An elderly lady.....

Arch · Apr 20, 2006

ok guys.... this is soooo not my bag.... but i figured i HAVE to practice portraits.... seen as tho i should be doing more of em in future. (I should be doing some more pretty girl street style ones soon)

This old lady is 89yo and works in the flower shop next to me.... i had no special lighting or anything just a spot light used for exhibition displays and a table lamp..... it was one of those....'can i borrow you for a few mins' type shoots......... after, i just psed the hell out of em to get them a bit better.

This one i left the bg in but not sure if its distracting.... also not sure about the dof not having the flowers in focus.

This one i removed the bg.... but not sure if it takes away too much!!

....any more advice other than probs i'v mentioned, would be appreciated.... i'd especially like to know if there is anything i could have done there and then to achieve more effective results. Just so you know I used my 50mm 1.8on a D50 for these. Thanks

elsaspet · Apr 20, 2006

Pretty good. What mode are you shooting in? Are you using flash or ambient? If using flash, you are doing a good job of bouncing.
My suggestion would be to shoot manual mode, override the shutter to speed it up (tad soft) and lower the ap. When you do that, you are going to have to step back and cut in for all sharp, or just start selective focusing the ap for some arty stuff.
Over all, you did a good job. Just a few suggestions on how to step it up a hair.
Hugs!
Cindy

Arch · Apr 20, 2006

Thanks cindy..... i was about to hit the delete button to tell you the truth!... not too confident about this sort of thing.
I'm shooting in manual mode.......I didnt use the flash..... the spot i used was quite powerful, so i set it back from the left hand side as far as possible to loose the glare and there was a normal table lamp on the right.
But it wasn't a good balence, so like with the first shot i used a second layer mask over the face to get a better contrast without loosing the detail in the clothing. I did the same in the third.
Thanks for the shooting tips i'll try and remember that for next time

elsaspet · Apr 20, 2006

Ok, sounds like you are well on your way. They look very good. Try this:
When you lower your ap and jack your shutter....shooting against white walls or windows/doors, whatever, actually UP your exposure, sometimes by up to 1.5 stops. Sounds crazy I know, but try it.

Arch · Apr 20, 2006

elsaspet said:
Sounds crazy I know, but try it.

I like crazy and i'll definatley try it :mrgreen:

Thanks!

Arch · Apr 21, 2006

ok.... i just thought i'd add a colour one..... i tried getting the skin tone back... as it was too red from the lights... how am i doing?.... any more comments would be apprieciated

(oh...and ignore the lighter area of the bg... i'll alter that later!)

photo gal · Apr 21, 2006

I think I like the color one the best!!! She looks like a very sweet lady!! : )

Arch · Apr 21, 2006

Thanks pgirly...... :mrgreen:..... she is.... just had a photogenic quality i thought.

Chiller · Apr 24, 2006

NIce one Arch.

aprilraven · Apr 24, 2006

ok, arch...for one.... WHITE??? oh..wait.. i'm not in dark side..hang on..let me get my bare-ings...

actually, dude... love the white shots..and the one with the flowers, tea cup and her gazing down....that is killer...that is really british...with 'the spot of tea' and all...i think i like the white ones better than the color..think she looks softer and sweeter...

wonder if you could color just the flowers in the one looking down...

that might be cool...( can ya make them black roses?? hang a spider in the top corner...? wait..sorry...darkside creeping in... back, i say, back..)

melcooney · Apr 24, 2006

I think I like the secondshot the best with
the wall in the background...
With such a nice lady for a subject, maybe
you could color the flowers the original purple?
I know, not really a dark look, but it could be cool...