Just getting started

[alohahannah]

I work a full-time job and recently graduated with my masters. I found myself increasingly bored after work as I did not have any homework or research. My parents have a Canon Rebel T1i that they rarely use, so I picked it up, started shooting, and have done some research/practice along the way. I'll be the first to admit that I am an amateur, and I do not pretend to know everything about photography. Anyhow, this photo of my nephew is probably my favorite thus far. Hindsight, I would have not cut off his chin and the top of his head, and the right-side (left on the picture) of his face may have too much of a shadow. I chose a gray-scale because I was trying to highlight his blonde hair/blue eyes, but the background lighting/color distracted from those features. I shot with a 50mm f/1.8 lens.

Am I on the right track? Thanks! -HannahView attachment 104313

 

[soufiej]

Kind of hard to tell if you're on the right track. The shot is fine other than the cropping. Lighting (and use of shadows) is relative and subjective. I don't think your choice to wipe color highlights his BLUE eyes. Too many times monochrome/B&W is used when it isn't the most appropriate style for the shot. If you are trying to emphasize color, why not use color?

But the background is sufficiently blurred to pull his face out and direct our attention. Don't know of that was planned or not. Given the distance between his face and the background items, some amount of blur is rather a given.

His eyes are in focus. If you're photographing living beings, that's a first rule you've managed.

But this shot could have been taken with a fairly inexpensive point and shoot set to "portrait" mode. In other words, particularly considering the cropping, this doesn't indicate any great thought or planning to come up with this image.

I think you need to show us more before we can really say what road you're on.

What track do you want to be on?

 

[Designer]

This is a portrait. Pulitzers are awarded for journalism.

 

[Designer]

Hard to say if you're on the right track. What do you intend?

As for this portrait; you've already acknowledged the poor framing, and to that I will add that the child's expression is not particularly engaging. He looks as if he is wondering if he should be greatly concerned by having a camera shoved in his face.

Then, you should learn to recognize when to turn your camera to portrait orientation, and back off a bit.

As to the lighting; you can learn how to get better light on your subject's faces.

As to the backgrounds; learn to see the background as you're setting up the shot.

 

[TwilitLens]

There are a lot of perspectives you could take here, but overall it's a fine first effort. Let's see if these sample points help you out...

Spot on:
* Soft side lighting: No harsh shadows and what I assume is natural light that plays gently over the face. Always flattering for a portrait.
* Cropping: This actually strikes me as nice. Something about the letterbox format helps bring attention to the subject, even if the face is not complete.

Room for improvement:
* Facial angle: while not a hard truth, sometimes a full frontal facial portrait is a tad less interesting than the face being at a slightly oblique angle to the lens.
* Subject centered: most folks believe it to be the most natural thing in the world to center your subject. But the human brain is actually wired to pay attention to objects that are a bit off center. Check out composition ideas such as the Rule of Thirds and you'll see what I mean.

Cheers and hope to see more of your work soon!

 

[alohahannah]

Thank you, Bryston3bsst! That helped a lot. I still have the original, so I will go back and take a look at it. You are exactly right about not having a lot of time to plan. He is not impressed by much, so when I saw him grinning and giggling, I whipped around and had to take the picture.

 

[alohahannah]

Thank you TwilitLens! I appreciate your kind words and helpful tips. Those will definitely help immensely!

 

[vintagesnaps]

He doesn't appear to be smiling and laughing in the picture, so maybe you need to practice to be able to catch the moment you wanted. Keep trying and practicing.

Notice your background when you're going to take pictures and if need be, move around and change your vantage point and/or think about where the subject should be - that will change the subject in relation to the background. Even if it's out of focus it can sometimes still make for shapes in the background that can be distracting visually (like the two rectangular picture frames).

I think you're right in evaluating your photo about how he was framed in this photo (feels like I'm in too close, like I should take a step or two back). It takes a good bit of practice to get good at framing shots, making sure you have a proper exposure, etc.

 

[Designer]

This is a portrait. Pulitzers are awarded for journalism.

You kind of missed the point.

I'm pretty sure I'm right about that.

 

[Derrel]

The photo is not showing up for me currently. Anyway....as far as shooting shots, "With no planning," there ARE a number of things one can do to sort of pre-plan, such as pre-focusing at a moderate distance that is suitable for the lens in use, say 10 feet with a 35mm lens, 20 feet with a 50mm, 30 to 40 feet with an 85mm lens, and 60 feet with a 135mm lens; these are **generalized** distances where those focal lengths make good images on a crop-frame camera. With a prime lens, like say the 50mm lens, the 1.6x FOV factor (AKA the "crop factor" as some call it), the 50 is a short telephoto lens, with a narrowish angle of view, so when a 50mm is mounted, be on the lookout for picture opportunities at around 20 feet distant from the camera.

Using a prime lens is a lot like using any other single-purpose tool: you make the tool conform to the situation...you think of things that WILL or MIGHT look good when shot with the 50....you choose your approach to your subject so that the 50mm works properly for you, not against you. Is this "no planning?", or is it "pre-planning?" I think it is the second one.

I wish I could see the photo. Either way, keep shooting, keep trying, keep experimenting, keep practicing, and keep improving!

 

[beagle100]

I also do not see the pic but I agree there are pre-planning things you can do for better portraits - lighting, focal length, blurred background, etc.

 

[vintagesnaps]

I've done sports and events and I find that I've gotten good at framing shots efficiently. And there's more time than it might seem, I think with learning and experience and practice you get so you can frame a shot quickly. There are times when things happen and you may take a photo spontaneously but often it can involve a good bit of waiting and watching and anticipating.

I looked up Nick Ut's photos from that day; I'm not sure if these are in sequential order but you can see he was shooting as things happened but was in a workable place to shoot from and could anticipate that more people would be likely to be leaving the scene of the bombing and coming toward him. His Pulitzer was for Spot News so I would think the criteria might have been different than for other categories.
Photographer Nick Ut The Napalm Girl Buy Photos AP Images Collections

Photojournalism (and sports/action shooting) involves more than what I think seems to be considered shooting from the hip; it takes knowing how to frame shots fast and getting good at it, and knowing a good moment when you see it and releasing the shutter at the right time.