Question about Clarity (possibly lenses or camera settings)

[ronlane]

if this look is achievable without photo editing

Probably not. Ask the photographer how they processed the image.

Yeah. I'm confused by the "self portrait", "my images" and someone else edited them ??

I think that the 2nd and 4th images are the OP's snapshots and the other two are "borrowed" from someone else. Just my thought.

 

[laraine369]

my camera is a canon eos rebel t3, lenses are 75-300mm and 18-55mm

 

[laraine369]

The only picture I took was the second photo in the first post. The first photo in the first post is someone I know. The two photos in the second post I grabbed from the internet.

The picture on the bed was taken by the person in the picture. she used a shutter remote which is hidden in her hands and the camera is on a tripod. She did some editing to the photo afterwards but I am unaware the specifics of what she enhanced. I did not see the original picture but I do know what was in the room with her when she took the shot.

The picture I took I was standing behind the female with the purpose of getting her and the photo on her phone in the shot.

 

[waday]

If she's a friend, just ask her what she did. I'm sure we can speculate, but she can give you a definite answer.

Regarding your photo, how do you want it to look? What was your vision for the photo?

 

[ronlane]

FYI .. I'm pretty sure that you are not allowed to post photos that are not yours. You can provide links to them though.

The point that Astro is trying to make and we are clarifying is this. The forum states that you can only post images that you own, you can post links to others but they should not be posted in your thread.

 

[laraine369]

The direction I hope to take my photos is to look artistic bordering on magazine ad. I love the look of hard contrast, but do not yet know how to use it to my advantage. My photo in this post has such a harsh shadow on the back of my subject's head that it looks accidental.
I have recently started playing with photoshop actions just to get a feel for the different effects that are available, but my beginning photos are so low grade that I rarely get the outcome I was aiming for.
Overall I want to take pictures I can be proud of and not just look like I was aimlessly snapping shots with "no planning, just a picture", as astroNikon put it.

 

[astroNikon]

Waday put it all in perspective in post # 7
Magazine ads may be dozens of people to make it happen. Lighting is key.

In your photo notice how bright the window is. The light source is behind the object you are photographing. To make the back of hte head lighter you need a light source on her head.
This is a good place to "start" Light Science Magic An Introduction to Photographic Lighting Fil Hunter Steven Biver Paul Fuqua 9780415719407 Amazon.com Books

and something like this
Master Lighting Guide for Portrait Photographers Christopher Grey 9781608956890 Amazon.com Books

or a cliff notes way
Photography Portrait Photography-7 Simple Techniques For Capturing Jaw-Dropping Portraits Even If You re A Beginner Portrait Photography Photography ... Photography Lighting DLSR Photography Erik Adamo - Amazon.com

Also think of how your friend did the self portrait. You were in the room.
Scribble out exactly how it was.
multiple windows help in lighting
Try to recreate it by planning out what and how to do it.

Ask your friend the lens that they use an the setting for that photo. I'm going to guess say a 50mm/1.8 lens and was used at F/2.8 assuming it was as close as I'm thinking. So in this case the equipment may matter.

For the first one, for me, it would be easy to recreate without any editing software. But I have strobe lights in able to reproduce it the way I want.

 

[laraine369]

I really appreciate your patience and breakdown.
so as to remain in regulation I will be removing the pictures that I do not own.

 

[astroNikon]

here's an example of recreating a self portrait.
Kinda funny but at about 5 minutes into it it goes through mapping out the lighting


essentially what you have to do to learn to recreate shots. Of course, they are also using multiple flashes in the video.

other general info from a photographer

 

[astroNikon]

FYI, If I were to plan out the photo you took
I would use at least 2 flashes. On on the back side of her hair,
and one on the side to illuminate her face and arms more. While keeping the "phone" all in focus/lighting as that is the main subject per say along with the person.

You can also improve this by using just plain white boards - for school stuff - to reflect the light onto those areas. I started using lighting by reflecting light using those white boards.

OR ... move her so that the lighting is more all over her, as if the lighting is behind the camera, and the person is being lite fully by the window light. such as (simple diagrams):
Window --> camera --> subject

instead of in your photo ..... window --> subject <-- camera

with flashes it would be
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .V light
window --> subject <-- camera & light

Essentially, start thinking about improving the lighting in your photos. either by moving the subject in relation to the light, or waiting for a particular time of the day, or adding/reflecting light.

 

[Derrel]

Overall I want to take pictures I can be proud of and not just look like I was aimlessly snapping shots with "no planning, just a picture", as astroNikon put it.

I learned a lot from the John Hedgecoe photography books. He wrote something like 32 books over a couple decades. I think that the style he used was simply unmatched for TEACHING photographic techniques, principles, and methods. There's an old saying, "You don't even know what it is that you don't know." Hedgecoe's many books SHOW the things that photography has always been about. JUST BUY one of his books, and look through it. AFter reading one of his books, and studying the many (hundreds to over one thousand) how-to and sample photos in the book, you will understand how to plan any type of photography situation so that you can MAKE the pictures happen. John Hedgecoe books - Google Search