2 random portraits

[marmots]

so i've never really done much with portraits, though i'v been into photography for 4 years now, so i've been trying to get into it a little more recently.


here's one of a kid i know, taken with natural light

now i know it would have been better with his head strait, but it was done on the fly, and by the time i noticed, i couldn't correct it



and here's one of one of my teachers, taken with a 430exII, bounced off of a reflector to the left

[Ads]

[ahtchristina]

When I think portrait, I think of the family portrait that we took every year to send to family - stiff and posed. Nowadays portraits are looking more like candids to me. Personally I like the first one better, but maybe the second one suits your teacher's personality.

[Bossy]

With number 1, its pretty much a snapshot since it was done on the fly? But a couple of tips, it looks like he's got a great light source behind him (large window?) I'd turn him around so he's almost facing it but not quite, and shoot like that. You'll get nice catchlights and the lighting on his face with be more dimensional, rather than in the shadow.

#2, again, there doesn't seem to be much thought put into the image. Finger chops, trash can/orange thing/hand sanitizer in the background, those things IMO are not ideal. There seems to be a couple funny things going on as well, for men, you don't generally want to shoot them angled like that, as it tends to be more feminine. It's also making his head look huge in comparison to his body.

Keep shooting

[marmots]

it looks like he's got a great light source behind him (large window?) I'd turn him around so he's almost facing it but not quite, and shoot like that.

i should have mentioned, the only thing i was really trying to practice here was lighting, but there was an identical window behind me, about 10 feet away from him

There seems to be a couple funny things going on as well, for men, you don't generally want to shoot them angled like that, as it tends to be more feminine. It's also making his head look huge in comparison to his body.

yeah i was wondering about that...

but i didn't even pose him, he just decided to stand like that, ill try and work on that next

so knowing that, what do you think of the second one's lighting?

[Bossy]

I would've had him closer to one window or the other, the catchlights now are thisclose to just looking like pinlights, and the lighting is flat on his face, which tends to make one look wider.

Often people (myself included!) don't know how to look best in front of a camera, so you could always walk around him until you find a pleasing angle, or direct him a little. Even if you're going for candid, its a good idea to pay attention to the body and body language The lighting is ok, theres a flash spot (?) on his nose. And it could be completely just me seeing this, but I think because of where the catchlight is, its making his left eye (or right eye as we see it) look like its a lazy eye. I painted a couple pixels and I know its far from perfect, but I think it looks like he has better eye contact. I can take this down, lmk-


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