Sunny V (or Noon Portrait Challenge II)

[SandeeWig]

Well, my dear friend had some time at lunch yesterday and despite the bitter cold wind it was a pretty nice day. Almost too nice as the sun was beaming down rather harshly. Still, need the practice and she was willing, so I took advantage. I'm out of flickr space for the month, until I shuck out the the $25 for a pro account (which I'm minutes away from doing), so for now I can only offer this one shot for critique. I will be editing the post when others in this set are available for viewing, as I'd appreciate as much feedback as possible.

I really like this shot, and did do some minor post work to reduce shadows and minimize the shiny sun spots on her face. My questions are:

How's the composition? Is it distracting to have the top of her head cut off and/or the edge of her hand?

Is it too centered? I tried to get her eyes (well, one of them ) on the top horizontal line, but felt it cut off too much of her head, so its slightly below...

What do you think of the lighting and color of the picture? Does it look orange to you? There's definitely a difference between this version and the original, but the original seems very dull. I want it to look natural but also POP! KWIM?!

Any and all comments/critique are welcome. Thanks so much!!




Camera: Canon PowerShot S3 IS
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1000)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 35.4 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Did not fire

[kelleyrie]

I wish it was cropped so that there was more space beside her hand and less beside her head, also it's too bad it was so bright she had to have sunglasses on. I like the color just fine but I tend like brighter...so who knows if I know what I'm talking about

[KodiakStar]

I think the hand is fine, and normally like to see the top of the head, just so you know their brains didn't fall out but for this close of a crop I think it works. It is a nice simple "candid" shot. Maybe something like what you would see on an authors website.

However. There is a lot of light on her sweater, almost an extreme overexposure that kind of pulls my attention away from her face.

Secondly, there is that harsh shadow from her nose, and from her chin/neck down that could be eliminated through a reflector maybe?

And the shadow from her sunglasses is a bit distracting, but hard to avoid that in what looks like was very bright conditions.

[lputman]

I think the color is fine...the lighting however is a little bit harsh. Taken at this time of day in open sunlight, you could benefit from some type of diffusion, even if it's a regular umbrella. If you can, the best thing is to find open shade. For composition, you must think of your printing...give yourself room for various crops, if this is to be printed at 8x10, you'd probably end up cropping the top of her head more and possibly some or all of the hand that is showing or the other side...just things to keep in mind when composing.

[SandeeWig]

Thank you all for taking the time to look and for your constructive feedback.

Kelleyrie- I agree. If I had put that chain on the left third line, I think I would've gotten her entire hand in the shot and still not cut off her head on the other side.

KodiakStar- LOL! I assure you her brains were still intact after this shot!

I see what you're saying about the overexposed sweater. I did not do any editing to that, but will work to even out the color so it doesn't seem so dramatic between the shadowed side and the lit side. I did recolor a similar shot to make it look closer to the actual shade of blue, but didn't retouch it in this one.

The shadows are definitely a problem w/ most the photos in this set; I know that's a problem for this time of day and the worst part is I'm pretty sure I had a reflector in my car. I will definitely be pulling that out next time.

Lori- I'm having a hard time w/ open shade. I have a few shots that we took under large trees. Plenty of shade, but they just seem so drab and dark (still have to work on them tho). And, any sun rays coming through the trees look like laser beams glaring off her head. It may have just been the location as I couldn't get her in a spot that was open and semi-bright. It was either too dark or too light.

Two things I may have to do:
1. Invest in a white umbrella; and
2. Start taking my lunch at 3 o'clock



Also, you read my mind w/ the composition/cropping issue. I was thinking about this today. I have others that are farther back that I could crop down, but will definitely try to keep that in mind when composing future shots. Thank you so much!

Again, I really appreciate your feedback! Hope to hear more c/c & suggestions for improvement.

[lputman]

Any umbrella will work for a quick blockage/diffusion of the sun, you might need an additional person to hold it for you.

I did see your shots under the trees and I would say to open your aperture allow more light in, if you can, I'm not familiar with your model camera.

[SandeeWig]

Originally Posted by lputman

Any umbrella will work for a quick blockage/diffusion of the sun, you might need an additional person to hold it for you.

I did see your shots under the trees and I would say to open your aperture allow more light in, if you can, I'm not familiar with your model camera.

Thanks again, Lori. I didn't realize that any umbrella would work, so cool beans on that one.

I'll play w/ the aperture more next time I'm in that situation. I'm getting better at manually controlling the functions, but I get nervous about going "too light" to the point of overexposing and blowing out pieces of the image. Though, it's quickly becoming very taxing to "fix" over 50% of the shots in PS. I really want to get good images right out of the camera, with the required crop and straighten necessary from time to time.

That may be asking for too much too soon, however.

[dhart]

I like the composition of the shot. I also have to agree with the comments about the lighting. I do a LOT of shots in this type of light of my kids, but I always find some sort of shade or meter for the whites.

BTW, spring for the pro account. It's sooooo worth it having an online backup of your photos, being able to upload as much as you want and not have to worry about the size or quantity of your photos.

[sk66]

On my monitor (calibrated MAC) the whites are not blown...but approaching it far right. The shadows are not too harsh except maybe the cheek line rt of the mouth.
The thing that strikes me is I immediately look for her eyes, and they are "almost" completely obstructed, but with an odd "shadow" in front of them behind the glasses. Eyes "make" a portrait. In this case completely obscuring the eyes behind the glasses (and eliminating the shadow) may have worked better; transfers interest to her smile, which is wonderful.
I like the composition and crop fine.

[SandeeWig]

Originally Posted by dhart

I like the composition of the shot. I also have to agree with the comments about the lighting. I do a LOT of shots in this type of light of my kids, but I always find some sort of shade or meter for the whites.

BTW, spring for the pro account. It's sooooo worth it having an online backup of your photos, being able to upload as much as you want and not have to worry about the size or quantity of your photos.

Thanks, dhart. Yeah, I have to find the right spot for these. I have others in different areas of the park that aren't in such direct sunlight; would love your feedback on those as well. I'll be uploading them as soon as my flickr pro payment goes through, for which I have just officially sprung!

Originally Posted by sk66

On my monitor (calibrated MAC) the whites are not blown...but approaching it far right. The shadows are not too harsh except maybe the cheek line rt of the mouth.

The thing that strikes me is I immediately look for her eyes, and they are "almost" completely obstructed, but with an odd "shadow" in front of them behind the glasses. Eyes "make" a portrait. In this case completely obscuring the eyes behind the glasses (and eliminating the shadow) may have worked better; transfers interest to her smile, which is wonderful.
I like the composition and crop fine.

Well, sk66, thank you for looking and commenting. I've seen a few of your posts recently, and was wondering what I might find at the end of page 2 here! lol!

The "odd shadow" is the result of my post work. When I played w/ the shadows/highlights, it lightened up her glasses and you could actually see her eyes more, the original is darker (see below). I thought it was kinda cool that you could make out her eyes and lashes, but I guess it makes it look...what's the word...wonky?!

Here's the photo SOOC:



It's darker but you can still see her eyes a little. What do you think of that? Still odd?!

I'll be working on blackening those shades awaiting your reply.