First attempt at self portrait

[rebel_John]

Here's one of my first attempts at self portraiture. I don't take many portraits, except thousands of picture of my daughter.

I was trying to go with a little mysterious look, with keeping my eyes in the shadow of my hat. Used PaintShop to add the background as it had living room stuff in the background and was very distracting.

Taking a big step for me personally, for one to even do self portraits and two to then post it for critique, but I want to get better so feel free to let me have it good or bad.



Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/8.0
Focal Length: 28 mm
ISO Speed: 100
430EX remote triggered

[Daytonj6]

Hey mate, this is a GREAT shot in my opinion. I love the lighting, and the background is awesome.

The only thing i would advise you to consider is blacking out the design on your shirt, it seems distracting to me man. And even though the background is nice to me, try adding a drop shadow or a stroke to the shirt edge to soften it up a bit so it is not as harsh
I think that it would make it blend a lot better, making it seem more real

The Alpine Star logo is alright, could be gone if you want, but the lighting is great for your first try

consider these things for now or next time.

Cheers,
Dayto

[rebel_John]

Originally Posted by Daytonj6

Hey mate, this is a GREAT shot in my opinion. I love the lighting, and the background is awesome.

The only thing i would advise you to consider is blacking out the design on your shirt, it seems distracting to me man. And even though the background is nice to me, try adding a drop shadow or a stroke to the shirt edge to soften it up a bit so it is not as harsh
I think that it would make it blend a lot better, making it seem more real

The Alpine Star logo is alright, could be gone if you want, but the lighting is great for your first try

consider these things for now or next time.

Cheers,
Dayto

Thanks for the feedback. I went back and forth a bit on keeping the design on my shirt, it's of fire and kinda thought it looked cool like there was fire close to my heart or something, but the more I look at it it is kinda distracting. Will definitely give your suggestions a try.

I haven't had the time or patience to try and clone out the logo on my hat. Honestly I'm not that good at cloning things out so I should try to get some practice. Next I might try a different hat.

Thanks again for the critique.

[Daytonj6]

No worries, but a lot of it is personal preference and what it is you are looking for to make the picture more appealing to you.

I have not used paint shop or what ever your program is, so I can't say much about the features and what you can do.

But if you like the fire, try cloning (which your not good at let hehe) it a bit. and increase its size to take up more space then.

If you like it, try making it better, or different. its about opinion. there is not fact to this.



hey, im only 16, and helping someone out. not everyone is a pro eh

[fshram]

I like the lighting effect with the hat and your eyes. However, I definitely agree with Dayton that the blend between the edge of your shirt and the background is wayyyy harsh. Soften it up a bit, get rid of the labels and this shot is awesome! Good Job!

[rebel_John]

Originally Posted by fshram

I like the lighting effect with the hat and your eyes. However, I definitely agree with Dayton that the blend between the edge of your shirt and the background is wayyyy harsh. Soften it up a bit, get rid of the labels and this shot is awesome! Good Job!

Thanks, will definitely work on my blending.