A few portraits of my wife (C/C)

CDMorgan · Aug 31, 2014

So, I used to dabble a little in photography a few years back, as well as used to browse these forums from time to time, and have recently got my hands on a new D7000 and a couple lenses, so today I took my wife out to do a couple photos just to see what I could come up with.

These all were shot using the D7000 and the 18-105 VR kit lens. I took a couple with my nifty fifty but I did not like the way they came out. We went out right around noon, which was probably the worst time to go out due to the harsh sunlight, but I tried to make do!

Like I said, I'm VERY open to learn and improve. So any C/C you have please feel free to explain how I could have made any of these photos better. Thanks! :lmao:

All of these were shot in full manual mode.

1) 18mm, f/3.5, 1/250 sec, 100 ISO

2) 18mm, f/3.5, 1/250 sec, 100 ISO

3) 18mm, f/3.5, 1/320 sec, 100 ISO

4) 18mm, f/3.5, 1/320 sec, 100 ISO

Thanks in advance!

tirediron · Aug 31, 2014

They're a good start, but there are definitely some areas for improvement.

-Avoid centering your subject quite so much, and try not to have the horizon so close to the head; above it would be fine, or significanlty lower.

-Consider the use of fill light, even your pop-up flash would have helped to avoid the nasty 'raccoon eyes' she has in the first two.

-Day one posing: Weight on the back leg, bend the near leg, body turned 30 degrees from the camera, chin pushed out and tilted down a hair. That will avoid the 'football shoulders' or 'square to the camera' pose. What you want is to accentuate the subject's natural curve. Rule of thumb: Anything the subject has two of (eyes, breasts, arms, etc), you should pose so that they're not level with each other.

CDMorgan · Aug 31, 2014

Ahh. I cropped a couple of this, perhaps a bit too much. The bottom 2 had horrible blown out sky to the left of the wall due to us being in the shade so I cropped it out to keep attention away from that side of the photo. That probably centered her up a bit much.

I'm always a bit hesitant to use the on-camera flash, I'm not sure why. Always afraid of horrible shadows due to the positioning of the flash right next to the shutter of the camera. Then again, now that you mention it, just using it as fill light would do just like you said and remove the eye shadows. I want to eventually invest in a nice strobe to be a little more I'm control of lighting.

Aside from the poses and horizon and fill flash, how is everything else? How's the exposure and editing? White balance ok? Sharpness? Focus?

My wife has never done any modeling, so she didn't really know what to do. And hate me for saying this or not, I feel more awkward directing my wife in a pose than a stranger! Haha

Thanks for the advice!

chuasam · Aug 31, 2014

She's pretty but try shooting from different angles. I get what you mean about being awkward directing someone close.
make her laugh and show some emotion and expression.

sscarmack · Aug 31, 2014

I thought they were cute and fun. I bet you guys had some fun.

My fiancé has been bugging me to take some photos (engagement), I'm not a fan lol

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

runnah · Aug 31, 2014

What a hottie!

get_armbarred · Aug 31, 2014

18mm is a little wide for close up portraits. I would use more of the zoom on that lens or use that prime.

CDMorgan · Aug 31, 2014

Thanks guys! Yeah, sscarmack, I got roped into those a while back haha.

I started out using the nifty50, but like I said, I just wasn't happy with the photos I was getting. I switched over and I actually liked some of them. It was a tough day because of the direct sunlight, so I didn't get a lot of shots that I liked. And I don't know, maybe I'm weird, but I'm kind of digging the wide angle portrait thing.

Thanks a lot guys for all your input. If there are anymore C/C out there, feel free to let me know! I am a vessel ready to be filled with knowledge!

curtyoungblood · Sep 1, 2014

It is your first two photos that really stick out as the subject being centered to me, not the second 2.

FITBMX · Sep 1, 2014

Are those soybeans in that field? What ever they are, they look really good! Have you been getting good rains up there?

Derrel · Sep 1, 2014

runnah said:
What a hottie!

Yes, I think we can all agree on that point. She is smokin! Anyway, but back to the photographic technique, I think you did pretty well considering the time of day and the high sun position that exists. I've been forced to shoot several portrait sets with high, summer sun, and it's basically one of four easy options: 1) shoot outdoors and USE the sun as a high, overhead main light that rains down on the face and sets a strong, deep under-chin shadow or 2) shoot everything back-lighted from say 9 AM to 11 AM and from 1PM until 3 or 4 PM and find light-colored concrete or water or sand to act as fill-light or 3) move to an area of open shade or 4) use reflector fill or flash shooting either front-, side-, or back-lighted.

You went with #3, open shade, which happens to have no fill-in light; the bark chips are lousy for bounce, so the eyes are a bit dark. I'd process the two open shade portraits way, wayyyyyy lighter to make up for that.

My biggest complaint though is the short focal length causing a good deal of easily-seen distortion of the size of her head and her near shoulder. I prefer shots done from a bit farther back, with a longer lens length. But, you know, some people do like this close-up, wide-angle-y look, and her smile and beauty do come through in a very close-up, shot-from-very-near kind of way. The bigger the image is seen, the more that effect comes through. A lot of photojournalists like this look, and we see this a LOT, people shot from VERY close, at 14,15,16,17,18 millimeters.

fotomonkey · Sep 1, 2014

1 & 2 are ok but the cell tower and puddles distract my eye. I much prefer 3 & 4.

In 3 I would've cropped the blue out of the corner. The others have already covered fill. Don't be afraid to use the flash. You can always dial it down to provide enough light to look more natural without creating harsh shadows. The only thing that really bothers me about 3 is sitting on her hand.

It's good to see her smile in 4. She looks good. My biggest issue here is that the amputee look doesn't suit her.

I'm thinking a seductive pose with her arms up and holding her hair would really look smokin'. If that makes sense. It does in mind.

CDMorgan · Sep 1, 2014

Thanks a lot guys for all the input! Definitely will be taking it all into consideration for the next batch! I did do a little fill light practicing today while she was walking the dog, so I'll try to imploy that next shoot.

I'm not sure what kind of crops those are, but yes, it has been raining a ton up here!