Portraits of daughter

[Josh66]

These were all taken with the 135mm f/2.8 Soft Focus @ f/2.8. (Not all of them are soft focus though.)

1

(I think I might have missed the focus a little here... Eyes look a little soft, she was moving around a little so it was hard to get focus just right. Not bad for shooting wide open though...)

2

(I think this is my favorite of the set...)

3

(I like this one a lot too. Just worried that it might be too soft...)

4

(Playing with her comb while I was getting everything set up.)

I think I need to lighten up her eyes a little on the last two. Any other thoughts?

I probably should have put some better clothes on her... I'll do that next time.

----
I wish this lens told the camera which soft focus setting it was on... You can set it to 0, 1, or 2. Photos 1 & 2 were on 0. I think #3 was on 2, and #4 was on 1. I just wish it said in the exif...

 

[ccssk8ter11]

Great shots, I think i like them without the soft focus a little better though.. they look just a little too soft. I like #2 alot

 

[Josh66]

Thanks.



I tried lightening up the eyes in the last two. Just doesn't look right... The soft focus effect makes it hard to do any editing to it without making it look really obvious.

 

[eyeye]

I am not sure I would call that soft focus. Its kind of hard to look at. But the first two I think I really cute.

 

[Josh66]

Thanks.

I don't use the soft focus feature on this lens very often, so it's hard for me to predict how they will look (and my LCD is broken, so I can't check it as I go). Unfortunately, the soft focus makes editing very hard (for me at least). Curves & histogram adjustments and that sort of thing still work fine, but when you start trying to clone or locally adjust brightness it just looks bad.

Probably should have stopped down a little on the last two. They were both at 2.8. Stopping down to f/3.2 would have given #3 softness similar to what you see in #4, #4 would have came out somewhere between where it is now and nothing at all. By f/4 all softness is gone on either setting.

Before someone tells me I should just do it in PS - I know. I still like playing around with this lens though. The only downside for me is that it can't be un-done (also that it applies it to the entire image) - one reason I want to play around with it more, so I'll know what to expect on various settings.

 

[eyeye]

I think it's always good to work it out without editing. but with portrait, it seems like you would want more sharpness in the eyes no matter what. Still, beautiful daughter and as long as she is ready to model, you can enjoy the experimentation.

 

[PattiS]

Number two is my favorite of the bunch... not loving the soft focus though.
She is very sweet.

 

[bace]

First two pics are awesome.

Soft focus doesn't look right.

It actually looks more like a guasian blur in PS, gone wrong.

 

[thomprecision]

Yeah, I don't think the softening effect works well because to me it just looks like a fogged up window and I can't her.

I really like the second one. Her eyes are expressionate, her lips are shiny, her hands are posed, and the butterflies add a nice quality. Your daughter is adorable!

 

[Josh66]

Thanks everyone.

 

[AlfromLA]

1 & 2=awesome!

 

[Josh66]

Thanks!

 

[93rdcurrent]

I like #2 the best but would try a little... really a lot... less soft on the last 2.

 

[Lyncca]

The first two are really cute, the last two do nothing for me personally. They just look like blurry pictures. Maybe it is a personal taste thing

BTW, she is a cutie!

 

[Josh66]

Thanks.

...I think the softness is a little extreme. I'll try to tone it down (a lot) next time.