Prom...

mnmcote · Jul 23, 2016

In May I was asked to shoot prom pics and I find myself pouring over other shots to edit. My skills with with post processing are moderate. Everyone seemed happy with their shots. But I know I can learn to do better. This was the first time I shot indoors with fluorescent lighting. I really wish that I had at least one more light. I would really appreciate some feedback on this shot. The crop is rather tight on this one. I thought I would begin here for critique from viewers. I normally shoot wildlife outdoors so I was really out of my comfort zone on this project. Thanks for looking...

Designer · Jul 23, 2016

Good poses. I take it you don't have any extra image to stretch out the frame?

FITBMX · Jul 23, 2016

That looks like a good start to me. I would remove some of those stray hairs from her, especially the few that have made it all the way to the guy. It would be some easy cloning.
Also it seems like you lightly missed focus on them, her hair is almost sharper than her face. This was shot at "Manual exposure, 1/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1600" that is too shallow for a portrait of two like this, it would be very hard to get them both in focus. You can also drop your shutter speed by at least half, which will let you close your F stop down some.
I am not very experienced at all with portrait work, so someone else may very well correct me, which is fine.

The_Traveler · Jul 23, 2016

What FITBMX said +

They seem to be really tilted, really dark shadows and strange color tinting (perhaps from mixed lighting)

sashbar · Jul 23, 2016

The_Traveler said:
What FITBMX said +

They seem to be really tilted, really dark shadows and strange color tiniting (perhaps from mixed lighting)

View attachment 125014

Interesting how the tilt changes the perception of who is who in this relations.

tirediron · Jul 23, 2016

Definitely seeing a strong yellow-green cast. I agree that the crop is a bit tight and the shadow side probably a stop too deep, but overall, not bad.

mnmcote · Jul 23, 2016

OK... Thanks for the comments everyone... Here's another edit applying changes mentioned so far.

Braineack · Jul 23, 2016

Was this run through 3 cycles of noise reduction?

mnmcote · Jul 23, 2016

Braineack said:
Was this run through 3 cycles of noise reduction?

I did use noise reduction.. But not 3 cycles.... and I did not sharpen the image after I reduced the size for the forum.... Should I have used more noise reduction..?

Braineack · Jul 24, 2016

I'd be curious to see it. right now, to me, it looks OOF--because the NR has severely reduced details--but I can tell it's not.

chuasam · Jul 24, 2016

Curious. Given the limitations of having only ONE florescent light, why did you not choose to take the shoot outdoors and use the natural light?

mnmcote · Jul 25, 2016

chuasam said:
Curious. Given the limitations of having only ONE florescent light, why did you not choose to take the shoot outdoors and use the natural light?

I did not choose the location for the shots for prom. However, I definitely will put in my two cents worth for the next one.. I'm much more comfortable outside. I took on this project knowing that I was going to learn a lot from it... I've taken away a lot from the experience....