Practice shoot, how did we do?

[Tbini87]

Hey guys,
we recently did this shoot for practice. I guess this would be like a senior portrait session or just a portrait session in general. We shot in an orange grove and then at a nearby park. The sun was setting and giving some golden light at the park. What do you think? What can we work on?

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

 

[gsgary]

Focus is soft in most due to DOF and missed focus and others shutter speed too slow for focal length

 

[Tbini87]

I noticed we were shooting a little too slow for focal length once we started editing. Still thought these shots were fairly sharp though. Do you think they are too soft to use? They all look sharp enough to me, but maybe I am missing something. I had a picture up a few months ago that I thought was too soft but others liked it and said they would keep it for anything 8x10 or smaller, so maybe that has made me more lenient on soft shots.

 

[gsgary]

I wouldn't use 1,2 and 3 because of focus

 

[gsgary]

I noticed we were shooting a little too slow for focal length once we started editing. Still thought these shots were fairly sharp though. Do you think they are too soft to use? They all look sharp enough to me, but maybe I am missing something. I had a picture up a few months ago that I thought was too soft but others liked it and said they would keep it for anything 8x10 or smaller, so maybe that has made me more lenient on soft shots.

I delete anything that is not tak sharp

 

[deebert]

2 looks fine to me as far as sharpness. I'm not a huge fan of the "golden hour" shots that make people look unnaturally red and orange, but that's my personal preference.

 

[Tbini87]

2 looks fine to me as far as sharpness. I'm not a huge fan of the "golden hour" shots that make people look unnaturally red and orange, but that's my personal preference.

I was actually thinking the same thing. Are there ways to change this in post? I was thinking about messing with white balance but that sounded a little risky, or just trying to desaturate the orange skin color? Not really sure what could be done about it but open to suggestions.

 

[Tbini87]

I noticed we were shooting a little too slow for focal length once we started editing. Still thought these shots were fairly sharp though. Do you think they are too soft to use? They all look sharp enough to me, but maybe I am missing something. I had a picture up a few months ago that I thought was too soft but others liked it and said they would keep it for anything 8x10 or smaller, so maybe that has made me more lenient on soft shots.

I delete anything that is not tak sharp

We wouldn't have any pictures left to choose from if we did that haha. I don't know what the deal is but we haven't been getting a whole lot of "tack sharp" shots, especially once we started using our 80-200 2.8. Maybe it isn't a good copy, or we just aren't using it to its potential yet. Maybe we need to be stopping down a little more to help get sharper shots.

 

[Derrel]

I'd say work on allowing a bit more top space, so that the images have a bit more breathing room...making the top of the head so close to the top edge of the frame creates a visual tension that's just slightly uncomfortable...plus it hurts the options on 5x7 or 8x10 enlargements. Also, in shots 1,2,and 4, I think that the camera height is too high.

 

[gsgary]

I noticed we were shooting a little too slow for focal length once we started editing. Still thought these shots were fairly sharp though. Do you think they are too soft to use? They all look sharp enough to me, but maybe I am missing something. I had a picture up a few months ago that I thought was too soft but others liked it and said they would keep it for anything 8x10 or smaller, so maybe that has made me more lenient on soft shots.

I delete anything that is not tak sharp

We wouldn't have any pictures left to choose from if we did that haha. I don't know what the deal is but we haven't been getting a whole lot of "tack sharp" shots, especially once we started using our 80-200 2.8. Maybe it isn't a good copy, or we just aren't using it to its potential yet. Maybe we need to be stopping down a little more to help get sharper shots.

Don't keep shooting at F2.8 untill you are used to it you don't have to be far out at F2.8 for it to look soft, use a faster shutter speed, a monopod may help you, always focus on the eyes
This was shot at 300mm F2.8at 1/100 without IS breaking the rule of shutter speed = Focal length but i used a monopod

 

[Tbini87]

I'd say work on allowing a bit more top space, so that the images have a bit more breathing room...making the top of the head so close to the top edge of the frame creates a visual tension that's just slightly uncomfortable...plus it hurts the options on 5x7 or 8x10 enlargements. Also, in shots 1,2,and 4, I think that the camera height is too high.

Would you say 3 and 5 have enough head space? Looking back I notice exactly what you are talking about. The problem for me seems to be that if I leave too much head space and want to crop a little tighter then sometimes I have to start cropping into the arm, shoulder and body area to eliminate enough head space. I need to work on finding a good balance I guess. Thanks for the input!

 

[Tbini87]

I delete anything that is not tak sharp

We wouldn't have any pictures left to choose from if we did that haha. I don't know what the deal is but we haven't been getting a whole lot of "tack sharp" shots, especially once we started using our 80-200 2.8. Maybe it isn't a good copy, or we just aren't using it to its potential yet. Maybe we need to be stopping down a little more to help get sharper shots.

Don't keep shooting at F2.8 untill you are used to it you don't have to be far out at F2.8 for it to look soft, use a faster shutter speed, a monopod may help you, always focus on the eyes
This was shot at 300mm F2.8at 1/100 without IS breaking the rule of shutter speed = Focal length but i used a monopod

We have been running into some problems when shooting in late afternoon or on rainy days with being able to stop down and keep a fast enough shutter speed. Our D90 seems to start having a lot of grain once we hit iso 1600 so we try to keep it at 800 or below. We have also been struggling to get OCF or just regular flash to look natural and when it is overcast or low light we haven't been able to add a lot of light via reflector. So we are working on using flash better, and hopefully someday will have enough money to upgrade bodies to shoot at higher iso and lenses to get IS and be able to get sharper shots with lower shutter speeds.

 

[kundalini]

We have been running into some problems when shooting in late afternoon or on rainy days with being able to stop down and keep a fast enough shutter speed.....

Try using a reflector.

 

[GarbageJuice]

I like the 5th one, good job!

 

[thefool]

2 would be my favorite if it was sharper. I couldn't grasp on to what i didn't like about 1 and i think the background is too green, a bit too saturated takes away from your main subject