Here's looking at you...

El2 · Nov 18, 2008

More practice from shooting with my nifty 50 lens. C&C welcome. I also, began reading Understanding exposure by Bryan Petersen. So I am experimenting with Aperture, SS, and ISO.

Here are my settings, and I was on Manual Mode, one shot, also this is SOOC:
Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160) Aperture: f/1.8 Focal Length: 50 mm ISO Speed: 160 Exposure Bias: 0 EV Flash: Flash did not fire

tenlientl · Nov 18, 2008

i have no complaints but the background. its too bright. was this with PP?

DRoberts · Nov 18, 2008

Nice shot...Would like to see the eyes alittle sharper. And I would clone the black part of the background out. Your focus is a bit to the left, so it might also be better to clone out the focused pattern behind him with the unfocused from the right of the photo. One other little touch up would be to dodge out the light spots on his left temple and forehead.

picmo · Nov 18, 2008

I like it. I'm assuming it's a candid shot, and, if so, it's all the better. Everything in that photo means something to you - the kid, the couch and the dark background. Only if I had a photo or two of me like this at that age.

tirediron · Nov 18, 2008

Hmmm... Okay, here we go: First off, there's a reason that the "portrait" aspect is called that. This tight vertical image is less than ideal, and there the area upper left is rather darker than it should be.

What I would suggest for this image would be portrait aspect and either a reflector or off camera flash image left to even out the exposure just a little, as well as add some catch lights to the eyes. The background isn't perfect, but you've got the selective focus done well, and it's not really much of an issue.

Overall, it's a good capture, but with some minor technical niggles which could be improved.

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.

~John

El2 · Nov 18, 2008

Thanks. I was working with natural light, big window in my bedroom. The background you see is my bedding, lol. I do have a black velvet sheet, that I am going to work with. Unfortunately I don't have a reflector and no external flash. I hate working with my built in flash, because I think it'll give that harsh light + pinlights, instead of the catch lights. But I will work diligently in the comments said above. :thumbup: :sexywink: