Sunday afternoon, Missus by the light of the window

[roostabunny]

Hey all,

Found some great light in the early afternoon by the guest bedroom window.

f/2.2
1/60
50mm
800 ISO

So I really like this, but you know I'm way biased. So I'm interested in overall technical critique, but also critique on the post work. I think the skin smoothing's pretty subtle (I found an awesome article on doing this in the GIMP and was trying it out), but I'm paranoid about it looking overcooked.

Thanks in advance!

[MrJones]

please provide EXIF data so we can help you better

[Bruce A]

Originally Posted by MrJones

please provide EXIF data so we can help you better

It's above the photograph.

First thing, you need to observe the rules for sizing on this forum (740 longest side). As for your photograph, I really like it, though I think her eyes are just a fraction soft. To me it looks like the shapest part is the end of her nose (but my eyes aren't the best). I like the pose, the lighting and it's not overcooked to me. Did you use a tripod for this? At f/2.2 at 1/60th there's not much leeway for sharp focus and none for a faster ss at 800iso so a tripod would allow for another stop smaller apeture. But it's still a fine shot and your model is very pretty, I'm sure she's very happy with this shot.

[Rentham]

I think you did a great job. Beautiful light, nice composition. I agree with Bruce that you may have missed focus just barely. I wouldn't worry about a tripod though. A 60th at 50mm is something you need to be able to handhold IMO. When dealing with really shallow DOF, just make sure you are careful about changing the sensor plane in relation to your subject and take several shots to increase your chances of a hit. I might also do a little burning on her hand and arm to darken them.

[roostabunny]

Thanks for that helpful and very generous feedback, Gents!

A really good thought, too, since my habit (from back in manual focus days) is to set for center focus point and then focus and re-frame. I think I need to be more careful when shooting at such wide apertures that I don't also change my distance to the subject while I'm re-framing.

So while I agree about not feeling I should need a tripod at 1/60 and 50mm, it would help with missed focus due to my own teetering.

Also, thanks for the feedback about image size. Finally figured it out, uploaded a smaller version, and updated the embed link.