People pics......lawdy they're hard!!!!!

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

04/21/2005 03:02:11 AM · #1

Been trying to get a photo of one of the women at work for our website. Not having a lot of success getting something halfway decent.
Not a lot of light inside so some taken inside, some out.

My attempts so far

None of them up to much!!!!!! I ended up having a play with the last shot cos I liked the way she was looking directly at the camera and the angle of her face. Did levels, then had a play with Virtual Photographer high key as I wasn't getting a soft look w/out it. Still not great as her chin is slightly OOF, but she has a kinda Judy Garland look in it.

What sort of angles would be the most flattering for her face. What sort of lighting, am limited as pics are being taken at work. The direct light, to me, seemed to be too harsh, inside too dark to get a decent shutterspeed.

Would really appreciate advice.........dog and birds are sooooo much easier!!

thanks
sue

Brad

Olympus OM-D E-M1

04/21/2005 03:30:50 AM · #2

This is one area of photography I am struggling with myself.

I have a tendancy to admire shots that dodn't appear setup/staged.
May want to poke aorund in the site's Portrait Gallery and try and imagine her in one of those poses - well except for those of gophers, squirels, dogs, etc. LOL

I have a fancy for images of someone peering out a window (with or without reflections).

As a couple examples out my favorites

and also ones with smiles!

(OK - maybe not THAT one!)

but do drop in Kevin Riggs collection in his Portrait Poltfolio here on the site for some ideas from one of our own master's in this area.

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

04/21/2005 03:39:12 AM · #3

Thanks Brad. I've been doing a bit of browsing and got blown away by so many great images!!!!! WOW.........then I went back and looked at mine!!

I've taken some nice shots of some of the other women at work, the young ones with makeup on and flawless, line-free complexions. How do you get a flattering candid type portrait when people have had life experience. I want this to look great for her, for her to be able to look at the site and be proud. I'm waffling on here..........but you know what I mean.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

04/21/2005 03:41:55 AM · #4

Damn, all the while I was laboring away in the vineyards BradP was beating me to the punch again. Still, dor what it's worth: I can see she's a tough one alright. I've taken your best shot and had an exploratory pass at it in Photoshop. Is this helping any? If it is, I can try to walk you through it on a higher-res version.

Robt.

Art Roflmao

Canon EOS-6D Mark II

04/21/2005 03:50:36 AM · #5

Originally posted by suemack:

I want this to look great for her, for her to be able to look at the site and be proud. I'm waffling on here..........but you know what I mean.

I'd go with Bear's soft version - it's a good crop, flattering expression and he didn't photoshop-botox her to death (like I would've). Her complexion could be desat'd a tad maybe though. Great job Robert.

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

04/21/2005 03:55:25 AM · #6

That's lovely Robert!!! Would really appreciate a walk in PS with you ....PS7 here.

Brad

Olympus OM-D E-M1

04/21/2005 01:09:59 PM · #7

A brief dabble with it:

---------- Before -------- & ------------ After -----------

jensmustang

Canon PowerShot S2 IS

04/21/2005 01:16:01 PM · #8

I to like the ones where they dont look staged,,a more natural apprach,,but good job!

magicshutter

Nikon D70

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

04/21/2005 01:34:48 PM · #9

I'm no Librodo, but I love shooting people

Only applied Desat to this one of my nephew.

moodville

Nikon D100

04/21/2005 01:58:30 PM · #10

You could give her a light makeover. It depends if you want to be flattering via PS or via in camera shot. Even the most beautiful women can do with a little PS help.

Just two quick edits working on the small posted image.

If you want to shoot it again I would recommend placing her with a window to the left or right. Ideally use a plain background but something with color and not just white, although black can be effective. You should have her turn her head toward the window until you can see two good catchlights in the eyes. If the shadows are really dark on the one side of her face away from the window then use a piece of white board to fill in the shadows.

Just to add I'm not an expert and those are just things I've tried and read about it. I dont have any successful people shots to back up my suggestions.

AV4TAr

Nikon D50

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 ED

04/21/2005 02:03:42 PM · #11

Here is my grandfather

ty_roni

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

04/21/2005 02:08:22 PM · #12

How about this?

langdon

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

04/21/2005 02:24:27 PM · #13

Originally posted by moodville:

How'd you make her eyes seemingly glow in this one? It's loads better over the original, but her expression isn't the best.

moodville

Nikon D100

04/21/2005 02:31:22 PM · #14

Originally posted by langdon:

Originally posted by moodville:

How'd you make her eyes seemingly glow in this one? It's loads better over the original, but her expression isn't the best.

Her eyes were already light to start with and that's always a big help. Painting white (or color works if you want to exaggerate an effect) on the eyes with the blend set to color dodge and a very faint opacity. You can double stroke if it is too light and that is always better than having it too strong and it being too late after the fact.

It could be possible to switch mouths from another shot, if Sue had a better mouth expression, but since it is possible to reshoot that would be better. Still, always fun to play around with other people's images!

Message edited by author 2005-04-21 14:32:43.

awpollard

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

04/21/2005 02:54:37 PM · #15

Sue what lense you using here?

When doing this type of shot I try to have the individual at least 5 feet away from (items in) the background to produce a softer (better boke) in cam. Use a higher f/stop to insure the soft background (less work in post processing). Personally I like getting is close with a 50mm or 70mm filling the in cam frame with as much of the persons detail as I can. Crop and fix later.