First attempt at Portrait Photography

[lavina1337]

Hey guys,
This is my first submission to this forum.
My friend is an aspiring model, and he wants me to do a photoshoot for him. This picture is my first attempt at portrait photography.

What do you guys think?


Canon EOS 500D
Exposure 1/50
Aperture F5

Model: Pavan P.

[JFSanders]

Nice head shot, but only one eye is in focus. You could have gone with a reflector to bring in some fill to allow you to increase your f/stop to f/8 and gotten his whole face in focus. But the colors are good and the photo has no distractions. Overall a solid 8.

Jim

[NicolaB]

It is a very nice first attempt imo

THe focus is a little soft which can be corrected next time by keeping an eye on your ss. Keep it at least 1/60th for hand held - or the lens length plus some.

I agree that more light on his face would have been good esp in his eyes.

It is a nit pick, but his watch strap is distracting.

Over all a great first attempt though - and a handsome model

[oneronnalee]

I agree with the watch strap being distracting - it's what immediately drew my eyes. It also seems more in focus than the eyes which could be another factor. And just a suggestion thinking in terms of colour, there's a certain harmony between the background and the model's skintone, which is great, and there is also a certain softness to the textures in the photo, which is another reason why the strap bothers me.

Agreed regarding more focus on the face.

[sk66]

I don't think the DOF or SS are the actual issues w/ the focus. I think the point of focus is the nostril. If it had been on the near eye (or preferably the bridge of the nose) both eyes would be in focus. As is, neither is particularly sharp because they are at the back edge of the DOF. IMO the DOF is good, just too far forward. The "rule" that is key in portraits is..."focus on the eyes". (there are very few exceptions to this rule)

Overall a nice first attempt. BTW, I agree about the watch. Either don't include it or include all of it and make it more prominent as an example of a "product shot".

Was this shot as Jpeg or RAW and what processing was done?
This image can be helped quite a bit with a little post work which is almost always required.

[lavina1337]

Hey guys,
Thanks so much for your comments. Next time, I will keep all these points in mind.

The photo was taken as JPEG. Very little post processing has been done to it (touched on the colors slightly).

Thanks again everyone