portrait photography

[cosmicma]

i'm trying to get into a bit of portrait photography and i'm finding it's not as easy as it looks to get decent photo's

any way here is one i took earlier today of sue my youngest daughter
any feedback would be welcome

full photo HERE

[flipper321]

What lighting are you using -it seems a little harsh? (Reds in her top look a bit "flourescent")

Other than that I don't see much wrong with this photo - it's a cute shot!

[Conkers]

Agree with the comment about the flourescent top... you could no doubt fix this though with a bit of tinkering with the levels & curves in PS.

Decent composition though.

[cosmicma]

thanks for the replies
lighting is just a single flash bounced off the ceiling i could really do with a softbox or at least another lightsource
the red top is over exposed for some reason although the skin tones are not ( odd )
i'm not too bothered at the moment with exposure / lighting i can work on that my main interest is composition / background and posture the stuff that can't really be manipuled in photoshop

here's another for you to ponder over

[flipper321]

thanks for the replies
lighting is just a single flash bounced off the ceiling i could really do with a softbox or at least another lightsource
the red top is over exposed for some reason although the skin tones are not ( odd )
i'm not too bothered at the moment with exposure / lighting i can work on that my main interest is composition / background and posture the stuff that can't really be manipuled in photoshop

here's another for you to ponder over

A clean top would help....!!!

[cosmicma]

yea i know

it aint one o my brats it's the sisters offspring
i think kids only stay clean for about 3 seconds after that yer stuffed you just take em as they come

but hey what else is photoshop for if it's not getting rid of the chocolate round there mushes n jumpers

it'l be gone before it goes to print

[slartibartfast]

I think the poses are pretty good. Maybe try sitting them side on and turn their head towards the camera, the typical school photo pose.

Hands are sometimes a problem as they can tend to look awkward. If you look at the first photo she appears to be fiddling about with the chair which draws your attention away from the face, but that's easily cropped out.

Eye contact with the camera is generally considered important, unless you're going for a wistful far away look. Check the second photo and the subject appears to be looking past the camera at something else.

Your camera height seems spot on, eye level or slightly above. Nobody wants to be looking down into the camera as it makes it look like you've got 5 chins.

The background seems a bit dark, there's not a lot of separation between it and the subject. Something a bit lighter or with some sort of pattern on might help or a second flash pointed at it. Jessops do some cheap flashes with slave cells that might serve the purpose.

Not sure what flash you have but there are some mini soft boxes around that fit most flashguns, or there's the Sto-fen diffuser for softer but more directional light than bounced. Have a look here for a review.

Good effort though. I've had a dabble and it is harder than it looks. What gear are you using ?

[cosmicma]

thanks for you comments slartibartfast

iv'e never really considered hands before but i do see your point and will keep that in mind
i used a black background to avoid shadows for those particular shots to see what results i would get
trying to get a child to look into the camera isn't easy they allways seem to look at me it's probaly my fault as i set the camera up and use a remote shutter release so i'm not actually behind it more to one side

i use a canon 300d , canon 35 - 80 lens with an old ricoh xr speedlite 300p flash i need to improve on the flash some time in the near future but it's better than using the onboard flash

i'm still experimenting at the moment i have lots of ideas and will post my results as i try them

just having a look at the jessops link i didn't realise the slave units started so cheap will have to have a closer look at these

[casio]

you could always get a close up of just their face, either with or without eye contact

[rob5059]

The pics look good - I agree with an earlier post generally the text book stuff says the subjects body should not be straight onto the picture but slightly turned generally helps.

[cosmicma]

right iv'e taken some of your advice onboard and had another bash but this time iv'e used some proper studio lighting

this image is pretty much straight out of the camera so all things considered i'm pretty pleased with it

any thoughts are welcome

photo taken with canon eos 300d , canon 35 - 85mm lens @80mm, iso 100 speed 1/250 f8
lighting courtenay solaflash 1250 blue background

[Deadly]

Big improvement over the first pics you posted in my opinion, looks really good. Keep it up!

[slartibartfast]

I agree with Deadly, it's a big step up from the first two. :thumbs

As you would expect, the studio lighting provides a much more even and softer illumination. I think the biggest improvement though is the background, it adds some depth to the photo and creates a more professional look.

Pose is good, maybe crop off the empty space above the head though so the subject fills the frame.

[Lighty]

Yeah well done on the third one mate you seem to have taken all the comments on board and sorted them, the lighting is the most noticable difference I thought the first to look very incandescent, and as Slarti says the background is better much less bland well done. I may have a bash myself

[incognito™]

tell you what this is a goodun

[casio]

your right it is a good un

cas