CC on this quick photo.

[JerseyJules]

Disregard the framing and background.I was just playing around with a laptop as lighting to get a soft look. How do we feel about this photo? Suggestions to make spontaneous shots like this better?? How would I eliminate the dark shadows in her eye sockets without a flash?

 

[JoshuaSimPhotography]

Hmm, there are a few shadow in her face and the background is a bi distracting

 

[JerseyJules]

Hmm, there are a few shadow in her face and the background is a bi distracting

I know the back ground is distracting that why I said in my OP ignore the background. It was a spontaneous unset shot.. I was wondering how to eliminate the shadows in the face if I did the picture over with a better background. I like the look and feel of the photo. The picture seems very soft..She was looking at a laptop, so that was the upward lighting.

 

[cgipson1]

A reflector above/across would have helped, a light fill flash would have helped (you could even gel it to match the ambient light if you wanted)

 

[PhotoWrangler]

Telling photographers to "disregard the background and framing" is like trying to tell a race car driver to "disregard the track".


And my advice for 'making spontaneous shots better' is to quit taking them. When you learn how to take photos properly, 'spontaneous' photos rarely happen.

 

[paigew]

So you see how there is light hitting the top of her head? Light coming from overhead can create shadows under the eyes. Personally if I wanted to do a spontaneous shot in a low light situation I would try to be more creative with the light rather than trying to get a perfectly lit portrait. I would turn off the overhead lights and use the laptop only (metering off her face where the light is brightest)

you should always pay attention to backgrounds! move around and find the best way to avoid clutter.

 

[amolitor]

The laptop light is pretty nice, I guess. There's an overhead light that's dominating it, and creating really unappealing shadows under her eyes, though.

Laptops do make nice light. They're basically a mini-softbox, with color capability. They just don't make very MUCH light.

 

[jowensphoto]

Telling photographers to "disregard the background and framing" is like trying to tell a race car driver to "disregard the track".


And my advice for 'making spontaneous shots better' is to quit taking them. When you learn how to take photos properly, 'spontaneous' photos rarely happen.

Then please explain to me how street photography works? Or photojournalism?

I do completely agree with your background analogy, though.

 

[JoshuaSimPhotography]

Hmm, spontaneous is just kinda like a snapshot but street and journalism photogs put much thought into there pics and turn them from a snapshot to a photograph, ther was a thread about it somewhere around here

 

[jowensphoto]

Hmm, spontaneous is just kinda like a snapshot but street and journalism photogs put much thought into there pics and turn them from a snapshot to a photograph, ther was a thread about it somewhere around here

Perhaps one should not learn to accept that spontaneous shots never happen,but instead be humble enough to admit he is not good enough to capture spontaneous moments well.

 

[PhotoWrangler]

Then please explain to me how street photography works? Or photojournalism?

I do completely agree with your background analogy, though.

They tell stories, they don't just click buttons.

 

[PhotoWrangler]

Perhaps one should not learn to accept that spontaneous shots never happen,but instead be humble enough to admit he is not good enough to capture spontaneous moments well.

Perhaps one should not speak like Yoda.

 

[jowensphoto]

Perhaps one should not learn to accept that spontaneous shots never happen. --> Proper grammar used by educated folks.

Spontaneous shots never happen, learn to accept one should not. --> Yoda.

 

[PhotoWrangler]

They have education in Virginia? Excuse me, NORTHERN Virginia?

 

[paigew]

Perhaps one should not learn to accept that spontaneous shots never happen,but instead be humble enough to admit he is not good enough to capture spontaneous moments well.

My favorite quote! Of course you can take an awesome spontaneous shots! You have to learn how to tell a story with your pictures. Just because you see something you want to photograph doesn't mean you have to do it right that second. You have to think how this will look on camera and reposition yourself so that your shot tells the story of what you are viewing. Almost every shot I take is spontaneous.

OP I found this pic for you winding down | CMpro Daily Project photo lit by laptop type thing only