Success or Catastrophic Failure

[redonyx]

After years of avoiding shooting portraits, I've decided it's time to learn how to do it. I suppose this doesn't really count since I didn't pose the subject, but it's still the first time I've voluntarily tried to use a person as the subject of my photography.

Please give me your honest feedback. I really want to learn how to shoot good portraits.

Thanks for looking.

 

[imenevichian]

next time try keeping the whole fireball in frame...
it seems to me that when your subject is interacting with something it becomes a part of him, in this case it's kind of like cropping a part of his arm.

 

[Alphaem]

That is a nice shot, lots of impact, but I think it is more of a candid. If you like working with people and are good at putting them at ease then learning to pose and light are areas you want to concentrate on. I'm sure you can take classes or learn from some of the members of this forum. Feel free to check my studio site at Mercer Photography-Senior Home to see samples of portraits I have taken over the years.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

next time try keeping the whole fireball in frame...
it seems to me that when your subject is interacting with something it becomes a part of him, in this case it's kind of like cropping a part of his arm.

I'll disagree with this. I think this image has a nice balance. I wish he were sharper though. I might even crop it a little tighter, too.

 

[redonyx]

I might even crop it a little tighter, too.

If it's not too much trouble, could you show me how much?
Thanks.

 

[pharmakon]

next time try keeping the whole fireball in frame...
it seems to me that when your subject is interacting with something it becomes a part of him, in this case it's kind of like cropping a part of his arm.

Just to illustrate this further, my first instinct when the image loaded was to look for the horizontal scroll bar to see what I thought was just cut off by the image being too wide for my browser window. However the entire image was on screen, so there was no scroll bar.

On the plus side though when I tried a similar shot myself I ended up with all fire and no person, so you did much better on the exposure than I did.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

I might even crop it a little tighter, too.

If it's not too much trouble, could you show me how much?
Thanks.

One step ahead of you...err...I was working on it.

To me, trying to include "all" of the fire misses the point. People tend to be subjects we look at. Just because the fire is cool, doesn't mean it needs to dominate the image, making the guy secondary.

This is what I see:

If you noticed, I also extended the canvas, to add some more space under the "V" his shirt creates. I think it helps keep the viewer in the frame, and not so close to the bottom edge.

 

[redonyx]

It's weird how much that improved the shot. Thanks.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Your welcome. Pretty cool shot, and a tough one at that.

 

[redonyx]

Thanks. I took about 25 shots before I got a shot with a good flame. The poor guy practically drank a can of kerosene for me.

 

[KmH]

I'd say it's a real stretch calling your photo a 'portrait'.

I'd call it 'action' photography.

No doubt it was a challenge to capture but even with the sharpening Bitter Jeweler applied the subjects face is still not sharply focused and he becomes a secondary subject.

As Bitter Jeweler pointed out in another post, "light advances and dark receeds" adding to the flames being the main subject of this image since they are so much brighter than him.

 

[pharmakon]

Bitter, after seeing your edit I must shamefully retract my previous post. Nicely done.

 

[Derrel]

I might even crop it a little tighter, too.

If it's not too much trouble, could you show me how much?
Thanks.

One step ahead of you...err...I was working on it.

To me, trying to include "all" of the fire misses the point. People tend to be subjects we look at. Just because the fire is cool, doesn't mean it needs to dominate the image, making the guy secondary.

This is what I see:

If you noticed, I also extended the canvas, to add some more space under the "V" his shirt creates. I think it helps keep the viewer in the frame, and not so close to the bottom edge.

An excellent retouch by Bitter Jeweler. If there is one thing that would REALLY make this retouch kick butt, it would be to move the left hand side of the flame upward, so the left-most point of flame were ABOVE his lip line...visually, that would make it look even cooler. Alternately, move the man a bit lower. Either way could be done, espcially since the edges of the canvas are all black.

 

[redonyx]

Is this what you had in mind?

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

I'd say it's a real stretch calling your photo a 'portrait'.

I'd call it 'action' photography.

Could also be considered 'candid' or even 'environmental portraiture'?

No doubt it was a challenge to capture but even with the sharpening Bitter Jeweler applied the subjects face is still not sharply focused and he becomes a secondary subject.

As Bitter Jeweler pointed out in another post, "light advances and dark receeds" adding to the flames being the main subject of this image since they are so much brighter than him.

Yeah, I was thinking about that, after posting in the other thread. What would be the best way to capture this? It wouldn't be that tricky with a little fill flash, would it?

I did a B&W conversion. I think it demonstrates this well, because I split the image and brightened him up, and toned the fire down. Although, you lose some of the beauty of the fire as a result.

But now I think I magnified the floating head problem.
Definitely some fill flash is needed.