Low key portrait - DPChallenge Forums

Sigma 18-125mm f/3.5-5.6 DC for Canon

10/22/2004 04:08:32 PM · #1

I've been working to advance my portrait technique beyond taking casual snapshots. I got my daughter to sit for about 10 minutes the other evening and managed to capture this. The goal was a low key portrait with shallow depth of field... maybe an older more classic portrait. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Is there too much contrast between the light and shadow areas of her face?
Is it too soft?

Thanks again,

atsxus

Canon EOS-10D

10/22/2004 04:18:18 PM · #2

I really like it. The only thing I would change, if you can get your daughter to sit again, is the focal point falls on her hair along the right side of her face. (left if you're looking at the pic, right if you're her), and being that that little whisp of hair is in focus, when everything else is softer, makes it a little "off". So either move the focus to her face, or in post, soften the line of her hair.

Otherwise it's gorgeous. As is she.

SteveJ

Canon EOS-7D

Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM

10/22/2004 04:23:12 PM · #3

I just brightened it a tad, what do you think, is that too much?

Message edited by author 2004-10-22 16:25:01.

GoldBerry

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

10/22/2004 04:52:41 PM · #4

For deep, dark portraits like this I brighten the light that falls right on her cheeks a bit and then use the paint brush in PS to black out all the background including fading the black in to her hair.
People must like the effect, I got one shot like that published.

Just a thought :-)

Very pretty girl.

magicshutter

Nikon D70

10/22/2004 05:22:57 PM · #5

the only thing i have to add to this thread is this... when you're doing candids it's ok to let the model do what she does and so on.. but when you are doing 'portraits' You should always pose the model.

DogAngel

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

10/22/2004 05:34:40 PM · #6

Magic, I disagree! I think some of the most gorgeus and natural portraits are in fact "candids" it shows the carackter of the person beeing shot and has that extra glance in the eyes!

I like that photo alot, I'm into the dark background and it's a lovely expression :) good job and a pretty daughter you've got :)

pcody

Canon PowerShot G6

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8

10/22/2004 05:39:23 PM · #7

I like the pose and the lighting for the most part. I think there should be either a distinction between her hair(mostly on the left side as I'm looking at it) and the background or fade it to dark as Lori suggests. The only thing I don't exactly like is the plane of focus. It looks wide enough for you to have both eyes in focus but instead part of her hair and one eye is in focus. You might be able to fix that in ps.

hlswilson

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

10/22/2004 05:40:49 PM · #8

I like it very much, she looks very confortable and happy. Your lighting is very interesting to me. Her head is slightly turned so that the right side of her face (left side of the photo) is dominant. In many portraits it would be the dominant side that is lit, leaving the rest of the face in shadow. The lighting is just the opposite in this shot - dominant side in shadow. It's not disagreable at all, in fact, it's quite unexpected. I prefer the original shot over the brightened version, but I'm a huge fan of shadows in portraiture, so I'm biased. The only thing I would change would be to touch up her upper lip. It looks a bit chapped. I also like Atsxus' suggestion of softening that strand of hair. That should put the initial attention on her eyes rather than her hair. Nicely done. Congrats!

10/22/2004 06:13:46 PM · #9

Originally posted by atsxus:

I was a little disappointed with the focus myself. This is also one aspect of the 10D that drives me nuts. I have girl sitting still on a chair and my camera on a tripd. I focused on her eye and then carefully turned the camera so the eye is not in the center of the final image. The distance to the subject didn't change, but the 10D seems to have a large focus area and can pick up other parts of the image to focus on, like maybe an eyebrow in this case. Oh well... got to keep working at it. I do agree that I should soften up the line of hair so it isn't "off". Thanks for comment, it's very helpful.

Sigma 100-300mm f/4.0 EX IF HSM for Nikon

10/22/2004 08:14:05 PM · #10

I went with the darker approach and tried to blend her hair into an almost completely black background. I also tried to soften the hair on the right side of her head and touched up the upper lip. I'm posting the result so you can see that your input made a difference. Thanks again for taking the time to help me learn.

After ->

MrYu

Nikon D70

10/22/2004 08:31:45 PM · #11

Mostly out of curiosity, what kind of lens did you use for these?

Sigma 100-300mm f/4.0 EX IF HSM for Nikon

10/22/2004 11:25:11 PM · #12

Originally posted by yurasocolov:

Mostly out of curiosity, what kind of lens did you use for these?

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8

MrYu

Nikon D70

10/22/2004 11:34:11 PM · #13

Interesting.

I think the right one is too dark, see the left eye is almost all in the shadow. Also i like it slightly better after 60/1/0 USM on the eyes. But that's personal preference... i kinda like portraits with focus on the eyes and shallow dof. Also i like the original hair on the left better than after processing on the right image.