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07/10/2005 10:45:29 PM · #26 |
Originally posted by sher9204:
anyone else have some thoughts on this? |
Not much I can add, you pretty much nailed it.
Remember Smilebig, don't be afraid of post-processing, it's much more afraid of you ;) (j/k). The levels part of a good processing program is a powerful tool.
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07/10/2005 11:02:55 PM · #27 |
Originally posted by sher9204:
what pretty girls, Cher! the poses are wonderful and i love the one of them laughing...it really shows thier personality. also, it isn't a "by the rules" portrait and i love that aspect.
tell me a bit about the camera settings you used. they seem a bit underexposed to me. i understand posing them in the shaded area but you have to pay attention to your exposure and make sure you have enough light to get a good focus. when shooting your subjects in the shade, it's a good idea to use a reflecter to bring a little more light in. this doesn't have to be anything expensive...a simple piece of white poster board positioned to reflect the light can really make a world of difference. some post-processing can help bring up the levels, too.
anyone else have some thoughts on this? |
camera was on portrait mode. shutter 1/800,aperture 1:2.8,ISO 50,zoom 7.6,wide angle lens with converter tube. noiseware,contrast and brightness boost, red sat lowered a bit. youngest daughter tend to have a redness in photos but she is very tan. oldest is more fair and its difficult to get them both to come out natural looking. i like how you lightened them up but to me the younger one(cassi) now looks washed out(grey). is there a way to lighten but not wash them out?
edit to add that i use photoshop7.I know the basics but when it comes to layers,masks,feather etc i am so very lost.
Message edited by author 2005-07-10 23:05:24.
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07/10/2005 11:21:02 PM · #28 |
Originally posted by smilebig4me1x:
camera was on portrait mode. shutter 1/800,aperture 1:2.8,ISO 50,zoom 7.6,wide angle lens with converter tube. noiseware,contrast and brightness boost, red sat lowered a bit. youngest daughter tend to have a redness in photos but she is very tan. oldest is more fair and its difficult to get them both to come out natural looking. i like how you lightened them up but to me the younger one(cassi) now looks washed out(grey). is there a way to lighten but not wash them out?
edit to add that i use photoshop7.I know the basics but when it comes to layers,masks,feather etc i am so very lost. |
Sounds like you could use the Post-Processing mentoring as well :)
One way I can think of to not wash the one girl out while levelling is to add an "Adjustment Layer" using the Levels tool. Adjustment Layer will be under the layer menu, then Layers will be in that sub menu.
Once you've applied the layer, tweak your levels to get the majority of the photograph where you want it to be. Now click OK. Now, click on the white square you see in your layers dialogue beside the levels layer (this might take some searching for.. make sure the layers dialogue is showing up by going to the "Window" menu and clicking it.
Once you've clicked on the white square, choose your paint tool, and the size of brush you need. Then adjust the opacity and paint back in the shadows of the washed out girl. You might have to experiment in order to get it right, so that she's not *too* shadowed, nor too bright.
Just a suggestion. Play with that technique and see what you can do.. and then play around with trying other things too.
Message edited by author 2005-07-10 23:21:24.
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07/10/2005 11:23:31 PM · #29 |
Okay, here's my most recent portrait. Miss Lauren was 10 days old at the time. I focused on her little hand rather than the whole upper body.
Steve - my one comment on your photos is that the background is very busy which can be distracting. In a couple photos they have clock parts coming out of the top of their heads. Just being aware of what's going on behind the subjects can make a big difference in the quality of the photos. Otherwise, these are photos they will treasure forever. Sure wish someone had taken photos like this for me when I was pregnant cuz I'm not doing it again! |
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07/10/2005 11:27:16 PM · #30 |
Originally posted by sher9204:
Originally posted by stdavidson:
People pictures is NOT a strong area for me. I'm interested in controlled lighting studio techniques, natural setting candids and stuff like that. Maybe we could talk about post-processing techniques to enhance portraits and those kinda things.
For those anxious to get started here are some outdoor and indoor maternity pictures I took we can critique. There is plenty of improvments to be made. :)
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i think your photos here are beautiful, steve. they have a nice emotional content to them and your subjects seem relaxed and happy. you have a nice variety of poses, too. my one critique would be to have them interact with each other more and less with the camera. sometimes catching your subjects off-guard, just chatting with each other, can really produce some amazing photos. some photos with neither of them looking at the camera and less posed gives a more candid feel and can really pump up the emotion in the images.
let's get some opinions from others in the group. |
Sher... thanks. I'm a novice at these things and can use all the help I can get. Hope I can develop the skill to get subjects to interact with themselves naturally. Most of my photo subjects are flora, non-human fauna and scenic landscapes. LOL!
They were customers and wanted the pictures for wall hangings and that was about all I could come up with.
I'll consider those to be the "before" focus group portraits... later I'll take the really great "after" learning from focus group pictures. :)
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07/10/2005 11:30:09 PM · #31 |
Originally posted by Artyste:
Originally posted by sher9204:
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i think your photos here are beautiful, steve. they have a nice emotional content to them and your subjects seem relaxed and happy. you have a nice variety of poses, too. my one critique would be to have them interact with each other more and less with the camera. sometimes catching your subjects off-guard, just chatting with each other, can really produce some amazing photos. some photos with neither of them looking at the camera and less posed gives a more candid feel and can really pump up the emotion in the images.
let's get some opinions from others in the group. |
I agree with Sher, but I'll take it one step further. From what I can see, the main issue is the fact that the male in all your shots seems more concerned with *trying* to pose, and with the camera, than he is with his wife/girlfriend and just being relaxed and himself. In a portrait of two people together, you really, as Sher has said, want them interacting with each other and their environment. Having *one* of the two looking at the camera, while the other one doesn't, is something you'll really want to try and avoid.. although having *both* looking at the camera in some shots is great. Other than that, you've got a great grasp of composition, and seem to understand the fundamentals quite nicely. I'm not a huge "technicals" person.. so I defer that to others ;) |
Agree 100%. You hit the nail on the head. The pictures were wife's idea an he was never quite relaxed, plus the fact it was hot out. I need to learn how to get subjects relaxed, that is for sure. I will work on that when trying out stuff I learn here.
Message edited by author 2005-07-10 23:51:33.
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07/10/2005 11:31:12 PM · #32 |
left a comment for you Deb :)
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07/10/2005 11:32:13 PM · #33 |
Originally posted by nomad469:
Originally posted by Artyste:
Originally posted by sher9204:
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To me the soft focus is a bit over done... I do really like the images though...the b&w looks very good. |
Applying soft focus and other filtering techiques for portraiture work is something I hope to gain from this group.
After working with you guys for a while I should get a LOT better. :)
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07/10/2005 11:32:14 PM · #34 |
i really like the b/w tones in your pic and the pose is great. she has a beautiful smile and i love the slight tilt of her head. shooting in bright sunshine can produce some harsh shadows and even moreso because of her visor. using your flash can provide some fill to lighten the shadow and give more of a connection with her eyes. the eyes are usually the first thing your viewer will look at so you want to make sure they can clearly see them.
as for my pics, i play around with hue/saturation, levels, curves, dodging and burning...all to taste. i don't have a set workflow when it comes to portraits because they are all so different. one thing i usually do, though, is add a duplicate layer of Gaussian blur and then adjust the opacity of that level down to 15-20%. then i flatten the layers and do whatever sharpening needs to be done to bring back a little of the detail. |
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07/10/2005 11:38:02 PM · #35 |
Originally posted by stdavidson:
Agree 100%. You hit the nail on the head. The pictures were wife's idea an dhe was never quite relaxed, plus the fact it was hot out. I need to learn how to get subjects relaxed, that is for sure. I will work on that when trying out stuff I learn here. |
That's a difficult area, and I have trouble with it a lot myself. Adults have a really hard time "forgetting" that the camera is there. From what I've experienced and heard of though, ways of getting around that include:
1.) Spending some time with your subjects before a shoot. An hour or two sitting for a small lunch, or a drink, and discussing the shoot, or other things, can put people a little more at ease. If the subjects are willing, and time permits, even spending a few hours at some entertaining activity can perhaps get them to be more relaxed with your presence. It all really depends on the comfort level between you and the subjects in the initial meeting.
2.) Get your subjects to discuss things during the shoot that they enjoy. It could be their family, their friends, their hobbies. Just get them talking. Get them to ask one another simple, and fun, questions, which they then answer. These sorts of things can get a mind off of the photographer, camera, and why they're there.
3.) Bring a big stuffed frog, or other funny creature, and squeak it now and then. Especially if your subjects are adults.. but use it as a last resort, and say, "Look, I've tried everything.. but now it's time for Mr. Ribbit!" Heck.. if you're at that point, who cares if they think you're insane ;)
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07/10/2005 11:40:37 PM · #36 |
Originally posted by Artyste:
left a comment for you Deb :) |
Thanks Artsye for the comment. I needed to crop this as an 8x12 as this is for her parents and grandma. They will want 4x6's and 5x7's. Otherwise, I would have gone with an 8x10 crop and gotten rid of the extra space at the top. Cropping things for fit specific sizes sometimes gets in the ways of art! |
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07/10/2005 11:41:56 PM · #37 |
Originally posted by debitipton:
Originally posted by Artyste:
left a comment for you Deb :) |
Thanks Artsye for the comment. I needed to crop this as an 8x12 as this is for her parents and grandma. They will want 4x6's and 5x7's. Otherwise, I would have gone with an 8x10 crop and gotten rid of the extra space at the top. Cropping things for fit specific sizes sometimes gets in the ways of art! |
LOL.. how true is that. Completely understand :)
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07/10/2005 11:42:01 PM · #38 |
Originally posted by nomad469:
Hello all !
Well most of my stuff tends to be studio as that is the area that I am trying to migrate to professionally
This image is from yesterday - It was a five minute session as she was a little on the cranky side after the first few...
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what a little doll she is! i think your lighting is great here and you definitely got a great shot. the only thing i can find to critique is the double catchlights in her eyes...easily cleaned up with a little cloning in Photoshop. nice work! |
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07/10/2005 11:49:42 PM · #39 |
Originally posted by debitipton:
Originally posted by Artyste:
left a comment for you Deb :) |
Thanks Artsye for the comment. I needed to crop this as an 8x12 as this is for her parents and grandma. They will want 4x6's and 5x7's. Otherwise, I would have gone with an 8x10 crop and gotten rid of the extra space at the top. Cropping things for fit specific sizes sometimes gets in the ways of art! |
can't add anything to Arty's comment...it's a beautiful photo, Deb! :) |
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07/10/2005 11:49:55 PM · #40 |
Originally posted by vfwlkr:
I'm new to portrait photography, and would love to hear about any tips and tricks/post processing ideas. The most recent I tried was:
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I get confused about the best way to do skin tones since I don't do that type of photography much and this image is a good example of that.
I can see it doesn't have a solid black point set so, to me, it looks "flat". When I set a black point it has much better contrast, but then you lose some skin tonality. I never know what is the right balance. Maybe I'm just too much into contrast in images.
To me it seems this picture should have been taken with some kind of reflector to light up the model's face more and bring out her nice facial features. The background is very bright and distracts from her.
Oooooooooo... I'd straighten out that horizon too. :)
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07/10/2005 11:53:51 PM · #41 |
Originally posted by Artyste:
Originally posted by stdavidson:
Agree 100%. You hit the nail on the head. The pictures were wife's idea an dhe was never quite relaxed, plus the fact it was hot out. I need to learn how to get subjects relaxed, that is for sure. I will work on that when trying out stuff I learn here. |
That's a difficult area, and I have trouble with it a lot myself. Adults have a really hard time "forgetting" that the camera is there. From what I've experienced and heard of though, ways of getting around that include:
1.) Spending some time with your subjects before a shoot. An hour or two sitting for a small lunch, or a drink, and discussing the shoot, or other things, can put people a little more at ease. If the subjects are willing, and time permits, even spending a few hours at some entertaining activity can perhaps get them to be more relaxed with your presence. It all really depends on the comfort level between you and the subjects in the initial meeting.
2.) Get your subjects to discuss things during the shoot that they enjoy. It could be their family, their friends, their hobbies. Just get them talking. Get them to ask one another simple, and fun, questions, which they then answer. These sorts of things can get a mind off of the photographer, camera, and why they're there.
3.) Bring a big stuffed frog, or other funny creature, and squeak it now and then. Especially if your subjects are adults.. but use it as a last resort, and say, "Look, I've tried everything.. but now it's time for Mr. Ribbit!" Heck.. if you're at that point, who cares if they think you're insane ;) |
Good suggestions... I will keep them in mind.
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07/11/2005 12:27:04 AM · #42 |
Originally posted by stdavidson:
Originally posted by vfwlkr:
I'm new to portrait photography, and would love to hear about any tips and tricks/post processing ideas. The most recent I tried was:
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I get confused about the best way to do skin tones since I don't do that type of photography much and this image is a good example of that.
I can see it doesn't have a solid black point set so, to me, it looks "flat". When I set a black point it has much better contrast, but then you lose some skin tonality. I never know what is the right balance. Maybe I'm just too much into contrast in images.
To me it seems this picture should have been taken with some kind of reflector to light up the model's face more and bring out her nice facial features. The background is very bright and distracts from her.
Oooooooooo... I'd straighten out that horizon too. :) |
I am with you on the horizon ... It may have been better to loose the visor... that makes for an instant shadow. Just an idea |
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07/11/2005 12:49:11 AM · #43 |
Ok gang!
It is with much hesitation and a slight amount of fear that I post this next image.
It is part of a DVD package that I did this week. This will likly be on the disk itself although I cant be sure as I am not doing the final art...
I know that it is a bit off balance but because of the way it had to be shot (on a chair, arm extended, Blind shot) I'll accept that.
So what do you think !?! |
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07/11/2005 12:51:27 AM · #44 |
Originally posted by nomad469:
Ok gang!
It is with much hesitation and a slight amount of fear that I post this next image.
It is part of a DVD package that I did this week. This will likly be on the disk itself although I cant be sure as I am not doing the final art...
I know that it is a bit off balance but because of the way it had to be shot (on a chair, arm extended, Blind shot) I'll accept that.
So what do you think !?! |
Focus seems just slightly off. What program do you use to process? I might have something to try if you have Photoshop CS (or maybe 7 - 9 as well)
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07/11/2005 12:53:00 AM · #45 |
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07/11/2005 12:55:59 AM · #46 |
Originally posted by nomad469:
I am using CS2 |
Ok.. go into Sharpen/Unsharp Mask. Set it to 254%/0.3rad/0 threshold
apply that.. and then go to Edit, and choose "Fade Unsharp Mask", and then adjust to your liking.
If that fails, try messing with Smart Sharpen.
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07/11/2005 01:10:52 AM · #47 |
Originally posted by Artyste:
Originally posted by nomad469:
I am using CS2 |
Ok.. go into Sharpen/Unsharp Mask. Set it to 254%/0.3rad/0 threshold
apply that.. and then go to Edit, and choose "Fade Unsharp Mask", and then adjust to your liking.
If that fails, try messing with Smart Sharpen. |
That did tidy it up a bit ... Thanks
One thing that I did notice is that fooling with smart sharpen brought up the noise ... I then went to NI and that gave almost too much correction
Message edited by author 2005-07-11 01:31:22. |
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07/11/2005 01:11:00 AM · #48 |
| i'm leaving you all in Arty's capable hands tonight as i go try to sleep off a migraine. see y'all tomorrow! :) |
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07/11/2005 01:17:00 AM · #49 |
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07/11/2005 03:14:56 AM · #50 |
Originally posted by nomad469:
One thing that I did notice is that fooling with smart sharpen brought up the noise ... I then went to NI and that gave almost too much correction |
Odd.. I've never known smart sharpen to increase noise levels.. at least not in my own working with it. Must be some setting you have.
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