Portraits - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

10/15/2005 07:02:32 PM · #1

I love all of these so much, I didn't want to bury them in the Random Portrait thread... so I hope you don't mind me sharing them here:

My daughter came up to me a week ago and said "Dad, you have to take my picture. The one year that my school picture actually looks good and mom didn't buy any!!!" Well, gee, I thought... let's just blow away anything the school photographer might have done.

One thing to know... the kids at school use these wallets almost like trading cards. It's almost an obsession to see how many you can get by trading yours with the other kids.

So I figured, if I get a bunch of these into her hands, I'll have a free advertisement running all over the school. :-)

Background info:

All were shot using natural light (no lights whatsoever) with a white reflector in her lap using the Canon 70-200 2.8 IS lens.

peecee

Canon EOS-5D

10/15/2005 07:06:31 PM · #2

Beautifully done David, lovely girl and gorgeous eyes.

wavelength

Nikon D300

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

10/15/2005 07:09:52 PM · #3

Those are all great. You must be a proud papa. :o)

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

10/15/2005 07:54:55 PM · #4

Originally posted by wavelength:

Those are all great. You must be a proud papa. :o)

And at just 16 years old ... a wary papa as well. Anybody got a shotgun they can loan me?!? ;-)

christie3

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

10/15/2005 08:05:13 PM · #5

Originally posted by dwterry:

Originally posted by wavelength:
Those are all great. You must be a proud papa. :o)

And at just 16 years old ... a wary papa as well. Anybody got a shotgun they can loan me?!? ;-)

I think my dad does...Actually, I KNOW my dad does. ;)
With 5 daughters, he's gotta have one around. :)

Great shots, btw!

Ambo

Canon EOS-1D Mark IIn

10/15/2005 10:56:36 PM · #6

No shot gun here...
But four sons that think your 'Lil' girl is a very atractive young lass.

wavelength

Nikon D300

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

10/15/2005 11:05:33 PM · #7

How much do shotguns cost?

10/15/2005 11:09:48 PM · #8

Originally posted by Ambo:

But four sons that think your 'Lil' girl is a very atractive young lass.

Lol... For "now" she thinks she is taken.

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED

10/15/2005 11:10:46 PM · #9

Originally posted by christie3:

Great shots, btw!

Thanks Christie... she's just about your age! (16)

CorySmith

10/15/2005 11:17:25 PM · #10

sweet earings she has on

Ennil

Nikon D200

10/16/2005 02:43:37 AM · #11

Originally posted by wavelength:

How much do shotguns cost?

But she looks too little to be a pain! What is she? 6? 7? And has a very adorable smile as well.

Magnificent pictures dwterry, I love love love the last black and white one, I think it just brings out the beauty in her eyes. It's a little too soft but that's really tied to the personal taste. The lighting is magnifcent in all of the pictures, what did you use? Flash? I like the earings their a nice add to her personality but profesionaly, she doesn't look 16 but more 18 or even 19 (I'm sorry I said :P My parents don't like it when people mistake me for a 20 year old or don't accept child discounts) and so the earings just look a bit childish. In the color portraits I like the third one, very very beautiful but there might be something wrong with the composition but I just can't put my finger on it... As for the others, their magnificently great, have an amazing quality yet I'm not a big fan of smiling in shots, smiles that show teeth I mean. Yet again this is all personal.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

10/16/2005 09:54:16 AM · #12

Originally posted by Ennil:

I love love love the last black and white one

I printed it up as an 8x10 glossy. It looks like something she should be handing out to talent agencies! She could be a model or an actress! (she has no desire for either, but the picture is awesome)

Originally posted by Ennil:

The lighting is magnifcent in all of the pictures, what did you use? Flash?

Nope ... pure, natural light.

We went out into our garage, opened the big garage door, sat her in the middle (back in the shade, beyond where the sunlight comes in), placed a white reflector in her lap to capture the light that was coming in from the garage door and shine it up into her face. That was it!

So the two white lines you see in her eyes are the garage door and the white reflector. If you look closely at her eyes, you can see me standing there back towards the garage door entrance taking the shot.

Originally posted by Ennil:

I like the earings their a nice add to her personality but profesionaly, she doesn't look 16 but more 18 or even 19 (I'm sorry I said :P My parents don't like it when people mistake me for a 20 year old or don't accept child discounts) and so the earings just look a bit childish. In the color portraits I like the third one, very very beautiful but there might be something wrong with the composition but I just can't put my finger on it... As for the others, their magnificently great, have an amazing quality yet I'm not a big fan of smiling in shots, smiles that show teeth I mean. Yet again this is all personal.

Thank you. Your comments/critiques are very helpful! And very much appreciated!

Patents4u

Canon EOS-40D

10/16/2005 10:17:53 AM · #13

Time to start using the line I'm saving (my girls are only 3)...just tell any young lad that shows up at your doorstep that you're not afraid to go back to prison. Should have the desired effect.

Great shots btw.

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS

10/16/2005 10:17:54 AM · #14

Those are SOOOO much better and more creative than school pics. They also have the added benefit of representing a special bond between the two of you, and even when she's my age (aka older than dirt) she will remember that day...how she felt and the time you two shared. Do any of you remember the time you shared with your school photographer? ;)

Excellent images rivaling any studio work I've seen for portraits...and she is a very beautiful young woman. :)

hanneke

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

10/16/2005 10:25:17 AM · #15

I'm still amazed by the trading photos thing over there. I think the Dutch are way too greedy to do that ;)

congrats for some beautiful portraits, and a beautiful daughter!

(thanx for the idea to place a white reflector in the lap ;))

10/16/2005 10:36:47 AM · #16

Originally posted by Patents4u:

Time to start using the line I'm saving (my girls are only 3)...just tell any young lad that shows up at your doorstep that you're not afraid to go back to prison. Should have the desired effect.

Great idea! No hardware required! :-)

10/16/2005 10:39:52 AM · #17

Originally posted by laurielblack:

Do any of you remember the time you shared with your school photographer? ;)

Good point! Yes, we had fun with the shoot. It really shows her personality. Now my wife is after me to shoot the other kids so she can have matching portraits on the wall! (sometimes I'd really *like* to shoot the other kids )

10/16/2005 10:42:24 AM · #18

Originally posted by biteme:

I'm still amazed by the trading photos thing over there. I think the Dutch are way too greedy to do that ;)

Just print up a whole bunch of wallet sized pics and start handing them out (begging for a copy of the other person's pic while you're at it). It won't take long ... you'll start a new trend! :-)

Originally posted by biteme:

(thanx for the idea to place a white reflector in the lap ;))

I got the idea from another photog's website and thought ... hey, that looks simple enough, I'll have to try it. And it was simple. And it worked out great!

hanneke

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

10/16/2005 10:46:55 AM · #19

I'm not sure if the kids at school go crazy with a picture of their teacher :P

(I don't think I want to, either ;))

EddyG

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

10/16/2005 10:55:06 AM · #20

David... nice job on the portraits of your daughter. She is very photogenic; you are lucky to have her as a "model"!

Originally posted by dwterry:

I got the idea from another photog's website and thought ... hey, that looks simple enough, I'll have to try it. And it was simple. And it worked out great!

Well, in my opinion such an approach results in very flat lighting. Personally, I don't like portraits with flat lighting... it's the type of lighting you get from using on-camera flash... you don't get any sense of the shape of face, you don't get any detail in the skin, etc.

As an example of what I mean, here is an example from one of my senior sessions:

Do you see what I'm talking about? Traditional portrait lighting results in much more "three dimensionality". But if you like the "flat" look, by all means, go for it. Just my 2Â¢!

Message edited by author 2005-10-16 10:58:41.

hanneke

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D IF-ED

10/16/2005 10:58:48 AM · #21

@ Eddy:

I think you're right, but if you don't have the money (like me) you can't afford proper portrait lighting and have to do it with the things you have. A white reflector in the lap seems to be a fine way to get natural light bounced in the right direction.

Nald

Nikon D700

10/16/2005 12:13:08 PM · #22

David,

Head on over, I've got enough firepower for ya! ;)

Great shots, WAY better than anything she could have had taken at school.

Originally posted by dwterry:

Originally posted by wavelength:
Those are all great. You must be a proud papa. :o)

And at just 16 years old ... a wary papa as well. Anybody got a shotgun they can loan me?!? ;-)

christie3

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

10/19/2005 12:28:59 AM · #23

Originally posted by dwterry:

Originally posted by christie3:
Great shots, btw!

Thanks Christie... she's just about your age! (16)

Wowza. :) Cool! People always say I look about 25 though...Sigh.

For some reason I thought I'd left you comments a few days ago when I first posted, but I guess I didn't...so now I'm leaving you some. :)

Dennis T

Canon EOS-5D