My girlfriend in the park

[Kenneth]

Hi there,

I've been trying to learn how to take pictures with strong colors. I'm not sure if there is an official name for this style, but what it's all about is taking clear pictures with saturated colors. I've felt that this wasn't really possible since I only have a Canon 400D, but I was playing around this other day and now I actually feel I did a good job about it. I would however love to hear what I could have done better..



Camera: Canon EOS 400D Digital
Exposure: 0.013 sec (1/80)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 21 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash fired
Light settings: 580ex on camera, 430ex to the right and sun from my left

[Murtasma]

I think you did a really nice job with the flash placement and color saturation. The only thing I would change would be the pose she is in. I would have asked her to look at the camera instead and move her right arm down to the left of the frame near the trunk to give a less ridged appearance.

[sk66]

Overall, I like what you did with it. I do think the pose is too ridgid, the popsicle is out of place (eat it, or loose it), and I think the dark area to the left detracts from what you were going for with the colors.

Sometimes this is called the "velvia" effect.

[stevolivin]

I think the composition and colors are great. The dark spot dosent really bother me. What does is how straight she sits. It almost looks almost painful. Which will make the viewer feel irritable or uncomfortable. Maybe her sitting back leaning on her hands, with her legs crossed, looking at the sun would be a little bit more unrestrained.

[MrCastle]

Originally Posted by Kenneth

I've felt that this wasn't really possible since I only have a Canon 400D

What's wrong with a Canon 400D??
You can do anything with a Canon 400D... Seriously, name one thing you can't do with a Canon 400D. Okay, so you can't take 20mp shots, or shoot at 9 frames per second but ARTISTICALLY? You can do anything you could possibly want to do.

Nice shot, What settings did you use to get the saturation so high up? Or was that post processing?

[pictorial mastermind]

My eyes are torn between focusing on the tree and the person. What if you just cropped it vertically (is there proper terminology for this) so it is her, the sky and the trees in the background? If you did this you wouldn't have to vignette, and the colors could just pop all day long.

[Tajemi]

I like it Nice colours

Don't like the icecream tho... looks like she is a bit uncomfy and hanging on to that makes it a tad worse....

I also think the dark spot balances the pic somewhat

[Kenneth]

Actually she wasn't posing there, it's just one of the random pictures I took for fun that day. I do agree that the popstickle should go, however I don't think it would be better if she looked into the camera. I think that would make it less real, if that makes sense.

Does anyone else feel that the three is drawing to much attention? I don't really see it myself..

[Eberbachl]

I think the tree's OK, but the icy pole has to go - and your girlfriend looks very very stiff. Would be nice to see her more relaxed.

[Kenneth]

But except for the pose (she wasn't really even aware that I took it at the moment), what about the picture itself? I'm tempted to go out a recreate it with a better pose and no popstickle!