First post and LOTS of C&C welcome

Jenneve · Dec 13, 2012

Hi, I'm new here! This is my first post, as I'm new to photography and since browsing your site for the last hour I've got TONS to learn, ohh I'm so excited!! Any tips or good books that can teach me that you would recommend I would love to know what they are. And please, do not hold back on critiquing, I'm here to learn! Thanks

frommrstomommy · Dec 13, 2012

I am very new myself, but the first one to me looked kinda dark.. your pics say OK to edit and I really liked that first one so I did a little editing to it. 2nd and 3rd the crop seems off to me.. and the 3rd is okay, but your first image was my favorite.

laynea24 · Dec 13, 2012

The crops on the 2nd and 4th one are quite jarring to me. In number two, I wish you would have shot portrait orientation, getting rid of so much of that negative space to the left and keeping his ear, while also giving him more of a body. In the last one, maybe if you would have taken a step back or zoomed out, you could have gotten his other leg. Maybe even a few steps to your right and shot with a different perspective? I wasn't there, so it's hard to say. These are not a bad start at all! Way better than many beginner photos I've seen.

Ysarex · Dec 13, 2012

Hi Jenneve,

Welcome to TPF. We're almost neighbors, I'm just north of you in Missouri -- other side of the Mason Dixon. Where abouts in Arkansas are you?

Three of the four photos you posted are backlit without fill. The real bottom line is you don't want to do that for a lot of reasons. If you're going to have strong bright light behind your subject then you really need to balance that backlight with forward fill. Typically that means a flash.

When the light behind your subject is very bright your exposure has to either 1. get the backlight well exposed and so underexpose the subject or 2. get your subject well exposed and so overexpose the backlight or 3. get them both wrong. In these photos you and your camera basically went for option three. In the discipline of Fauxtography option two is usually considered the professional choice. In the discipline of Photography options one two and three are all considered unacceptable which takes us back to front fill -- you gotta do it. If you're going to shoot portraits outdoors in backlit conditions, front fill light is in the end a non-optional requirement.

In addition to the exposure problem you usually end up with a color problem. Here's one of your photos in a side by side comparison:

The sunlight in the back is one color while the open shade in the front is different -- much bluer. As a result the skin color of your subject turns blue. Again the solution is front fill from a flash which is the same color as the sunlight. I lightened your subject and adjusted the color, but I can't stress this enough: Don't look to post processing for what you should have done right with the camera.

So the message is, if you're going to continue to photograph people in backlight like this you really want a flash for Xmas (one you can use off camera).

So nice to hear you're excited. Hang around here and there's lots of folks who will help out.

Joe

Granddad · Dec 14, 2012

I'm not going to comment on the technicalities, others are FAR better at that than I am. What I will say is that you have an eye for a good shot. The pose and facial expression in all of them (especially number 1) is much better than many. Cropping, orientation and lighting can be learned but if you can't tell the difference between what has potential and what doesn't you are wasting your time.

I look forward to seeing more of your work as you progress and you WILL progress if you listen to the advice given here. Sometimes the C&C can seem harsh but it's usually correct and worth absorbing. I've come a long way since I started here (still a long way to go) and find this forum more useful than any class I've ever attended.

:thumbup:

Granddad · Dec 14, 2012

frommrstomommy said:
I am very new myself, but the first one to me looked kinda dark.. your pics say OK to edit and I really liked that first one so I did a little editing to it. 2nd and 3rd the crop seems off to me.. and the 3rd is okay, but your first image was my favorite.
View attachment 28516

Nice edit!

Jenneve · Dec 14, 2012

Thank you everybody for your help. Ysarex-- We have a house in Monticello (south east corner of the state) but I spent my summers growing up around the Mountain View, AR area. We live all over the country though, currently we are in Pennsylvania. My husband works on the pipeline so we are constantly moving for his job, we enjoy it though. Ok, so framing my subject correctly/cropping needs to be worked on dramatically and using a flash. Which one would you suggest, I have a cannon. There is a built in flash, but I'm guessing that I'm going to need more than that lol. On a really sunny day like when these pictures were shot would one of those reflector/white boards have worked as well if I wasn't using a flash? Still just trying to learn and absorb all of this information. Thank you all again, I greatly appreciate it!

ManualMode · Dec 14, 2012

Totally agree that you've got a good eye.. but the crops on the last 3 can definitely be improved..
You want a cheap way to improve these same photos, get a 5-1 reflector and use it fill in their faces..