Hello - posting a color and B&W version of Kathryn's close up portrait taken last week in Golden, CO. Natural light with my Nikon Z5 and Voigtlander lens. This is a crop from a half body length image. Feedback is very welcome.
I really like this photo! My one thought is that I personally find the stray hairs to be a bit distracting. I also prefer the color version since you can see more clearly her very interesting and beautiful eyes.
I agree in that I think you nailed it other than the eyes. I like the pose and the short DOF. I suspect your were using the Voigt 58mm F1.4 lens. Is that true? The reason I ask is because I use one and it's near impossible to nail focus at F1.4 and I find it fuzzy even when you do. I usually have to go to 2.8 and sometimes 2.0 before I get good results with portraits. I love the bokeh with your image and suspect its the 58mm Am I correct?
thanks
Mike
ksmmike wrote:
I agree in that I think you nailed it other than the eyes. I like the pose and the short DOF. I suspect your were using the Voigt 58mm F1.4 lens. Is that true? The reason I ask is because I use one and it's near impossible to nail focus at F1.4 and I find it fuzzy even when you do. I usually have to go to 2.8 and sometimes 2.0 before I get good results with portraits. I love the bokeh with your image and suspect its the 58mm Am I correct?
thanks
Mike
I used the Voigt 50mm f1.2 and this was shot at f1.2 or f1.4 I believe. I may have been slightly to the right of the model, that is probably why the eye closest to the camera is in better focus. ... I agree that it is distracting from this image a bit. Thanks for the feedback! ... also agree that color works better for this image (even though about 75% of my work is B&W).
I agree with the above comments regarding focus. If the flyaways weren't so apparently sharp you wouldn't notice the eyes. There are some things you can to to address that with selective softening and sharpening but a better approach would be to focus bracket at the time of shooting.
The color image is far preferable to me for its delicate tone and color. Not sure how you converted the black and white but it feels quite harsh with both blocked up shadows and blown out (or close to it) highlights. I think you could get an effective and beautiful black and white from this image, but this version isn't it.
She is a beautiful young woman and you did her proud!
I agree with the consensus opinion above might look at her images in a different perspective..."soft focus". Not very popular now-a-days!
I like your BW of her and I like the "redo" by "A"! But enjoy her anyway.
Dan
Danpbphoto wrote:
She is a beautiful young woman and you did her proud!
I agree with the consensus opinion above might look at her images in a different perspective..."soft focus". Not very popular now-a-days!
I like your BW of her and I like the "redo" by "A"! But enjoy her anyway.
Dan
Thanks Dan! I also agree on the comments. ... I do remember when "soft focus" was a thing. Those times have past.
But enjoy her anyway.