First portrait EVAR!

[Espike]

Hey guys, as the title says, this is what I consider to be my first portrait. It was shot at a local park pretty much at noon on a bright and sunny day. Personally I'm happy with it, but I'm sure that's because I'm biased towards it. I would like some C&C to point out any flaws or technical errors. Thanks for the help!



Untitled by eric.diaz, on Flickr

Shot with a Rebel T2i, Sigma 17-70mm @
44mm, f/4, 1/800, ISO 100.

 

[GnipGnop]

Shooting at the wrong time of day IMO. I would have waited till 6 or 7 when the sun is setting and illuminated their faces with the warm glow from that instead of hiding them in the shadows. Or used a bounce or a flash to lighten their faces.

 

[DiskoJoe]

Dont shoot portraits with direct overhead sunlight. The shadows are going straight down and casting over the faces.

 

[tirediron]

As the others have mentioned, the main issue with the image is the direct overhead sun which has caused shadows on the subject's faces. Sometimes however we HAVE to shoot at this time for one reason or another, so what we really need to do learn how to do is deal with it. In this case, on a bright, sunny day, what you really needed was more light. Using your built in flash, set to manual on a low power setting would have provided sufficient fill light to really enhance the image. When shooting people wearing hats, get them to tip it back on their head just a little.

 

[KBM1016]

Or shoot in a nice shady spot.

 

[mark2kumar]

I am not sure if you had an option of picking the time when to shoot for your first shoot. I think all and all you did a great job for your first shoot!!! You captured expressions both on the kid and mom (I am assuming???).

For your next shoot, if the same conditions apply, take them into a shady area and use the natural reflectors (bouncing natural light of the floor, walls and so on) and open up about half to full stop. This will prevent them from squinting… Give it a world… You would be surprise how many awesome shoots you will get this way… I got plenty of them…

 

[Espike]

Thanks for the feedback. We were out in a park and because it was so bright and the sun was so high, there wasn't much to shoot at and get good shots. My wife (pictured above) insisted that I get at least one of her and the kid. I'm going to experiment with the flash idea, and I like the tip of.. er.. tipping the hat. I could also have had them face into the sun a bit but then they would have been really squinting.