Portraits of a friends son...please CC!

alabama1980 · Oct 22, 2010

I prefer to shoot older people, but I really enjoyed working with this one. This kid just oozes fun, and was very responsive to direction!

Anyway, I'd like to know what others think about these.

I know the powerlines kind of suck in the first one, but there was NO clean background. While they could be cloned out I don't do that often and regard this as a failure...but I had to take the shot anyway because I loved it. I tried to lose them as much as possible with my DoF.

IgsEMT · Oct 22, 2010

I love the lighting in #1, though it seems a bit more then needed. Don't think of FAILURE by removing the powelines, on contrary. Though I'd be one of the proponents of spending more time shooting then processing, these are times (and this might one of them) where a bit more has to go into processing.
Also try to avoid shooting ppl straight fwd - have them turn at least a bit.

#2 - I and that's just me, feel that that you got a LOT of extra space there thus should have shot tighter or crop it tighter.

#3 - little less of a tilt and if you were going for 2/3 view, then turn his head more to the CAMERA-Right (high the left ear).

ghache · Oct 23, 2010

really nice! You could remove the power line in pp just to see what it would look like...

SrBiscuit · Oct 23, 2010

i dont hate the powerlines...theyre not going thru his head so thats good.
the treetop in the lower left, however.....do not want! :lol:

burgo · Oct 23, 2010

nice photos, don't mind the lines either. I just hate hands in pockets. But overall some very nicely taken portraits. Your friends should be happy with those.

dcketcham · Oct 27, 2010

I agree.. the powerlines dont hurt this image...
and im sorry you feel that its failure to change things in post...
but...
none the less... great little session and i love your leadin statement... "I prefer to shoot older people"

alabama1980 · Oct 27, 2010

dcketcham said:
I agree.. the powerlines dont hurt this image...
and im sorry you feel that its failure to change things in post...
but...
none the less... great little session and i love your leadin statement... "I prefer to shoot older people"

The reason I deem it a "failure" is because I want to start making a few bucks with my camera. Time spent fixing avoidable mistakes in post just eats up profit. I'm really not the best at Photoshop, and I'm sure there are some that could have them out in a minute or two. I just have kind of a "purist" logic when shooting. I prefer shooting over staring at a monitor for any longer than necessary. To that end I just try to get it as close as I want it in the camera.

That said, I did put in a little time and removed them...and know what? I like the one WITH the lines better...lol. It just looked way too empty with nothing back there. The tree on the other hand does need to go.