My wife "World Cup" Mexico

UUilliam · Jul 4, 2010

images are quite soft and lack contrast, also the grey background doesn't work, would work better to put her render into a football park.

misskrys · Jul 4, 2010

I would bump up the contrast and pick a natural background that you don't have to PP out. Do make the background slightly out of focus though :thumbup:

shadowlands · Jul 5, 2010

Sebastian Riel Ph. said:
I would not have chosen that wardrobe for her, it's not very flattering... I agree with JackRabbit I would use a natural bg, looks like something out of Space, the TV channel. Also it looks like you used too much fill light, her face is a bit washed out.

We both liked the outfit and that's what counts....

shadowlands · Jul 5, 2010

These are a bit distorted and still too much contrast, but I like 'em better....

shadowlands · Jul 13, 2010

I ordered my wife a "Spain" jersey after they won the World Cup for her ancestors are from Spain. I'll be taking more shots after it arrives.
Any tips?

BKMOOD · Jul 14, 2010

From a posing standpoint, especially with women, try not to shoot them straight on. The human body is at its widest when you shoot it straight on. Have the model angle or twist her body. Not only does it make the body look thinner but it makes for a more pleasing shot.

SrBiscuit · Jul 14, 2010

gotta agree with rabbit and others.
the digital backdrops are killing the photos, as is squishing them horizontally.
what was it originally shot in front of?

shadowlands · Jul 14, 2010

BKMOOD said:
From a posing standpoint, especially with women, try not to shoot them straight on. The human body is at its widest when you shoot it straight on. Have the model angle or twist her body. Not only does it make the body look thinner but it makes for a more pleasing shot.

Thanks for the tip... I may just try that out...
Thanks for taking the time...

shadowlands · Jul 14, 2010

SrBiscuit said:
gotta agree with rabbit and others.
the digital backdrops are killing the photos, as is squishing them horizontally.
what was it originally shot in front of?

I own/use a 10x20 gray muslin... got the stand and all those goodies...
But the muslin has creases, etc....
Should I be shooting her at F1.8, F2.8, etc... ?
To blurr the muslin????

Derrel · Jul 14, 2010

Shooting at a wider aperture, like f/4 or so will help to throw the background more out of focus. Of course, if she is standing on the muslin and it is wrinkled under her feet, those wrinkles will show up, even if the background is more out of focus, so you might need to do some post production work on the muslin at her feet. What bugs me the most about the shots is that she looks "stretched", almost as if she were made of taffy and were pulled to make her taller and skinnier...

shadowlands · Jul 14, 2010

Derrel said:
Shooting at a wider aperture, like f/4 or so will help to throw the background more out of focus. Of course, if she is standing on the muslin and it is wrinkled under her feet, those wrinkles will show up, even if the background is more out of focus, so you might need to do some post production work on the muslin at her feet. What bugs me the most about the shots is that she looks "stretched", almost as if she were made of taffy and were pulled to make her taller and skinnier...

That's why I'm here... trying to learn and improve.
My wife and I talked about our photos over lunch and she does like them better on the muslin and not the digital background crud I've been trying.
So we're going to head in the right direction.
I still have the orginals so I might re-post on here later.
Thanks for taking the time.
Yep, they did get stretched a bit...

shadowlands · Jul 15, 2010

I need your help with something.
I'm not getting the results I'd like when shooting indoors with my flash.
Before moving the images of my wife to a digital background, she was photographed in my home. I used my Nikon D90, Nikon AF-S 35mm F1.8 lens and Nikon SB-600 flash (bounced). I had the ISO on 200 or 400, I believe and my F-Stop set to F4.0.
She did not come out crisp, sharp and super focused. F4.0 is one of the sharper settings on that lens and it should be capable of super sharp images. What am I doing wrong?
What should I change to improve???

When taken, she was standing on a gray muslin background. I had two umbrella lights, but have them on the screen/background to help eliminate shadows. And I bounced my flash off the white ceiling to also avoid direct flash harshness and shadows on my background.

HELP ME!!! ADVICE PLEASE!!!!

bigtwinky · Jul 16, 2010

Post up the non sharp images. There is no reason with your settings to not get a sharp image. What was your shutter speed?

Not to hash up what others said, the digital background is cheesy and dated...reminds me of the 1980s or some really corny photo booth you pay $5 for a sheet of wallet size images. These images would be greatly improved if you guys actually went out to a football field and took some images there...with the bleechers, the net... the poses could be way more interesting than the straight on stuff you are doing.

Bring your flash and all and try and balance it nicely with the ambient light.

Explore different angles, top down, from the side, have her look away, look down, ....

I had a quick look at your flickr and seems that ALOT of your images lack interesting angles, they are all pretty much straight on shots, even the landscape ones. Really focus on trying different angles up...bring a ladder, lie on your back. And btw, those images of your son in the field are very well done (even if they are straight on).