Some of my Favorite Portraits from Last Fall

NJMAN · Jan 16, 2008

As a special request from Zendianah, I thought I would post some of my favorite portraits (as well as some of the parents favorites) from a couple of sessions I did last fall. I hope I haven't posted any of these yet. I can't wait to get some nice weather again and start doing more outdoor portraits. C&C always welcome and appreciated. Thanks very much for looking.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Thanks for looking!

NJ

TATTRAT · Jan 16, 2008

#1, the best of the lot in my humble opinion.

Great group all around.

Ls3D · Jan 16, 2008

Ditto, but they are all quite good, tight focus and amazing eyes!

-Shea

Vaporous · Jan 16, 2008

Awesome work as usual NJ!

nicfargo · Jan 16, 2008

The closeup pictures are the best I think. Their catchlights are pretty interesting...is that just a reflector in their eyes?

zendianah · Jan 16, 2008

How are you making their eyes sparkle? I love your work! Thank you for posting!!!!!

AprilRamone · Jan 16, 2008

That last one is my favorite. What a cutie!

NJMAN · Jan 17, 2008

TATTRAT said:
#1, the best of the lot in my humble opinion.

Great group all around.

Hey, thanks so much, I really appreciate that.

Ls3D said:
Ditto, but they are all quite good, tight focus and amazing eyes!

-Shea

Thank you for the kind words!

Vaporous said:
Awesome work as usual NJ!

Thanks Melis. Very kind of you to say that!

nicfargo said:
The closeup pictures are the best I think. Their catchlights are pretty interesting...is that just a reflector in their eyes?

Hi nicfargo. Yes, I use a reflector whenever possible. That is, I use one when the subjects are sitting or standing still. I hardly ever use a fill flash outdoors, unless its absolutely necessary. Otherwise, I just try to position the subjects where there is good light in the shadows, so that it gives some dimension to the faces. I always follow it up with some dodging and post processing to brighten the eyes, but I try to keep that to a minimum and get it right as much as possible in camera first, which helps a lot.

Thanks very much for the nice comments!

zendianah said:
How are you making their eyes sparkle? I love your work! Thank you for posting!!!!!

Thanks zenny, for the wakeup call! haha. Some things that help make the eyes sparkle is 1) a nice tight focus on the eyes, 2) good light, 3) I use a reflector whenever possible to give their eyes a nice catchlight, and 4) people with light blue or green eyes!

AprilRamone said:
That last one is my favorite. What a cutie!

Thanks a lot for commenting April. Much appreciated.

JimmyJaceyMom · Jan 17, 2008

These are gorgeous! Good job, nice lighting, and nice moments captured. I bet the parents of these children are so happy - you'll be their photographer for life.

NJMAN · Jan 17, 2008

JimmyJaceyMom said:
These are gorgeous! Good job, nice lighting, and nice moments captured. I bet the parents of these children are so happy - you'll be their photographer for life.

Thanks Kathi for the extremely kind words. Really appreciate that!

petey · Jan 18, 2008

4-9 priceless work. I like #1 a lot. The reflection in his eyes really stands out and draws you in.

I won't pretend to know much about lighting, but it seems like you have the whole shadow thing down. They look great!

oldnavy170 · Jan 18, 2008

Hi NJ, wow, how much I missed looking at your work. Another set of beautiful portraits.

NJMAN · Jan 19, 2008

petey said:
4-9 priceless work. I like #1 a lot. The reflection in his eyes really stands out and draws you in.

I won't pretend to know much about lighting, but it seems like you have the whole shadow thing down. They look great!

Well thank you so much. I certainly do appreciate the very kind words.

oldnavy170 said:
Hi NJ, wow, how much I missed looking at your work. Another set of beautiful portraits.

Always a pleasure to see you oldnavy! Many thanks for stopping by and leaving such a nice comment.

skieur · Jan 20, 2008

You did extremely well with getting the bright eyes and good detail in the hair of many of the kids. Colour and lighting are also well handled especially since shots in the shade tend toward the cool side of the colour spectrum and mess up skin colour.

As to suggestions:

#1 I would clone out part of the coat that interferes with the left ear and distracts the eye of the viewer.

#2 should be closer since the expression on the face is very important to
the shot.

#3 has the look of an artificially posed shot, but even if it isn't, the hand in front of the face is a problem and I would like to see the camera a little closer.

#4. The expressions are great but one girl's hand has been cut off at the wrist which as you know is a weakness in any portrait.

#5 The left side of her head should not blend into the background. I am also not too sure whether the look up, shoot down camera angle could be better through change or not.

#6 is an extremely effective close-up with two problems. The chin is on the frame of the photo and the colour of the skin on her hand is too red and should be adjusted in Photoshop to look more natural with her face colour

#7 The brightness in the background cuts up the photo (1/4)

#8 The vignetting should perhaps be either be more obvious or less obvious.

#9 I would like to see the hair a little more away from her eyes and the hair in sharper focus.

skieur

NJMAN · Jan 20, 2008

skieur said:
You did extremely well with getting the bright eyes and good detail in the hair of many of the kids. Colour and lighting are also well handled especially since shots in the shade tend toward the cool side of the colour spectrum and mess up skin colour.

As to suggestions:

#1 I would clone out part of the coat that interferes with the left ear and distracts the eye of the viewer.

#2 should be closer since the expression on the face is very important to
the shot.

#3 has the look of an artificially posed shot, but even if it isn't, the hand in front of the face is a problem and I would like to see the camera a little closer.

#4. The expressions are great but one girl's hand has been cut off at the wrist which as you know is a weakness in any portrait.

#5 The left side of her head should not blend into the background. I am also not too sure whether the look up, shoot down camera angle could be better through change or not.

#6 is an extremely effective close-up with two problems. The chin is on the frame of the photo and the colour of the skin on her hand is too red and should be adjusted in Photoshop to look more natural with her face colour

#7 The brightness in the background cuts up the photo (1/4)

#8 The vignetting should perhaps be either be more obvious or less obvious.

#9 I would like to see the hair a little more away from her eyes and the hair in sharper focus.

skieur

Ive said it before, and I will say it again... I love your critiques because you are so honest and detailed. Just goes to show that I always need to work on little things. You help me bring my "A" game.

Thank you for taking the time to give such valuable tips skeiur!

NJ