New portrait - before/after - did I do better on the eyes?

[Ajay]

I have such a hard time getting these dark eyes to stand out a little more. How did I do this time? Too much/too little/just right? Would really appreciate some feedback.

Also, I took this shot at ISO 200, 1/125, f/1.8 with my 50mm. Why am I still getting some grain? Does it have anything to do with shooting wide open? Would love it if anyone could shed some light.

Before:

After:

Thanks for the help.

 

[Emerana]

I liked the eyes in the before much better. I think the eye work looks nice if the pupils are large and the eye color is light. But its a very cute photo. I am really more into the subtle eye work though, my preference.

 

[Emerana]

Oh, I might also shoot with a higher f-number to get a clearer photo

 

[Ajay]

Thanks for the feedback, Emerana.

Any other opinions? I really want to improve on this.

 

[The_Traveler]

that's not grain, that's OOF. At f1.8 and 2 - 3 feet away with a 50 mm your depth pf field is about half an inch.

 

[Ajay]

that's not grain, that's OOF. At f1.8 and 2 - 3 feet away with a 50 mm your depth pf field is about half an inch.

What a dumb thing for me not to have realized. Thanks for pointing it out.

Will anyone else tell me what they think of the eye work?

Thanks...

 

[The_Traveler]

What a dumb thing for me not to have realized.

No 'dumb' involved. Photography is hard. There's a million things to think about simultaneously.

Learn to shoot aperture preferred so you have to choose the aperture and that will make you think about what you want the DOF to be on each shot.

Lew

 

[Ajay]

No 'dumb' involved. Photography is hard. There's a million things to think about simultaneously.

Learn to shoot aperture preferred so you have to choose the aperture and that will make you think about what you want the DOF to be on each shot.

Lew

Funnily enough, I was shooting aperture preferred. I always end up shooting wide open so that I can get a high enough shutter speed - I'm a really bad camera shaker. I'm going to try and start shooting with a higher aperture though. I probably could have gone down to 1/80 on shutter speed in the light I had and still been ok though. Something to remember for next time. Anyway, thanks for the encouragement!