First fashion portraits (and first post!)

[mymle]

So I'm all new to the forums here on dPS, though I've been following the site for quite a while. Anyways, I've just tried out fashion/beauty portraits and I feel like they look boring and overprocessed. I would LOVE to hear what you guys think I need them for a school application portfolio, so I need them to be as good as possible!


Thank you xx

EDIT:

Canon EOS 450D
f/5 @ 1/15s @ 51 mm
ISO 400

I'm afraid her skin looks fake and the lighting is too... cold? I really would appreciate any other comments

[zona5101]

have a look at the posting rules. You'll note a limit of one image for a critique and the addition of exif data. So pick one of the four, deleter the others , add exif data and a specific question like "does the fact that the focus isn't sharp kill this shot? Also any other comments welcome" - stuff like that...

[mymle]

My bad!

[Life in Motion]

Hey there!

I would be interested to see the original? I almost think it on "looks" unsharp due to softening editing applied. It is a little over processed for my taste.

Also, the other thing that bugs me most is the two huge rings on her finger. I think one would have been plenty. the pose of the hand with those two rings make her look like she is handicapped(if she is i apologize) and only has 4 fingers seeing no glimpse of her thumb, then the big rings almost look as if they cut her fingers off odd because they are too obtrusive i think...

interested to see an original...you may get several others editing it and see if you would like another editing style applied better...then also you learn the steps from the examples -- biggest plus i think to the critique section...

[mymle]

Thank you! This was the first image (ever) I tried editing and retouching and I think I've stared at for so long I can't see it clarely anymore! It's been a month or so since I did it, and I've had some more practice on the technique so I'll give it one more try, keeping your tips in mind!

[baajero]

I think since this is a fashion portrait... the first thing you need to do is make sure your fashion items are in focus... both the earrings and the rings seem our of focus...

[mymle]

This is the original picture. As you can see there's really bad lighting, so to make it look like it's evenly lit I probably broke every rule in the photoshop book. If you guys have any tips on better fixing this I would be forever grateful!

http://tinypic.com/r/acr1jd/5

[Life in Motion]

Originally Posted by baajero

I think since this is a fashion portrait... the first thing you need to do is make sure your fashion items are in focus... both the earrings and the rings seem our of focus...

I think it is most likely due to motion blur, either from you not being steady enough or the subject moving slightly....because it's not a depth of field issue seeing you have f/5 settings the 1/15th s is most likely the culpret. In general it's a good idea to keep your shutter speed around the length of your lens for sharp photos--now if you use flash you can drag the shutter below more successfully, but not without flash. so in this ex from your info, i'd say keep it around 50 at the lowest--but with children to freeze motion i don't shoot below 1/100 on my 50mm lens.

if you went with the 1/15th for exposure, consider reading up on the exposure triangle....each setting affects the exposure/light on your picture by changing one setting you need to give or take a little somewhere else...for example exchanging your shutter speed from 15th s to 50 will make your picture darker, so you'll need to change the f/stop from f/5 to say f/3.5 to not lose more light. Then if it's still not enough light after stopping your f/stop to it's safest low to keep everything important in focus, and keeping your shutter speed at it's safest to prevent motion blur.......next setting to use is your ISO system--bump it up to get even more light. And then if it's STILL to dark....add flash--but NOT direct flash...learn about off camera flash/or bouncing your flash from on camera to a wall beside you or ceiling above you to create softer flash light=no harsh shadows!

Hope this helps/makes sense. you really have to understand 2 things well 1)all the settings on your camera, and how they each effect exposure. 2) then depth of field and how each f/stop plus distance from subject effects what's in focus or blurry in your picture .


read up on those two important factors as much as you can! really will help, then you will have a lot better straight out of camera shots, and have to 'save' a lot less images with editing....

[mymle]

Originally Posted by Life in Motion

I think it is most likely due to motion blur, either from you not being steady enough or the subject moving slightly....because it's not a depth of field issue seeing you have f/5 settings the 1/15th s is most likely the culpret. In general it's a good idea to keep your shutter speed around the length of your lens for sharp photos--now if you use flash you can drag the shutter below more successfully, but not without flash. so in this ex from your info, i'd say keep it around 50 at the lowest--but with children to freeze motion i don't shoot below 1/100 on my 50mm lens.

if you went with the 1/15th for exposure, consider reading up on the exposure triangle....each setting affects the exposure/light on your picture by changing one setting you need to give or take a little somewhere else...for example exchanging your shutter speed from 15th s to 50 will make your picture darker, so you'll need to change the f/stop from f/5 to say f/3.5 to not lose more light. Then if it's still not enough light after stopping your f/stop to it's safest low to keep everything important in focus, and keeping your shutter speed at it's safest to prevent motion blur.......next setting to use is your ISO system--bump it up to get even more light. And then if it's STILL to dark....add flash--but NOT direct flash...learn about off camera flash/or bouncing your flash from on camera to a wall beside you or ceiling above you to create softer flash light=no harsh shadows!

Hope this helps/makes sense. you really have to understand 2 things well 1)all the settings on your camera, and how they each effect exposure. 2) then depth of field and how each f/stop plus distance from subject effects what's in focus or blurry in your picture .


read up on those two important factors as much as you can! really will help

Thank you! I've been struggling with that exact thing forever... I don't know why it's taking me so long, but I guess I'm not using my camera enough to to understand the theory/practice connection. Argh, I get so frustrated.

[Life in Motion]

Originally Posted by mymle

Thank you! I've been struggling with that exact thing forever... I don't know why it's taking me so long, but I guess I'm not using my camera enough to to understand the theory/practice connection. Argh, I get so frustrated.

no worries! we ALL do at first!!!! Don't give up! you can learn this.......the important thing is to keep reading articles and then practicing your theories from what you learn.....until it CLICKS with you and you have a lightbulb moment AHHA eureka i get it. then you will be a lot less frustrated . Which everyone learns different........the good news is there is soooo many different articles out there with different lessons to help it click! you just gotta find what works for you

i'll post some of my fave articles in a sec