1st Senior Shoot

[agresbach]

I had my 1st senior pictures shoot last weekend for my niece . lots of fun getting some practice on a non-toddler This was one of my favorite shots I got and i was looking for some feedback in regards to her pose (does it seem unnatural at all?) and the color tones. any advice would be appreciated!
thank you!

1/400th
f/3.2
ISO 100
Canon 350D
Canon 50mm 1.8
Natural light used

[cphoniball]

The tones and composition are all good. The focus on her face looks a little soft though, and I would have dropped the aperture even more than you did. Not sure how you usually go about focusing for portraits, but I usually select a single focus point and focus on the eyes, and then recompose for composition - if you're not already doing that give it a try. I might have dodged her eyes a little bit in post, they look a bit dark.

Good stuff overall!

[agresbach]

thanks for the feedback! actually thats exactly what i did for focus (i always pick the inside corner of one eye so i can try and get both locked in i agree the strunken version i have here does look a little soft but this one actually turned out pretty sharp on the full size version. this was a muted color edit i just did to it tonight so i wonder if thats making it look soft?

I agree i probably should have dropped the aperture a bit more...i'm not brave enough to shoot at 1.8 for portraits just yet! usually the lowest i've gone so far is 2.8. I cant remember exactly why i bumped it up for this shot. good to remember for next time though! i kind of liked how the b&w version turned out with this one too. any better?
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_qy0yokiEUqo/Sr...MG_9560_bw.jpg


thanks again! i was nervous going into the shoot w/ it being my first one but it was family so that eased things a bit

[irishmuth]

don't know why, but the B&W conversion looks much sharper.

[WooD]

I think you did too good.

Even thou there are several things you could change, I like it just the way it is.

Nice job.

[natek313]

Originally Posted by agresbach

thanks for the feedback! actually thats exactly what i did for focus (i always pick the inside corner of one eye so i can try and get both locked in i agree the strunken version i have here does look a little soft but this one actually turned out pretty sharp on the full size version. this was a muted color edit i just did to it tonight so i wonder if thats making it look soft?

I agree i probably should have dropped the aperture a bit more...i'm not brave enough to shoot at 1.8 for portraits just yet! usually the lowest i've gone so far is 2.8. I cant remember exactly why i bumped it up for this shot. good to remember for next time though! i kind of liked how the b&w version turned out with this one too. any better?
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_qy0yokiEUqo/Sr...MG_9560_bw.jpg

thanks again! i was nervous going into the shoot w/ it being my first one but it was family so that eased things a bit

Unless I'm misreading him, what I think Chris meant by dropping the aperture is using a smaller one, not a larger one. The smaller aperture would have increased your depth of field.

[PhotoPhix]

Originally Posted by agresbach

I had my 1st senior pictures shoot last weekend for my niece . lots of fun getting some practice on a non-toddler This was one of my favorite shots I got and i was looking for some feedback in regards to her pose (does it seem unnatural at all?) and the color tones. any advice would be appreciated!
thank you!

1/400th
f/3.2
ISO 100
Canon 350D
Canon 50mm 1.8
Natural light used

I found the shot to lack contrast and a bit to dark and also a bit soft. She has great eyes, why not bring them out?

Armando

Sharpening Layer 32%
Dodge eyes
Color Adjust layer
Contrast Layer
Simple Border

[cphoniball]

Natek, I did mean that I would have dropped it lower than 3.2 - meaning 2.8 or 1.8. Sorry for being ambiguous there.

If it looks sharp on the large version then I can only guess that the softness has to do with the resizing for the web. Did you sharpen it in post at all?

I like the tonality in the black and white, but I prefer the color version overall. It goes better with her expression, I think.

[mandyatm]

I really like the composition here and it looks natural to me. I would probably brighten her face/eyes just slightly. I like the color version better. For some reason, the light colored bark on the bottom left corner by her arm draws my attention. At first I thought she was sitting on her foot or something. I would clone it out. Nice shot!

[agresbach]

thank you for all the suggestions and help! i do think looking at it now it could use a LITTLE bump up in brightness and bring out the eyes a bit but what i was trying to be very careful about (one of my pet peeves when i see some other peoples post proccessing work) is to avoid an overproccessed look and keep it as natural looking as i can.

w/ the sharpness i think it really was the export to smaller size that i did that is making the b&w appear crisper than the color...full sized the color looks a lot clearer. but thank you for pointing it out.

you know i didnt even notice the foot looking bark down in the bottom so thank you for that! after i saw it now its bothering me so thats gotta go !

i think w/ the final edit i need to bring up the exposure a bit on her and do some more tweaking on the eyes. sounds like thats the general consensus ?? thanks again for all the help!