KristinSmall wrote:
Well, she is long gone back home to New Hampshire, so nothing I can re-shoot, but I always appreciate ideas for future sessions.
I'll start by repeating this photo is lovely and obviously it is your vision. What I suggest is just food for thought.
I have two suggestions. The first would be to take another wardrobe item with you. The dress she is wearing is very pretty, but I feel the lupine flower she is holding gets lost in the floral pattern of the dress. I think a lovely old fashioned plain ivory colored summer dress would provide a nice clean canvas on which the lupine flower could be the star.
My other suggestion is to experiment with different aperture settings. Although there are no technical details, I think I remember you own some fast glass. The tendency of those who own fast lenses, especially expensive ones, is to shoot at maximum aperture. For instance, why pay 7 times more for a Canon 200mm f2 over a Canon 200mm f2.8 unless you never stop down? (Yes, I know there's lot more differences than just maximum aperture between those 2). Sometimes, though, wide open may not be the best choice.
In this instance, I think I'd like to see the lovely background slightly more in focus so that the lupine flowers were more distinct. Do you use the DOF preview button on a regular basis? I'd shoot this scene at different apertures to compare later. It is a simple shot easily repeated so you wouldn't run the risk of missing the image while trying different apertures.
dmacmillan wrote:
I'll start by repeating this photo is lovely and obviously it is your vision. What I suggest is just food for thought.
I have two suggestions. The first would be to take another wardrobe item with you. The dress she is wearing is very pretty, but I feel the lupine flower she is holding gets lost in the floral pattern of the dress. I think a lovely old fashioned plain ivory colored summer dress would provide a nice clean canvas on which the lupine flower could be the star.
My other suggestion is to experiment with different aperture settings. Although there are no technical details, I think I remember you own some fast glass. The tendency of those who own fast lenses, especially expensive ones, is to shoot at maximum aperture. For instance, why pay 7 times more for a Canon 200mm f2 over a Canon 200mm f2.8 unless you never stop down? (Yes, I know there's lot more differences than just maximum aperture between those 2). Sometimes, though, wide open may not be the best choice.
In this instance, I think I'd like to see the lovely background slightly more in focus so that the lupine flowers were more distinct. Do you use the DOF preview button on a regular basis? I'd shoot this scene at different apertures to compare later. It is a simple shot easily repeated so you wouldn't run the risk of missing the image while trying different apertures.
Thanks for the great feedback. I do like less patterns in the clothes, but she was dead-set on that dress. That factored into my shallower DOF. I do like that shallow DOF in a setting like this anyway, but didn't want the flowers to blend in too much with the dress (it was 2.2 on my 135 2.0.) Good thoughts and I appreciate your taking the time to share them.
^^^
The 135L is why I still have a FF Canon, though I shoot mostly mirrorless now. I’ve shot with numerous lenses for more than 50 years using everything from 8x10 view cameras to APS-C and the 135is in my top5 favorites.
