I posted these in the People Photography forum but didn't get a lot of response so I thought I would try here. I am very new to photography and just acquired a 40d. Would love any input on these photos. The pics are straight from the camera, except for resizing to post. Thanks, Chandra
Well then, welcome to the Critique Forum.
I think you will get more input here and hopefully someone who does a lot of portrait work will add comments.
Great subject(s). Nice looking family.
1. Pleasant lighting, nice choice of DOF. Excellent eye contact. Stripes make for a busier than necessary image, but the browns are complemented in the background. I'd bring in the sides a bit to eliminate the rock facet far left and the blue pants far right. Nice job!
2. Pretty scene, good eye contact. Stripes are a bit too much and, as Antipode recently remarked, should generally be avoided in portraiture. Image is taken from too far away, but you can bring in the focus with cropping from top and bottom, perhaps a bit of sides to preserve a desired aspect ratio.
3. Great eyes. Good choice of DOF. Background is a bit of a problem here, with branches emanating from the sides of his head. Eay to miss when you are focussed on the subject. I can also "hear" Scott S commenting on cutting off the limbs, and his right arm looks unnaturally posed in this shot.
Scott (G)
4. Looks a bit washed out/overexposed. Flash? Fingers cut off at frame edge. I think you are better shooting at eye level than from below. Eye contact, expression excellent.
5. Beautiful background. Teenager expression; what are you goinna do!?! I'd crop below the branch top left, clone out branch upper left side.
6. What a photogenic family! Nice expression, nice setting. He appears relaxed and the framing is good, but the position is just not natural; a bit too posed. Again, beautiful background, setting, choice of DOF is excellent. Personally, I'd do a bit of highlight recover and bump the contrast slightly, but exposure is right on. Nice work!
Scott - thank you for your input. I wasn't sure about letting the boys wear the striped shirt, but didn't realize how much it would add the the busy-ness of the shot. Is there any post-processing that you would suggest?
I have just acquired CS3, but didn't shoot these in RAW, does that make a difference how i process these? You mentioned "highlight recover". What is that?
Photoshop is a great investment and you definitely want to shoot RAW and learn how to process RAW images. However, as you have demonstrated, the 40D does a great job strainght "out of the camera".
RAW images are raw; they are unrpocessed and appear flat, washed out and less sharp typically compared to in camera processed jpegs. But the advantages are enormous. Errors in exposure can be readily adjusted; loss of detail in shadows and highlights can be "recovered" to some degree using slider controls; your own image style can be developed, adjusting the contrast, saturation, sharpness and overall "look" to images. In addition to global (eg total picture) corrections, PS will enable you enormous additional features including selective sharpenening, lgihtening/darkerning parts of an image, adjusting color temperature (warmth, coolness of a color image), advanced cloning tools, etc etc etc.
I have been able to salvage errors in my technique with effective PS work, overcoming bad exposures and making some great images, "though it's always better to shoot it right the first time.
Read up, by a book (maybe a Scott Kelby if you are new to all of this) and have fun.
Scott
Scott, Marcel - thank you so much. This is soooo great being able to have help. Things like lost fingers, white edges on clothing, shooting from below rather than above - Didn't even think about this stuff before. I do want my shots to be better "straight out of camera" as I just don't like spending a lot of time with these software programs. But, I understand what wonderful things can happen with processing programs and must spend a lot more time perfecting that also.
I will probably repeat from the great feedback you already have but here goes:
1) nice eyes looking at the camera, nice bokeh, nice expression. I would crop off some on left (its a bit centreed) and if you were reshooting I would not frame through the elbow. It is quite nice though and with cropping (off left and right is worth keeping).
2) too far back and too centred - this can be fixed with cropping - I would crop 1/2 left to boys and 1/2 left to boys top and 1/2 bottom for a better composition.
3) Nice again on eyes an bokeh. I would crop to above flesh on arm (rule of thumb is not to crop through joints). Its a keeper I think.
3 is my favorite of the 3. 1 would be but the elbow bugs me too much.
4 - nice composition except for the fatal flaw of framed through fingers. The top does not add for me. The colors look off.
5 - the exposure looks too high and it is a bit centred. Nice expression though. I would crop left and up above elbow.
6 - is the best of the 3 in this series but a bit centred. Like the bokeh and the expression and focus. I woudl crop left and top. If reshooting I would leave more on right - it seems tight on foot.
General comment is that these (particulary first set and 6) are all way better than average (exposure, focus, expression, settting) so I don't know your skill level but you are pretty good already just need a little more attention to details and some more feedback.
Thanks Scott! I have read many of your posts and value what you have to say, along with Marcel and Scott. Can you explain the expression "bokeh"? I have seen it used many times on FM, but not sure what it refers to? And "fatal flaw of framed through fingers" - can you explain a bit more? I am a mom who likes to carry a camera with her and have been asked alot recently to take pictures of my boys' friends for basic school pictures or a group/family shot. With that in mind, I picked up a 40d off this site and am trying to improve all that I can.
Although it seems that presently it's a hobby, I caution you against the "shooting for friends" - "thing": before you know it, word gets around, and you're gonna have a hard time charging anything for it.
Bokeh - means that you have a narrow depth and the area behind is out of focus because of it (but it complements the picture) - at least thats my definition.
Rule of thumb is to not frame through joints - the one I was refering to did that (fingers) - for me I would not show a picture where this is so apparent - in some cases it is a non central character and thats less distracting - but for me here it is a fatal flaw because it is prominent and on the central figure. [missing thumbs do not bother me as much but are desirable as pointed out above ] However, your client (you?) is likely not as fussy as me and he/she may not notice because the boys are so darn handsome and yours.
I would probably use unsharp mask to sharpen these images some. If you dont want to sharpen the whole image, you can just select the eyes and sharpen those. I really think it would help the pictures pop. Make sure you apply the unsharp mask before you do any blurring of the background as has been suggested by some of the experts, which by no means am I. A very easy way to sharpen the eyes is to use the lasso tool to outline them one at a time and apply the same amount of sharpning to each.
Another great Prosumer tool is portrait professional. I know alot of people on here will say you can do the same things in photoshop, but Portrait Professional is fast, and works wonders. You can download a free trial. In the eye controls of Portrait professional you can sharpen the eyes to your liking with a slider.
Thanks MoBay for the tip. I have not tried any of the suggestions yet as it is hockey/football/cross country season at my house with the three boys, so time has not yet allowed. I will definitely apply some sharpening and see what happens.
Are we allowed to post our own edits of these. I am new and not sure of the rules. I guess it is time to read all of the stickies. I would love to try my hand at a few of these if I am allowed. I am used to the Canon forums where we can turn image editing off or on in our profile.
Chris,
Many of us like to edit others images. I think the best option is asking the original poster if it is OK. However, I have taken some license in the past, generally well-received on this forum, to post an edit. Then I think it is crucial to offer to remove the edit at the original photographer's discretion.
BTW, I and several others have indicated in our profile permission for others to re-post any images presented. Saves time.
Scott
