Hi
First of all, I'm not a portrait guy, which means I don't usually take portrait pictures. The pictures below came from an impromptu moment and we didn't have any set up, no flash, no other light source except for the light on the roof, the model didn't even make up or simply brush her hair. I just edited those a bit and hope that I didn't over edit it. Please let me know what you think and what I can do to make the pictures better. I'm not confident with portraits, to be honest.
Thanks DSC09847 by Thien Nguyen, on Flickr
The results are pleasing, Thien! The first one is my favorite; the tone is just right. If you darken #2 to render the face better, compose it tighter to the left and above the model, that would be another great image, I would say. Good job!
AGeoJO wrote:
The results are pleasing, Thien! The first one is my favorite; the tone is just right. If you darken #2 to render the face better, compose it tighter to the left and above the model, that would be another great image, I would say. Good job!
Joshua
Thanks, Joshua. Your comments are much appreciated
Thien
I concur with Joshua anh trai tôir!(?)
NTL, they are wonderful! She is a beautiful young woman and your processing did her proud.
Might you have any images with the ao dai?
Just a classy national dress! So beautiful! Always brought a smile when seeing women in this dress.
Dan
I am NOT a portrait guy either Thien. I just can't get the light right. I am a viewer.
Danpbphoto wrote:
I concur with Joshua anh trai tôir!(?)
NTL, they are wonderful! She is a beautiful young woman and your processing did her proud.
Might you have any images with the ao dai?
Just a classy national dress! So beautiful! Always brought a smile when seeing women in this dress.
Dan
I am NOT a portrait guy either Thien. I just can't get the light right. I am a viewer.
I'm glad you like these pictures, Dan I have some pictures of hers in "áo dài" but they were taken with an iphone, not my carema, on the lunar new year of 2020. I'll look for those pictures and post them on the forum later. By the way, it is a good suggestion. I'll see if we can make a plan for an "áo dài" shooting day
These are really good for having never done portraits before. Your use of the available light is excellent; you seem to already have an understanding of how to sculpt facial features in a really flattering way, and in my opinion this is a skill that often takes photographers a long time to understand and apply.
Per your request for suggestions on improvement, I would have to suggest that I think the highlights are too bright, especially in contrast of the darker areas of the photos. The result is an unreal looking "glow", that in my opinion casts focus on that glowing effect itself rather than putting the viewers focus directly on the portrait subject herself. I wouldn't say the highlights need to be brought down a lot though.
They are great shots though. If you decide to continue shooting portraits I imagine you will be making great work and could make very quick progress in that genre. I think great photography is all about creative vision, and you seem to have it.
DanielScott wrote:
These are really good for having never done portraits before. Your use of the available light is excellent; you seem to already have an understanding of how to sculpt facial features in a really flattering way, and in my opinion this is a skill that often takes photographers a long time to understand and apply.
Per your request for suggestions on improvement, I would have to suggest that I think the highlights are too bright, especially in contrast of the darker areas of the photos. The result is an unreal looking "glow", that in my opinion casts focus on that glowing effect itself rather than putting the viewers focus directly on the portrait subject herself. I wouldn't say the highlights need to be brought down a lot though.
They are great shots though. If you decide to continue shooting portraits I imagine you will be making great work and could make very quick progress in that genre. I think great photography is all about creative vision, and you seem to have it. ...Show more →
Thanks, Daniel. Your comments are much appreciated I would bring down the highlights, they are too bright for sure. I have learned a bunch from you and other members' comment. That helps a lot and gives me some more confidence to do more portraits. Again, thanks a lot for your suggestions.
Stay safe,
Hi,
I've just edited the pictures that I posted on this thread based on the feedbacks that I received. Because I want to keep this thread concise so I decided to post the edited version of the first picture only (the one that I love the most). Please let me know what I can do to make it better.
Danpbphoto wrote:
I concur with Joshua anh trai tôir!(?)
NTL, they are wonderful! She is a beautiful young woman and your processing did her proud.
Might you have any images with the ao dai?
Just a classy national dress! So beautiful! Always brought a smile when seeing women in this dress.
Dan
I am NOT a portrait guy either Thien. I just can't get the light right. I am a viewer.
Dan,
It's been a while since I promised to dig up some old pictures of the model in "Ao dai". Sorry about the delay, I had to dig quite a bit longer than I thought The pictures below were taken almost a year ago with my camera phone. I didn't do any edit on them. They are not really "portrait" pictures but I would love to do some portraits "Ao dai" shots in near future. Hope you enjoy these pictures Untitled by Thien Nguyen, on Flickr
Just BEAUTIFUL Thien!!!!
Are these 2 beautiful ladies associated with you?
It is such a classy dress on the Vietnamese women!
Thank you and there was no rush!!!
Appreciate you doing this for me. I must try to get to a "Tet" festival for some photos and some friendly talk!
Dan
Danpbphoto wrote:
Just BEAUTIFUL Thien!!!!
Are these 2 beautiful ladies associated with you?
It is such a classy dress on the Vietnamese women!
Thank you and there was no rush!!!
Appreciate you doing this for me. I must try to get to a "Tet" festival for some photos and some friendly talk!
Dan
You are very welcome, Dan The ladies in the pictures are my friends. You can go to any Vietnamese Church or Pagoda before or during Tet festival, a lot of Vietnamese women will have this dress on for that occasion. Eden center is another option too but it will be very crowded on that day (I often try to avoid that place when it's crowded, it's very hard to find a parking spot and the traffic is terrible)
Just goes to show that you don't need make up artist, and a full crew to create beautiful portraits! It always helps when you have a beautiful model to work with. Keep up the good work, and thanks for sharing.
rntbot wrote:
Just goes to show that you don't need make up artist, and a full crew to create beautiful portraits! It always helps when you have a beautiful model to work with. Keep up the good work, and thanks for sharing.
The pictures below were taken almost a year ago with my camera phone. I didn't do any edit on them. They are not really "portrait" pictures but I would love to do some portraits "Ao dai" shots in near future. Hope you enjoy these pictures
