Family Photographer "Portrait of a Cousin"

[vipgraphx]

How many of you are the designated family photographer at parties? Although I don't mind I also am getting a bit tired of it as I am expected to always take pictures and email them to everyone. We have many gatherings and and it can get overwhelming. I also get called to take portraits of family and what not because they do not want to go to JC Penny anymore..hahahahahaaha.

Here is a recent portrait I did of my cousin. He was off to college and there was a party for him. His mother asked If I could take a portrait of him so well here it is.


christian portrait by VIPGraphX, on Flickr


I used a bounce flash for this one. I did some post in photoshop. I always dig the black fading background that is kinda my style for portraits indoors with a bunch of stuff going on. ITs an easy way to get that junk out in the background and help set a mood.

 

[Majeed Badizadegan]

I used a bounce flash for this one. I did some post in photoshop. I always dig the black fading background that is kinda my style for portraits indoors with a bunch of stuff going on. ITs an easy way to get that junk out in the background and help set a mood.

It would always be better to find a nice brick wall, painted wall, or other background that will make for nice bokeh. Try shooting at a wider aperture with more distance between you and your subject, and your subject and the background. I think you might be spending too much time in post trying to save a portrait with a busy background instead of just getting it right in the camera.

As far as this portrait itself: There's an arm or something peculiar below your subjects chin that was not washed out by the black border treatment.

Also, with portraits it's not always desirable to see every single pore on someones face, like we have in this shot. You could easily spot heal the acne and apply very slight skin smoothing-- you're spending a lot of time in post anyway.

The black treatment around him creates a glow and is a bit uneven. I think this type of treatment may have its place (not sure where) but this particular shot it's not working for stated reasons.

His shoulders aren't square to the camera which is good. He's is an a good pose with great expression. I think where the portrait went wrong was the processing.

After typing this, it became a bit long winded. Hopefully you find it useful for future portraits.

 

[vipgraphx]

Good feedback -

here is the original no post-


christian by VIPGraphX, on Flickr

The reason I went in this direction is for reasons stated above. In the original I think there was enough separation from the background but I did not like that arm by his chin. What do you do when you are thrown lemons
you make lemonade. Rotanimod you have good suggestions and I thank you for taking the time critique. I like the dark backgrounds its something I have always liked and I most likely will continue to do. If I was on a specific task
and we were out on a "Real" photo shoot things would have been a lot different. Different time of day and location to get a more professional look but, when you are at a party and their is so much going on its hard to take the time to get the perfect background and framing. Thus why my first paragraph was about the family photographer thing. Family does not realize what it takes and all they want are results and a pleasing picture. I emailed her both of these and she printed the one with the black background. Family is easy to please and even though I am basically doing snap shots of family members at parties, its hard to just send off the untouched versions. I always feel that I have to at least do something so they look a bit better.

That is why I am considering not bringing the camera to parties anymore

 

[Majeed Badizadegan]

Good feedback -

here is the original no post-


christian by VIPGraphX, on Flickr

The reason I went in this direction is for reasons stated above. In the original I think there was enough separation from the background but I did not like that arm by his chin. What do you do when you are thrown lemons
you make lemonade. Rotanimod you have good suggestions and I thank you for taking the time critique. I like the dark backgrounds its something I have always liked and I most likely will continue to do. If I was on a specific task
and we were out on a "Real" photo shoot things would have been a lot different. Different time of day and location to get a more professional look but, when you are at a party and their is so much going on its hard to take the time to get the perfect background and framing. Thus why my first paragraph was about the family photographer thing. Family does not realize what it takes and all they want are results and a pleasing picture. I emailed her both of these and she printed the one with the black background. Family is easy to please and even though I am basically doing snap shots of family members at parties, its hard to just send off the untouched versions. I always feel that I have to at least do something so they look a bit better.

That is why I am considering not bringing the camera to parties anymore

Vip, if your family wants nice portraits from you then they need to understand that you need to have some control over the image that you create. It doesn't look like you had much control in this environment with people walking around in the background and such.

It looks like you needed to step away from the party. Either taken your subject outside or to a different, unoccupied area of the building. That type of thing is what's going to separate your portrait from a snapshot. I know you mentioned your family doesn't want to take their kids to JC Penney anymore for portraits because you'll do them, but bear in mind that JC Penney is going to have control over backgrounds, the lighting, and the environment. So that's the minimum you'll need to have if you want to hold yourself to a high standard with portraiture. Trust me, your family will undertsand if you steal away for 5 minutes from the party in order to get an excellent shot of their loved one.

As for the second shot, I'd take little bit of time spot healing the face and apply some very slight skin smoothing. I might consider very subtle sharpening on the eyes. The background could be improved with some cloning, but it would require a ton of effort. What would you prefer, spending an hour saving a shot in post, or 3 minutes in the field controlling your background?

I know you've expressed that you don't like being the family photographer. If you're spending this much time in post on all your pictures, I can see why.