First day with DSLR! CC Please!

[jmtonkin]

I finally, after years of dreaming, got my first DSLR today (Nikon D300s). I went out for a brief photo shoot today and I'd appreciate some CC to see how I'm doing.

#1.
This is possibly my favorite of the whole shoot. I really love all the fall colors bokehed in the background and I like the rim lighting provided by the sun. My biggest problem with this photo is the tan line on her back. Any suggestions on how to photoshop that out?

Shutter Speed: 1/50
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 200mm
ISO: 200
Exposure Bias: -4/3


#2.
This is another one of my favorites. It has seen more PP than the first but I love the feel for it. Looking back, I wish I hadn't have cut off her wrists so much. What are your thoughts?

Shutter Speed: 1/125
Aperture: f/5.3
Focal Length: 105mm
ISO: 200
Exposure Bias: -1

 

[WesternGuy]

For number 1, there are two possibilities that you might try - Content Aware Fill and see if that works, and a simple clone from where she is tanned to the "untanned" part using the Clone stamp tool...these are what I would look at first.

#2. You have the makings of a fairly decent image here - nice "smile" or whatever it is, in her eyes, but I would agree that the image would be better if it showed a bit more of her wrists and maybe just a bit of her arms. I would also want to see how it looked with both shoulders in the picture as well.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

 

[KmH]

Shoulders square to the camera, or perpendicular to the camera, don't make for very nice poses.

Shoulder at an angle arounfd 45° to the camera work much better and look much more natural.

In #2 her eye sockets are quite dark (raccoon eyes). For portraiture the eyes are the 'windows to the soul' and are an important, major element in the portrait.

 

[jmtonkin]

Looking back at the shots from that day, I realized why I didn't include more wrist. She was wearing a bright colored bracelet that I found quite distracting and my PP skills are not sufficient to remove it. I'm not sure why I didn't include the arms, however. I agree about the 45[SUP]o [/SUP]angle thing, its not a very flattering pose looking back. Do you think if I went back and did a little dodging to lighten up the eye sockets it would work better? I'll post a newly edited picture when I get a chance later tonight.

 

[WesternGuy]

Don't ever be afraid to ask your subjects to remove jewellery - as photographer, you're the "boss". As far as removing things like that bracelet, "Content Aware Fill" is your friend - read up on it and experiment.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

 

[andrewleephoto]

You might want to leave more space between the top of her head and the top of the photo for #1. Number two isn't bad you just want to zoom out a bit more. Try not to make the picture too tight!

 

[jmtonkin]

This is a different shot of the second one. This one has more wrist in it, but the bracelet was the problem for me. Also, you guys are right, I should have zoomed out a bit.

As promised, here is a slightly edited version of the second photo. I did some dodging of the dark spots under they eyes and of the eyes themselves. Is this any better? Could I have done more?

Compared to the original:

 

[MTVision]

Her eyes are still a little dark IMO. It could just be the screen on my phone too. How are you dodging and burning with the dedicated tools or another way.

You could also duplicate background and change belong mode to screen - invert the mask and paint the area around the eyes (and the eyes) with a low opacity brush until it's brighter.

 

[jmtonkin]

I've been using the dedicated tools. I'll try the other way in a couple hours! Thanks!

 

[DiskoJoe]

well better then most peoples first posts with their first dslr.

 

[MTVision]

I've been using the dedicated tools. I'll try the other way in a couple hours! Thanks!

You can also create a new layer by going to the layer tab at the top. Choose overlay and check button - fill with 50% gray I believe. Then you can use a soft low opacity white brush to lighten or black to darken.

Works really good that way!!