Self-Portrait Modifications?

[amungus]

I took a self-portrait and thought I'd get some feedback from some of you photographers out there who have a hell of a lot more knowledge than I do when it comes to taking and editing pictures. What would you do to this photo to improve it? Basically, I was aiming for a melancholy mood... I felt that's what best described me. So any comments, suggestions, or critique would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.


Here's what I've got for the EXIF data:

• camera: Nikon D50
• lens: 18-55mm
• f-stop: f/10
• exposure time: 1/3 sec
• focal length: 28mm
• max apeture: 4
• flash mode: no flash
• contrast: normal
• exposure program: apeture priority
• saturation & sharpness: normal
• white balance: auto

[ShannonSky]

Do you know what your settings were? It looks a little soft and grainy to me, but it's tough knowing what's going on without that info.

[ajax_andy]

Originally Posted by amungus

I took a self-portrait and thought I'd get some feedback from some of you photographers out there who have a hell of a lot more knowledge than I do when it comes to taking and editing pictures. What would you do to this photo to improve it? Basically, I was aiming for a melancholy mood... I felt that's what best described me. So any comments, suggestions, or critique would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

I think you need to boost the contrast... your skin tone is quite grey and it lacks the punch required to make you stand out IMO

[graciousness]

I'm following you, Andy Hope you don't mind a stalker!

It would help tremendously if you do post the exif data so that we can advice on the settings that you have used better.

I understand completely the mood that you are going for and I like that. However, the execution has fallen short on the idea, being that:

1) The background or scene is not helping you. I think you are better shooting somewhere where there's less busy textures that is competing for the subject, i.e. you. It's not that interesting, either, if you are going for a more environmental portrait scene.

2) You need to learn how to use a narrower depth of field by use of a wider aperture (small f/stop) so that you can blur the background and isolate and keep the focus on you. With portraits, you'll find that this technique of blurring the background works best.

3) The conversion to monochrome didn't work out so well due to the image looking gray overall. You do need more contrast (more shades of light and black as oppose to gray) and you can adjust this in post processing. Black and white is not the easiest thing to pull off with images and requires a bit of practice, so best stick with colours at the moment until you can have a better understanding of the post processing techniques.

You certainly keep still have a moody feel to an image without having to go monochrome. It helps, but you need to understand how to convert images to monochrome for it to work really well.

4) I'm not a big fan of the low angle this was taken due to so much ground (floor) in the image. I think you need to experiment and do the opposite, which is take the photo from above and with this pose, woudl work better. I think you should also attempt to take a closer shot. It just feels more personal and works better with portraits. We do like to see faces, even if the subject is not very comfortable with the idea

5) Your face just feels a little too underexposed in this shot. Fill flash will help with this.

I hope this helps. Do post your exif as it will be easier to help you with this info to make you better understand basic camera settings better.

Cheers and keep shooting!

Grace

[mwatson]

The first thing I saw was all the open space in the foreground and no room above the head. It feels cramped and overly awkward. Aside from that one beef, I will let the above statements speak. They seemed to touch on the proper subjects.

Instead, I want to add to two points graciousness brought up (the low angle and the background) and possibly give some fixes.

It took me a while to find out you were on a swing, I thought you were simply squatting.

That being said, why don’t you move your camera (if you have a tripod) above you and down at a slight angle. This would eliminate your scenic background and leave nothing but concrete and I think would really portray that melancholy feel you were going for by having the viewer looking down on you.

A proper shallow depth of field is difficult to obtain when taking a self portrait so I understand why everything was in focus. It takes time to figure out how to do it and what feels the best. Keep trying and don’t give up.

[amungus]

I appreciate all the helpful suggestions and comments. Here's what I've got for the EXIF data:

• camera: Nikon D50
• lens: 18-55mm
• f-stop: f/10
• exposure time: 1/3 sec
• focal length: 28mm
• max apeture: 4
• flash mode: no flash
• contrast: normal
• exposure program: apeture priority
• saturation & sharpness: normal
• white balance: auto

I edited the original photo on Picasa: auto contrast, auto color, sharpened, cropped, and infrared film.

I don't have a tripod, so I had to use a kitchen chair to take the picture. Hence, it was taken at such a low angle
I'm still experimenting with this camera and everything else on photography, so please bear with me. Thank you so much for all the helpful tips, I greatly appreciate it Please keep 'em coming!

[ajax_andy]

Originally Posted by graciousness

I'm following you, Andy Hope you don't mind a stalker!

It would help tremendously if you do post the exif data so that we can advice on the settings that you have used better.

I understand completely the mood that you are going for and I like that. However, the execution has fallen short on the idea, being that:

1) The background or scene is not helping you. I think you are better shooting somewhere where there's less busy textures that is competing for the subject, i.e. you. It's not that interesting, either, if you are going for a more environmental portrait scene.

2) You need to learn how to use a narrower depth of field by use of a wider aperture (small f/stop) so that you can blur the background and isolate and keep the focus on you. With portraits, you'll find that this technique of blurring the background works best.

3) The conversion to monochrome didn't work out so well due to the image looking gray overall. You do need more contrast (more shades of light and black as oppose to gray) and you can adjust this in post processing. Black and white is not the easiest thing to pull off with images and requires a bit of practice, so best stick with colours at the moment until you can have a better understanding of the post processing techniques.

You certainly keep still have a moody feel to an image without having to go monochrome. It helps, but you need to understand how to convert images to monochrome for it to work really well.

4) I'm not a big fan of the low angle this was taken due to so much ground (floor) in the image. I think you need to experiment and do the opposite, which is take the photo from above and with this pose, woudl work better. I think you should also attempt to take a closer shot. It just feels more personal and works better with portraits. We do like to see faces, even if the subject is not very comfortable with the idea

5) Your face just feels a little too underexposed in this shot. Fill flash will help with this.

I hope this helps. Do post your exif as it will be easier to help you with this info to make you better understand basic camera settings better.

Cheers and keep shooting!

Grace

Haha no I dont mind at all

[ShannonSky]

Originally Posted by amungus

I appreciate all the helpful suggestions and comments. Here's what I've got for the EXIF data:

• camera: Nikon D50
• lens: 18-55mm
• f-stop: f/10
• exposure time: 1/3 sec
• focal length: 28mm
• max apeture: 4
• flash mode: no flash
• contrast: normal
• exposure program: apeture priority
• saturation & sharpness: normal
• white balance: auto

I edited the original photo on Picasa: auto contrast, auto color, sharpened, cropped, and infrared film.

I don't have a tripod, so I had to use a kitchen chair to take the picture. Hence, it was taken at such a low angle
I'm still experimenting with this camera and everything else on photography, so please bear with me. Thank you so much for all the helpful tips, I greatly appreciate it Please keep 'em coming!

Do you happen to know your ISO setting? That would help, too, but I'd imagine it's probably OK. I would lower the f-stop several steps and up your shutter speed. The lower f-stop will help you get the bokeh background and a higher shutter speed will keep you from getting any motion blur.