Portraits for a friend...

[TamiAz]

These were taken for a friend.. I used my new Nikon 105mm 2.8 and I think I'm in love.. Super sharp lens. I just got it yesterday, so I still need to play with some macro shots. So, how did I do? Portraits aren't my favorite, but I'll do them for friends that ask. I guess if I did more I would probably like them doing them a bit more.



I know horizontal portraits are frowned upon in this forum, but I like them. I also took some vertical shots, but I liked these better.


I wish I would have brought my aperture down to f4 like one above..the background would have looked better.

 

[tirediron]

The top one is a nice shot, but the two 'headshots' seem rather 'bleah' to be totally frank. You've trimmed the tops of their heads off, yet you've shot a PORTRAIT in LANDSCAPE orientation. That's not an inherently bad thing, nor is the slightly cropped crowns, but why not simply turn the camera 90 degrees and get all of them? As well, the squints aren't ideal; was this due to their looking into the sun?

 

[TamiAz]

The top one is a nice shot, but the two 'headshots' seem rather 'bleah' to be totally frank. You've trimmed the tops of their heads off, yet you've shot a PORTRAIT in LANDSCAPE orientation. That's not an inherently bad thing, nor is the slightly cropped crowns, but why not simply turn the camera 90 degrees and get all of them? As well, the squints aren't ideal; was this due to their looking into the sun?

Thanks for the feedback.. They weren't looking into the sun. We were in a courtyard and the sun was behind the building..Mom was behind me trying to make them laugh. Their eyes look pretty much the same in all the pictures. When I was taking the pictures I asked them if the light was hurting their eyes and they said it wasn't too bright.

 

[tirediron]

...Their eyes look pretty much the same in all the pictures. When I was taking the pictures I asked them if the light was hurting their eyes and they said it wasn't too bright.

Fair enough; some people just have naturally squinty eyes. A trick that I use, because I shoot a lot of seniors (citizens, not high-schoolers) is to ask them to open their eyes as wide as they can... "No, wider please, wider... and HOLD it.. hold it... Okay, relax" and in that split second when you tell them to relax be ready. I usually shoot 3-4 exposures this way and normally get 1-2 with eyes open in what looks like a natural way in the image.

 

[TamiAz]

...Their eyes look pretty much the same in all the pictures. When I was taking the pictures I asked them if the light was hurting their eyes and they said it wasn't too bright.

Fair enough; some people just have naturally squinty eyes. A trick that I use, because I shoot a lot of seniors (citizens, not high-schoolers) is to ask them to open their eyes as wide as they can... "No, wider please, wider... and HOLD it.. hold it... Okay, relax" and in that split second when you tell them to relax be ready. I usually shoot 3-4 exposures this way and normally get 1-2 with eyes open in what looks like a natural way in the image.

Great tip..Thank you!!