I love everything about this photo--the beautiful smile and, especially, the messy hair. It works beautifully in black and white. It also says I'm in quarantine but I'm dealing with it the best that I can
That thing above her head takes away alot; pretty bw conversion. Only her left eye is in focus; in portraiture, usually you want both. Too much stray hair in the face, and I'm not sure how to say this... but her legs being spread like that takes the readers eye to the wrong place and makes this photo unappealing imho...
I agree with the notion that the porch light, I assume that it is, is distracting. I believe both eyes are in focus though. It is still a nice casual image though.
terryeaton wrote:
That thing above her head takes away alot; pretty bw conversion. Only her left eye is in focus; in portraiture, usually you want both. Too much stray hair in the face, and I'm not sure how to say this... but her legs being spread like that takes the readers eye to the wrong place and makes this photo unappealing imho...
thanks for the feedback.
I agree about the speaker. I couldn't take it out in post in a clean manner and I didn't like the crop close to the top of the stair bannister (slight crop).
This was shot in black and white on my Fujifilm X-Pro3 and I processed the Raw with Capture One.
I'll talk a look at the focus on the eyes again and keep working on it.
As it's my daughter, I totally understand some of your comments. What I had to do was realize that many of the women, my daughters included, don't want a double standard imposed on them. If I had done the same picture with my son, I highly doubt the same comment would have been passed. It's okay, I'm a bit older and find myself having an internal battle.
I think when you combine her stance, her choice of clothing (down to her Crocs), and that stray hair, it definitely invokes her quarantine mood. I'll definitely work on some of the technical notes and I do appreciate the feedback.
AGeoJO wrote:
I agree with the notion that the porch light, I assume that it is, is distracting. I believe both eyes are in focus though. It is still a nice casual image though.
Joshua
It's a speaker and wish I could have cleanly removed it in post.
The right eye is definitely not in focus... not a super big deal though, just offering a few comments. One trick in portraiture is to focus on the far eye or the t zone.
And ur eight, sorry for the double standard but it’s reality. Same way women’s hands are supposed to be posed completely different than a mans hands. A woman sitting on stairs with her legs spread... or worse a teenager... it’s just bad posing, I’m sorry.
Sometimes stray hairs work, but here they don’t seem to... imho
terryeaton wrote:
And ur eight, sorry for the double standard but it’s reality. Same way women’s hands are supposed to be posed completely different than a mans hands. A woman sitting on stairs with her legs spread... or worse a teenager... it’s just bad posing, I’m sorry.
I'll try out your ideas for focus and see if I get better results.
You don't have to apologize for your opinion especially when I ask for comments. I am reminded of a Bruce Hornsby 80's song when I read about "reality",
That's just the way it is
Some things'll never change
That's just the way it is
Ah, but don't you believe them
If my daughter wants to reshape reality, I am going to be right there with her every step of the way (hopefully, without as many wispy hairs in her face, lol)
All that being said, would I promote a client to pose like this? No. Would I deter? I do agree it either needs to be age appropriate or with the consent of a parent/guardian.
I hope you are enjoying your X-Pro3 as much as possible under the circumstances.
You've gotten some good feedback so far. I don't normally ask gear questions, but I'm wondering what lens and aperture you used for this photo. The reason I'm asking is because of the bokeh, which looks a little "nervous" in this image.
Also, if this an image from the RAW file and did you use sharpening in post? I use various sharpening techniques, including Topaz Sharpen AI and high pass in Photoshop. I've found that often sharpening helps the subject, but can play havoc with the bokeh of the OOF areas of the photo. I remedy that by using a layer for the sharpening, then I mask out everything but the subject, letting the nicer bokeh show through.
dmacmillan wrote:
I hope you are enjoying your X-Pro3 as much as possible under the circumstances.
You've gotten some good feedback so far. I don't normally ask gear questions, but I'm wondering what lens and aperture you used for this photo. The reason I'm asking is because of the bokeh, which looks a little "nervous" in this image.
Also, if this an image from the RAW file and did you use sharpening in post? I use various sharpening techniques, including Topaz Sharpen AI and high pass in Photoshop. I've found that often sharpening helps the subject, but can play havoc with the bokeh of the OOF areas of the photo. I remedy that by using a layer for the sharpening, then I mask out everything but the subject, letting the nicer bokeh show through....Show more →
I am really enjoying the X-Pro3 and trying to understand it's benefits/limitations as I move from Canon. I try to put EXIF information on my phots so it helps with CC. It was shot using a 23mm at f2.0.
I don't understand what "nervous" means. If you can elaborate so I can look at this (and other images with a more critical eye) and see the issue. I am going to try your suggestion and see if it makes a difference or if it is just the lens. Truthfully, I can't wait for my 56mm 1.2 to arrive for portraits. I think the 2.0 struggles for bokeh, anyway.
mrgoodbyte wrote:
I am really enjoying the X-Pro3 and trying to understand it's benefits/limitations as I move from Canon. I try to put EXIF information on my phots so it helps with CC. It was shot using a 23mm at f2.0.
I don't understand what "nervous" means. If you can elaborate so I can look at this (and other images with a more critical eye) and see the issue. I am going to try your suggestion and see if it makes a difference or if it is just the lens. Truthfully, I can't wait for my 56mm 1.2 to arrive for portraits. I think the 2.0 struggles for bokeh, anyway.
Thanks for the CC...Show more →
I'm looking at the speaker. Part of the problem might be the contrast between the black and white portions of the speaker.
"Bokeh" is a subjective term, therefore it's hard to describe technically. I have used the 23mm f2 before. It's a fine lens and performs well and is a great all around lens, but when there is a high contrast OOF area, it looks a little harsh. I was never a big fan of Nikon lenses because I didn't like their bokeh.
When you get in your 56mm I think you'll immediately see what I'm talking about. The 56 is truly a magical lens with a lovely bokeh. Here's an example of the 56mm.
That’s a great pic. I wish I could get rid of the speaker in post, but it just cover part of the window corner and think it will be messy. It’s definitely a distraction.
I thought I'd post an example of one of my portraits from several years ago where the hair works and doesn't look like a bunch of accidental strays... we used a fan in this shot:
