Portrait shoot - C&C Welcome

[fotugraphy]

Hi, going forward on my photography venture I stopped and clicked another shot. Can you please review it and let me know what exactly is missing for it to make it much better?

Recently m working on my portfolio with portraits, so it is my 2nd shoot approx after 1 year. She is not a pro model but just a friend and all the poses were managed by me.

Please provide your views and suggestion with composition, frame, crops and processing. In the black n white version i tried to with gothic style (dark with subtle colors) processing because it was asking for it, Both of them click in the natural light.

Thank You

PS : Please click on the image for lightbox screen view (Highly recommended)

[Shadowman]

Nice exposures and poses on both, each looks a bit soft; perhaps that was your intention.

[Polar01]

I like both really like #2 best of all, have to agree with soft in #2 it works, however in #1 the eye needs to be sharper when compared to the rest of the image.

Cheers: Allan

[Manfred M]

Both are very nice photos, Raj.

I'll have to go with the consensus on #1, a bit soft on the eye. Have you tried spot focusing on the eye nearest the camera and then recomposing the image to get the framing you want? I find this is pretty well the only fool proof way on getting the eye to be sharp. I'm also not crazy about the position and double catchlights in her eye; wasy enough to fix in post.

#2 is quite strong as well. The only minor quibble I have with it is that I find your model's lips look like they are pressed together a bit too tightly. I tend to tell my models that closed lips are fine as long as they can blow a tiny bit of air through them; that results in more relaxed lips and less tension in the jaw.

Keep up the great work!

Manfred

[fotugraphy]

Nice exposures and poses on both, each looks a bit soft; perhaps that was your intention.

Thanks for your kind review Yes, i have softened them a bit in post processing.

[fotugraphy]

I like both really like #2 best of all, have to agree with soft in #2 it works, however in #1 the eye needs to be sharper when compared to the rest of the image.

Cheers: Allan

Thanks a lot for your valuable review and suggestion. I agree with the eye part Will take care of it in the future

[fotugraphy]

Both are very nice photos, Raj.

I'll have to go with the consensus on #1, a bit soft on the eye. Have you tried spot focusing on the eye nearest the camera and then recomposing the image to get the framing you want? I find this is pretty well the only fool proof way on getting the eye to be sharp. I'm also not crazy about the position and double catchlights in her eye; wasy enough to fix in post.

#2 is quite strong as well. The only minor quibble I have with it is that I find your model's lips look like they are pressed together a bit too tightly. I tend to tell my models that closed lips are fine as long as they can blow a tiny bit of air through them; that results in more relaxed lips and less tension in the jaw.

Keep up the great work!

Manfred

Thanks a lot for your valuable review and suggestion. I agree that i missed the focus from the eye very slightly in #1 but still processed it because i like the pose in crop. But i will surely take care of it in the future, i was using local points for focus, i dont know how i missed this one.

for closed lips, your experience really counts Really love the suggestion for blowing little bit of air from the lips.

I'm also facing one problem that my models are very much new and M getting a hard time to make them understand about releasing tension from the fingers. Can you please suggest a source from where i can learn how to work on the fingers and make my models understand how to make their fingers graceful.

[Manfred M]

Again, I can tell you what works for me (sometimes). These ladies are not professional models and are outside of their comfort zone, so this shows up in their poses (and your images). Here are a few things I try (and frankly I don't shoot people like this nearly as often as I would like).

1. Shoot 20 or 30 "throw away" shots. Just shoot tell them that they are doing great (even though they are not) and compliment them as to how well they look. This should help their confidence, get them comfortable in front of the camera and more relaxed. Just don't show them these pictures as most are bound to be awful. The "keepers" will come later on in the shoot.

2. Engage them in a way that they forget that they are in front of a camera; joke around, engage them in a short chat and get them thinking about something that they are comfortable with. It will help them ignore the camera.

3. Direct them into doing what you want. While they are listening and trying to pose for you, they might just forget about trying to get their hand to look just right. By the way; I like the way you are shooting their hands turned at an angle to the camera; it makes the hands look more attractive.

4. Use a tripod and don't look through the camera when shooting; this requires that you trigger the camera with a cable release or other electronic trigger. This may not work that well with a closeup headshot like these, but it is worth a try. I find it can work really well for shots where there is more body in the frame and the crop is not as tight. If they are looking at you, rather than into the camera, people seem to relax a bit more. Just make sure you frame generously so that you can crop in post. You will need a fairly small aperture too, to ensure that the image stays sharp.

[William W]

Is one reversed?

If yes, why did you do that?

WW

[Manfred M]

Is one reversed?

If yes, why did you do that?

WW

Good catch, Bill.

I was looking at the girl and you were looking at the watch?

[William W]

. . . I was looking at the girl and you were looking at the watch?

No, not quite. I was looking at the face too.

The order of the tells that my eye spied were:

1. Her lips (they're not symmetrical)
2. Her hairstyle (over the eye)
3. The watch confirmed it.

WW

[fotugraphy]

Again, I can tell you what works for me (sometimes). These ladies are not professional models and are outside of their comfort zone, so this shows up in their poses (and your images). Here are a few things I try (and frankly I don't shoot people like this nearly as often as I would like).

1. Shoot 20 or 30 "throw away" shots. Just shoot tell them that they are doing great (even though they are not) and compliment them as to how well they look. This should help their confidence, get them comfortable in front of the camera and more relaxed. Just don't show them these pictures as most are bound to be awful. The "keepers" will come later on in the shoot.

2. Engage them in a way that they forget that they are in front of a camera; joke around, engage them in a short chat and get them thinking about something that they are comfortable with. It will help them ignore the camera.

3. Direct them into doing what you want. While they are listening and trying to pose for you, they might just forget about trying to get their hand to look just right. By the way; I like the way you are shooting their hands turned at an angle to the camera; it makes the hands look more attractive.

4. Use a tripod and don't look through the camera when shooting; this requires that you trigger the camera with a cable release or other electronic trigger. This may not work that well with a closeup headshot like these, but it is worth a try. I find it can work really well for shots where there is more body in the frame and the crop is not as tight. If they are looking at you, rather than into the camera, people seem to relax a bit more. Just make sure you frame generously so that you can crop in post. You will need a fairly small aperture too, to ensure that the image stays sharp.

Thanks a lot for your detailed explanation. really helpful.

[fotugraphy]

Is one reversed?

If yes, why did you do that?

WW

Yes i have flipped the black and white version

[William W]

Yes i have flipped the black and white version

Why?

WW

[fotugraphy]

Good catch, Bill.

I was looking at the girl and you were looking at the watch?

haha :P Manfred any good resource from where i can learn about basics of posing, fingers and hands in portrait photography?

[fotugraphy]

Why?

WW

Because of the composition and flipped version was looking more pleasant.

[Manfred M]

Raj - a couple more points (now that I'm on my editing computer, rather than my laptop).

1. Both portraits are underexposed and a touch muddy; this is because your black point and white point is not set correctly and the tonal range of the image is compressed.

2. Local sharpening of the soft eye can sometimes help and I think it does in the case of image 1







These are screenshots showing both of these PP corrections. I left the mid-point adjustment where it was, but it can (and often is) moved too for a lighter or darker image.

[William W]

Because of the composition and flipped version was looking more pleasant.

Thanks for answering.

WW

[Manfred M]

haha :P Manfred any good resource from where i can learn about basics of posing, fingers and hands in portrait photography?

I would suggest just looking at images from other photographers to see how they handle this. There are many sources for this kind of information; books, websites, etc.

I often direct people to a to the website of another Ottawa photographer who often paid a lot of attention to people's hands when he photographed them. He would sometimes specifically light the hands of some of the people he was shooting. I suspect I may have directed you to this website before.

http://www.karsh.org/#/the_work/portraits/

[GiacomoD]

very nice portraits.
I agree with Manfred about the need to set black and white point, but in my opinion his setting was a bit too aggressive, especially on the white side. I would prefer a softer approach, as in the image below.
Also, I would suggest for future shots to use a slightly more directional lighting (side lighting): here I simulated it using a gradient mask, just to show what could be the result.

On the other hand, I believe that in this field there is a lot of subjectivity and each of us tends to have his own interpretation of the portrait.