do for this shot. Had I noticed that her hair was in her face I would have asked her to move it. It didn't even occure to me.

Please keep the feedback coming, like I said I am here to learn and grow.

Thanks again!

[BigFuzzy]

Welcome Phodawg.. good name by the way.
Can I call you P-dawg.. or P-ditty-dawg or Photo-D?

Anyway.. as for the photo. It's a good start but I have some suggestions.

Stephanie nailed it about lighting. Just a bad time of day to be shooting . Always avoid mid-day if possible.. and since it's your GF, I'm assuming she likes you and is around a bit , so shoot her much earlier or much later in the day to take advantage of the softer light.
IF you must shoot at this time, look for open shade and put her there. It'll soften the light a lot!

I like how natural she feels despite the super posey shot. These types of overly posed shots just aren't my thing, others may love it, I don't. Just doesn't feel natural of comfy. I feel a bit awkward looking at it due to her position.
Also, you've placed her smack dab in the middle of the scene.. look into the Rule of 3rds as a primer into thinking about more creative composition, it'll help the image a lot.
Personally, I like seeing the subjects eyes, so unles there's a real stylistic reason to use sunglasses, I'd argue your image has more impact seeing the subjects eyes.

Also, watch out with your cropping/composition.. you've cut off her fingers and her feet are dangerously close to being maimed by the same issues. Her head is also close to the top. I know you wanted to focus in on the subject, but don't over do it as it feels too tight now.. plus it's not a natural feeling 3x4, 2x3, 4x6, or square crop, so it feels awkward to a more seasoned viewer of photos.

As i said, it's good start.. and well done getting off auto (starting with AV is a great place to start), just pay attention to how the light hits your subject and composition before you ever click the shutter. Really start thinking about your images and you'll feel yourself pausing before shooting...

good luck and keep posting!

[zona5101]

Originally Posted by BigFuzzy

Welcome Phodawg.. good name by the way.
Can I call you P-dawg.. or P-ditty-dawg or Photo-D?

Anyway.. as for the photo. It's a good start but I have some suggestions.

Stephanie nailed it about lighting. Just a bad time of day to be shooting . Always avoid mid-day if possible.. and since it's your GF, I'm assuming she likes you and is around a bit , so shoot her much earlier or much later in the day to take advantage of the softer light.
IF you must shoot at this time, look for open shade and put her there. It'll soften the light a lot!

I like how natural she feels despite the super posey shot. These types of overly posed shots just aren't my thing, others may love it, I don't. Just doesn't feel natural of comfy. I feel a bit awkward looking at it due to her position.
Also, you've placed her smack dab in the middle of the scene.. look into the Rule of 3rds as a primer into thinking about more creative composition, it'll help the image a lot.
Personally, I like seeing the subjects eyes, so unles there's a real stylistic reason to use sunglasses, I'd argue your image has more impact seeing the subjects eyes.

Also, watch out with your cropping/composition.. you've cut off her fingers and her feet are dangerously close to being maimed by the same issues. Her head is also close to the top. I know you wanted to focus in on the subject, but don't over do it as it feels too tight now.. plus it's not a natural feeling 3x4, 2x3, 4x6, or square crop, so it feels awkward to a more seasoned viewer of photos.

As i said, it's good start.. and well done getting off auto (starting with AV is a great place to start), just pay attention to how the light hits your subject and composition before you ever click the shutter. Really start thinking about your images and you'll feel yourself pausing before shooting...

good luck and keep posting!

superlative critique sir.

[Phodawg]

Originally Posted by BigFuzzy

Welcome Phodawg.. good name by the way.
Can I call you P-dawg.. or P-ditty-dawg or Photo-D?

Haha! You can call me Mike. Boring I know. I am starting a photoblog and was looking for an open domain I could use and phodawg.com was available. Kind of a play on "photog" but anyway...

Anyway.. as for the photo. It's a good start but I have some suggestions.

A good start is better than no start, Thanks!!

Stephanie nailed it about lighting. Just a bad time of day to be shooting . Always avoid mid-day if possible.. and since it's your GF, I'm assuming she likes you and is around a bit , so shoot her much earlier or much later in the day to take advantage of the softer light.
IF you must shoot at this time, look for open shade and put her there. It'll soften the light a lot!

I had read that it is the worst time of day to shoot and I knew going into it that I would have some shadow issues. The tip to set up the shot in the shade is very helpful! Thank you!

I'll have a much easier time shooting her late in the day, I'm the early bird foe sure. I foesee some nice evening/sunset pictures in the future.

I like how natural she feels despite the super posey shot. These types of overly posed shots just aren't my thing, others may love it, I don't. Just doesn't feel natural of comfy. I feel a bit awkward looking at it due to her position.

The pose was all her and spur of the moment. It does portray her fun and care-free personality. I have others that I will post to a flicker set tonight and I will update the post here with them.

Also, you've placed her smack dab in the middle of the scene.. look into the Rule of 3rds as a primer into thinking about more creative composition, it'll help the image a lot.
Personally, I like seeing the subjects eyes, so unles there's a real stylistic reason to use sunglasses, I'd argue your image has more impact seeing the subjects eyes.

One of the first tutorials I read was on the Rule of Thirds. I understand the concept and will be more mindful of it in the future. I agree about the sunglasses totally. She has nice blue eyes so I wll be sure to show them off in the future!

Also, watch out with your cropping/composition.. you've cut off her fingers and her feet are dangerously close to being maimed by the same issues. Her head is also close to the top. I know you wanted to focus in on the subject, but don't over do it as it feels too tight now.. plus it's not a natural feeling 3x4, 2x3, 4x6, or square crop, so it feels awkward to a more seasoned viewer of photos.

I need to work on this aspect. I am not sure how to maintain a specific size when cropping. I use Lightroom and Photoshop so I will have to dig up a cropping tutorial and see what I can learn.

As i said, it's good start.. and well done getting off auto (starting with AV is a great place to start), just pay attention to how the light hits your subject and composition before you ever click the shutter. Really start thinking about your images and you'll feel yourself pausing before shooting...

good luck and keep posting!

Thanks for an awesome critique with some very valuable suggestions. I look forward to posting more here in the future and gaining feedback from the community!

[justin_ing]

The shadows really are distracting to the image, but I don't like the pose for her. It doesn't flatter her figure at all. Given your environment and time of day, I would have done that same pose, but walked in closer to get shoulders above. This pose doesn't flatter her stomach. The angle of her arm makes it look too large as well.

In that same pose, think to ask her to lean on the outside her hip closest to camera. It will trim down the body pose.

[kevingeary]

12pm isn't a bad time of day to shoot if you're learning (and once you know how to deal with light, it offers benefits that an overcast day does not offer). You're going to need to know how to handle light regardless of the time of day if you're going to be a portrait photographer.

The main problem is the distracting background, the fingers being cut off, and the composition being very tight for the pose and placing her head close to the center of the frame. She feels like a mime trapped in a box.

The light is speckly, which is distracting.

To be truthful, the way this shot was posed, the choice of background, and the DOF used, this picture was never going to be more than a simple snapshot.

Next time, go to the same location at the same time and do it again. But find a different area (open shade, with no speckles on subject or put the sun to her back if there's no quality shade), juxtapose her against a different background, and use a shallower depth of field (difficult with the lens you used...probably need to shoot at 210mm. Expose for the subject and let the background do whatever it wants.

Then repost and we'll go from there.