Portrait

[eydryan]

Well enjoy it, if you like it
It's my coleague Sever, taken on my 300v, with Superia 100 film.

Hold nothing back, i am here to perfect myself.

 

[alexecho]

OK, if I hold nothing back I will say the background is quite distracting being very dark at one side and very light at the other. Maybe if you had moved around a little further you'd have got a more pleasing backdrop.
Also your colleague's face appears to be dark, as if in shadow. A little fill in flash (small flash used in daylight to remove shadows) would have helped...

 

[eydryan]

ok good point.

the fill-in flash i personally loathe flash because of the colour change. The tones are mostly lost plus there appear some trully unnatural shadows. i have the option of slow-sync on my dsc which preserves some colour but on the eos i couldn't quite find the way to activate the option.
as for the movement, it was a candid so my options were quite limited.

thanks for your oppinion!

 

[Tally Ho]

Flash has color change? Not outdoors. Daylight is about 5500 to 6000 degrees Kelvin. Flash is about 5500 to 6000 degrees K. They are manufactured that way so there will NOT be any color shift when using them outdoors.

If this was a snapshot it is nice, but you called it a 'portrait', so I will critique it as such.

There are no catchlights in his eyes and they look 'dead' as a result. The lighting is flat and rather unexciting with no real direction, and there is a hint of 'raccoon eyes' here. He is turned too far away from the camera which gives him no solid base for the rest of his body. The crop is too tight for a head shot. Lastly he has his head tipped to the feminine shoulder, making him look feminine. Out of the last 25000 men I have photographed not even one (even the gay men I've photographed) have wanted to look feminine. It seems rather universal that men want to look masculine. I know I do!

Don't let my harsh critique offend you or cause you to get angry and quit posting. You have lots of talent but you need some guidance, honing and refinement, so don't give up. I have seen lots of budding photographers quit after getting their first unfavorable critique. They are used to mom and dad and their friends saying things like; 'great job', absolutely beautiful', 'why I've seen professional photos that weren't as good as yours', 'you should be a pro', 'wow nice shot.'

Tally Ho

 

[eydryan]

flash does have a colour cast or at least something very similar, as it whitens those skintones that's what i mean by colour cast. maybe technologically it should be the same but it's not...

it was partially a snapshot in that it was an instantaneous response to a condition, not that much time to think it. the critique is of course weelcome as i mentioned above.

catchlights would have been quite impossible without flash but i see your point, although don't quite go as far as racoon eyes. the man's eyes really are black.

the crop wanted to be for a facial portrait and does not exist it's just full frame. if i would have edited that, i personally would have cropped tighter.

the thing with the feminine shoulder maybe you're right but i personally can't spot the difference. this looks to me like it's natural, regardless of the direction. but i don't argue, you probably are right.

i'm quite used with critique and i thank you for your time and oppinion, as i said my goal is to perfect myself not to be an egotistical moron and jump at all and any oppinion resembling a negative critique.

so thanks and don't worry i'm not in any way discouraged

 

[warped_baller]

Like Alex said the background is distracting because of the one side dark one side light. The fact that the backround on the elft is even lighter then your friends face is also not pleasing i guess you could put it.

It was candid so you could have done anything about his expression and the angle.

Suggestions for next time. I know you loathe flash but so did I. Direct flash can take out color indoors but as Tally Ho said using them outdoors doesn't effect it but thats not 100% true. It can if used close. If you have a external flash other than a pop up built in one dont have it point directly angle it. ITs a great idea for indoor shots also if you don't have all the proffesional setup. What happens is it bounces off the ceiling and the other object evenly giving the natural look. You can do the same outdoor but you need to do it still farther away not close up except it won't bounce but will give a more from above light source.

It could very well be your exposure and such. I know its usually something you shouldn't say on this forum but there is reasoning behind it other than your photo. Your film is 100. That requires alot of light and since i don't know your shutterspeed/fstop that could be very well. You can also tell by since its 100 ISO film you shouldn't have alot of noise but edges and the background is noisy.

I suggest 400 film because it works in all situations almost. Its pretty versitle. 100 should be used in alot of light and it looks pretty shady there.

Hope it helps. I hope that doesn't come off like you did everything wrong but critique helps you get better.

 

[manaheim]

To me it really looks like more of a candid shot than a portrait. I think all the things the other folks pointed out suggest this, but also the pattern on his shirt is a bit distracting, and is that a camera strap over his shoulder? I don't know the person, but the pose doesn't seem all that complimentary either.

Portraits are NOT my personal sweet spot, so I have a hard time giving more useful commentary than that, but to me the portrait should say something about the person, and this one kind of reads as "grumpy and brooding". Take my comments here with a grain of salt.

 

[eydryan]

well you are right it is a candid, only i honestly did not knnow of this classification. because in my language candid and portrait are the same thing. they translate the same.

i thank you all for your criticism and it does help thank you. i know that i did something right, but i want to know what could be better. and that's what you guys are helping me achieve. so thank you again for your oppinions.

what i like about it is the absolutely neutral tone of his face and the lines of the face which look better than in real life