A couple to share

errant_star · May 23, 2005

I shot both of these with the express intention of practising my portraiture skills without any extra lighting or anything. Any comments, constructive criticism or suggestions will be appreciated as I'm in this to get better :mrgreen:

My niece shot last night before fireworks ... this was shot indoor using window light exclusively ... are her eyes to dark? is the shot too centred?

My son shot earlier last week while playing outside ... this was an outdoors shot (obviously) in the early afternoon if I can remember correctly ... does the blown out sky beside his face ruin the shot?

My sister and her fiance also last night ... again an outdoor shot in the early evening using only available light ... is the pose natural enough? is his face too obscured in shadows?

Any guidance you seasoned pros could give would be a wonderful help

Thanks

Jen

Christie Photo · May 24, 2005

It is my personal philosophy that when making protraits, the subject(s) should be interacting with someone or something. I find you've done this. In the first two, you have the models interacting with the viewer, and the couple is interacting with each other.

errant_star said:
... are her eyes too dark? is the shot too centred?

No, and no. This is a wonderful portrait. Window light is a great way to make portraits. And... it IS OK to center your subject in a portrait. In fact, in this particular photo, I think it would bother me if she wan't centered.

errant_star said:
...does the blown out sky beside his face ruin the shot?

No. I do agree, a deeper background would be better, but ruin it?... no. I think you could get even more pleasing results if you used a "gobo" (go-between) over him. Just something to block some of the straight-down lighting.

errant_star said:
is the pose natural enough? is his face too obscured in shadows?

Sure... natural enough pose. This is the weekest of the three, but photographing coulples does present additional concerns. You're right to question the lighting. It's mostly flat, which is FAR better than direct sun. I think here again if you could have postioned them under a leafy tree to block the overhead light, maybe a different angle...

I don't think you're far off at all. Outdoor portaits are quite a challenge. Good stuff!

-Pete