First attempt at portraites and would like advice to improve

[Derrel]

RE: Flyaway hairs...nothing says "reality" like a few strands of a woman's hair out of place in an outdoor shoot. Some people absolutely freak out about a few hairs. I liken it to OCD and excessive Photoshopped perfection having become the norm over the last 15 years. Flyaways are something that mostly only photographers, of a certain mindset, really pay much attention to. The family members, friends, and subjects usually will not even notice them, unless the issue is really prominent. So--this is your call. On some shoots, you might rrrrrreally want to work very diligently to eliminate or minimize flyaway hairs, other times, no big deal.

I enjoyed hearing your honest description of the brain freeze and forgetting to check the exposures! Just as an aside....you own cameras that have AUTO ISO capability in manually chosen exposure setting scenarios, so you **could** select a good, safe f/stop and shutter speed, and sort of make sure it's generally right on, then start focusing more on framing, expression, timing, and your rapport with the subject(s).

How much did the 17 rolls of film and the processing cost you for this shoot?

 

[charchri4]

OK I put some raws up on drop box. Dropbox - A&K photos

Thanks Darrel. I usually run in TAv so I control aperture and shutter speed but when I realized I lost the those first shots due to it being set to shoot in church I flipped it over to aperture priority and let the camera do the rest. Pretty much no matter what setting I have the camera on even full auto it likes to under expose a little.

 

[Ysarex]

They're DNG files so I can't just send you an XMP. Here's one of them. I'm on my laptop. I'll take a closer look in the morning when I'm back at my desk.

Joe

EDIT: Actually I can get an XMP file out of ACR. This is easier -- just copy the XMP file to the directory where the original is located: Dropbox - _IMG4632.xmp

Dropbox - _IMG4632.DNG

 

[charchri4]

Wow nice! I opened it in elements and are you meaning the info on the right side?

I opened the original and compared the numbers and quite a difference.

So should I be using something other than DNGs?

 

[Ysarex]

Wow nice! I opened it in elements and are you meaning the info on the right side?
I opened the original and compared the numbers and quite a difference.

So should I be using something other than DNGs?

Yes the numbers on the right, but in Elements you're not seeing everything. The version of ACR in Elements is crippled and does not show you all the changes I made to the default values. If you copy the XMP file or DNG file to your library it will overwrite your original in LR but to see what I did you really need to open the file in LR. There you'll see I made use of the Adjustment Brush and Gradient tools. You can rename the DNG or rename a copy of your original and then rename the XMP to match and put those in LR to see all of the editing I did.

I was thinking for a minute that you were having LR convert your raw files to DNG but then I notice you're shooting Pentax. I believe Pentax saves raw files directly in the DNG format so that's you only option. DNG is OK but it is kind of like being married to Adobe -- Pentax made that call for you.

Joe

 

[Ysarex]

Wow nice! I opened it in elements and are you meaning the info on the right side?
I opened the original and compared the numbers and quite a difference.

So should I be using something other than DNGs?

Here's another one: Dropbox - _IMG4265.DNG

I think the easiest thing to do would be to rename it and then put it in LR so you can see all of the editing. Make sure and look at the Adjustment Brush.

Joe

 

[charchri4]

I see the light!! THANK YOU!!!

 

[charchri4]

Well another zillion hours going over what I hate and I think it's time to let it go. I've replaced all but couple images in the folder multiple times but there are still several I really don't like the coloring in and I'm feeling it's pointless to keep at it. The shots just are not that good and no plans to do anything with them anyway.

The good news is I have learned so SOOOO much in this!
1 PLAN your outfits, PLAN your location, and PLAN your poses to achieve the look you are going for AHEAD OF TIME!
2 STOP look and like before you push the shutter! Have an assistant with basic hair and make up fixins double check things before each group of shots.
3 The golden hour is great but flash is not the enemy! A little bit makes a world of difference on an overcast day.
4 Don't crop! Plan full body, torso and head shots and frame them correctly to begin with.
5 Garbage in garbage out. Photoshop is good but a good capture is SOOOOO much better!

In other words it was really lucky we got the stuff we did! I managed a range of weird blotchy over tones to weird paleness and every color and exposure problem in-between. It turned out to be much more difficult than I thought it would be.

I just want to thank you again for helping me with this. I just read through all the comments again and while I feel a bit more prepared I am still blown away at how easy you good folks make it look! Here is the folder if you want to see the mess but honestly I wouldn't bother! A & M and a bit of N

 

[vintagesnaps]

Good learning experience then, and - I looked! lol Turned out pretty well, looks like you have enough to give them some that they'd like.

(And you could just take along a mirror... then she can double check the hair as needed - it's the fine blond straight hair that can be flyaway more than the curly I think.)

 

[charchri4]

Take 2! I was shooting at a highschool gymnastics meet Monday and met the most interesting couple! He is from a tiny town in Minnesota, she is from the Philippians and they met in Dubi. We talked about everything from race cars to gun laws and apparently in her culture it's considered an honor to have their photo taken. That lead to a completely impromptu 15 minute shoot in the hall way!

Thankfully I had my brand new flash with me and I cranked it up to black out the back ground. It worked good for her height but he was so tall the light is kind of hard.

Monochrome because I didn't wait long enough for the flash to recharge and shot was too good to waste!
_IMG5918 by Jim Stainer, on Flickr
_IMG5909 by Jim Stainer, on Flickr

Another no flash shoot that was too good to toss!
_IMG5876 by Jim Stainer, on Flickr

She was having so much fun it was hard to get her to not smile!
_IMG5839 by Jim Stainer, on Flickr

Humm now that I look at that last one as a jpg I think I got carried away with the luminance noise reduction slide. But aren't they adorable? It was so much fun and I am SOOO happy with the results. Even better is so is my new model friend and as soon as it warms up we are doing a real shoot outside!

What an adventure it is to carry around a camera!

 

[charchri4]

OK I need some opinions again. That middle shot up there is bugging me. The right brain loves the arms making a frame and being drawn in to wonder who is this man that makes this girl so happy. Left brain hates it because since when is it ever OK to cut someones head off in a portrait! I tried copping it down farther here to make it feel less decapitated but what do you guys think - right brain or left?

Dave and Netchie 3 by Jim Stainer, on Flickr

 

[Designer]

Shot #1 is the pose that make the most sense to me. Got both of them in the frame and nice expressions. Yes, the light is maybe a bit too bright on his face, but you can seek out some Photoshop expert on here and ask to have it fixed.

The last shot is, I agree, too much like a disembodied head. Next time just ask the man to loosen his grip (momentarily, ha-ha) and lower his arms to allow more of her face, neck, and shoulders in the frame. Yes, she can show off her hand, but try several different positions of her hand to find a good one.

 

[mcap1972]

Start with great light, add subject, look for a good expression... .usually that works.