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09/01/2006 11:00:37 PM · #1 |
I've been here about a month, and decided to upload some photos for the first time. I uploaded four, which are of my four children. I would love tips and advice on what and how to improve my skills. I love portraits and would like to learn more about manual mode and natural light. I am new to both. I have been working on getting the eyes of my subjects to both be in focus, which I have found to be a challenge with the 50mm and moving targets (my kids). I'm in search of some serious insights into my photos and love to learn from mistakes, so feel free to tell me exactly what I did wrong and how to fix it.
Thanks in advance. |
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09/01/2006 11:19:57 PM · #2 |
| Hi there and welcome! I just left some comments. Good work and best of luck to you. You should be proud that you put yourself out there. Take care. |
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09/01/2006 11:38:22 PM · #3 |
In these two shots...
 
... you've best exploited the 50mm. High shutter speed to avoid camera shake so they are nice and sharp. The large aperture you used blurs out the background nicely as well as enables you to get that high shutter speed without cranking up the iso (and cranking up the noise along with it).
Did you manually set these or were you using the aperture and shutter priority modes? Not sure from your comment. If you were in manual mode, it certainly looks like you've got the hang of it.
One thing to note on that lense, wide open at f1.8 the focal plane is very, very thin. So the closer you get, the less of what you point at will be in focus. To me, these look like a perfect combination of distance from you to them and distance from them to the background. You could experiment more with this. Have your son sit further away from the tree and the background in that picture will lose even more detail while his face remains sharp and jumps out. The background in the daughter picture is that way, all detail gone. Depends on what you like.
Nice shots.
Message edited by author 2006-09-01 23:41:27. |
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09/01/2006 11:59:42 PM · #4 |
| Great portraits; left comments on each. |
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09/02/2006 12:13:15 AM · #5 |
| Left comments - good work, Julie, hope to see more of your pictures. Welcome to DPChallenge, BTW. |
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09/02/2006 12:33:05 AM · #6 |
Wow, what a warm response. I so appreciate what everyone has said thus far on my photos. In answer to your question routerguy, they are in manual mode. But I wouldn't say I have the hang of it. All I have really learned to do is adjust things until the little arrow is in the middle of that exposure scale I see in the view finder. I have only recently learned that the wide open (1.8) setting makes the focal point smaller. SO with the one of my nine year old, I tried it smaller, and was able to get more of him in focus. I love the look of both, but have found that 1.8 makes it very hard to get BOTH eyes in focus at once.
SOmeone asked me if I used a reflector. No, but that is a good idea. I tried a poster board the other day but found it useless because I literally have to follow my youngest around to try and catch her, and the posterboard always got left behind. I think I have the bug now, I saw a baby today with gorgeous blue eyes and all I could think of was how bad I wanted to take photos of him. |
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09/02/2006 10:16:15 AM · #7 |
Hi Julie,
Instead of cluttering your fine photograph with my comments, I'll respond here. Moving your subject further away from your background and keeping a tight depth of field will certainly result in a softer bokeh, but its quality is largely determined by the quality of the lens. A "wiry" bokeh means that the out-of-focus elements have those ridges along the edges that I mentioned, giving it a harder rather than a softer feeling. That's not generally considered a "good quality" bokeh, but of course such things can be purely subjective.
For example, in the picture below, purists might tell you that the bokeh here is poor quality because the points of light in the background are clearly rimmed by harsh lines. The object is to achieve points of light that are either flatter, or that have a very smooth gradient coming out from the center with no rimming. But that's pretty nitpicky, and nobody would argue that this isn't a terrific image with a lovely background.
In images with a more complex background, bokeh results in a wiry look. Straight lines such as branches and flower stems have definite ridges that collectively look very harsh and distracting, and not at all soft, as is generally desired.
In the picture below, the background was terribly wiry, because the lens wasn't the greatest quality. It was highly distracting. The only correction to turn this into a portrait I could live with was to selectively gaussian blur the background in Photoshop.
Hope all this answers your question somewhat! |
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09/02/2006 12:03:47 PM · #8 |
If you check out my profile you will see that portraiture is about 80% of what I do, so I felt inclined to comment on your thread. First off, welcome to dpc and after viewing both of your photos I want to say that there is nothing wrong at all with either of them. You seem to have a good eye for composition and the light is very good on both of your kids.
I guess what I would suggest to you is try more off centering of your subjects. What I do is meter/focus on my subjects cheek or eyes, then keep the shutter half pressed and move my camera off to the left or right then press it. This way you gather up some of the surrounding area but your subject is still in focus. I've also found it helpful to photograph kids from above. If you have a small step stool you can stand on to get you a little above them this is a great way to add diversity to your angles.
I prefer to shoot early in the day (before 11) or after 6pm in the evening for best light. Trying to get good light outside in full sun usually never works out for me (unless there is a shady place).
I think you are doing great. Just take tons of pics in a variety of situations. Don't be afraid to zoom out a little and grab some of the surrounding areas. I will post a few of my favorite portraits here to show you what I mean.
  
Message edited by author 2006-09-02 12:11:29. |
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09/03/2006 07:30:16 AM · #9 |
Louis, Thanks for the info. I am glad to learn more about Bokeh. I really like the one you showed that broke the rules.
CALLIOPE- I looked at your photos and you work is very nice. I think I am intimidated by trying to back away from my subject. I am so afraid that I will lose detail. It was good to see your photos and realize that it can be done and still have lots of details in the sunjects face. I will try some shots like this soon. I appreciate the advice very much.
Jewelly |
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09/03/2006 08:12:19 AM · #10 |
I'm not a portraititioner so I'm just mentioning something I read on the subject..
A tip I read and remembered was that even when outside with plenty of light (read: daylight) using your flash can be useful to create catchlights in your subject's eyes.
I haven't actually TRIED this tip but it did stick with me so I'm sure someday when I try a portrait again I'll give it a go. Whether its practical and easily done isn't something I can say from experience though so maybe others can comment on that.
Be good to know if it is actually useful or just filler rubbish. :)
- Sia
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