what should i do differnt?

Skyeg · Mar 17, 2004

how would you photograph this girl? this was just taken quickly at school, other then the background is it ok? what should i do differnt?

Osmer_Toby · Mar 17, 2004

heehee- fix your link, for one thing. all i'm gettin is the red x

karissa · Mar 17, 2004

I think the background is really dark. If you didn't want to see it then I would have used a shorter DOF. The contrast doesn't seem to quite be right. I can't put my thumb on it. Wait for the others to comment though.. they are much better than I am.

markc · Mar 17, 2004

Cute girl. My personal approach would be to use a wider aperture to blur out the background and to shoot vertically. Since you are shooting head-and-shoulder, the vertical orientation will better fit the subject. Though with a blurred or appropriate background a horizontal can be interesting.

For portraits I also prefer using a telephoto (like 85mm+) and stepping back a little, but this doesn't suffer from the distortions of a wide angle like so many in-your-face type shots do. What lens/settings did you use?

markc · Mar 17, 2004

karissa said:
The contrast doesn't seem to quite be right. I can't put my thumb on it. Wait for the others to comment though.. they are much better than I am.

That's coming from the on-camera flash. The parts of the subject that are close are too lit (right cheek), some are perfect (right eye), and those that are farther away aren't lit enough (left eye). That's the curse of not having the ability to control lighting indoors.

Skyeg · Mar 17, 2004

it was taken with a 28-200 (at about 35) lens at F8 1/250 using a vivitar 285hv. im going to be shooting her on a grey background with real lights not a flash.

voodoocat · Mar 17, 2004

I wouldn't use the wide angle side for portraits that close. It's not flattering for human subjects. Stand back and shoot between 85-135mm.

graigdavis · Mar 17, 2004

Lets see. First I would give her my phone number :lol:

. sorry...

I think any picture with an on camera flash is always going to have hot spots and dark spots. With some real lighting you can get it perfect. Other than lighting I think it looks great!

drdan · Mar 17, 2004

I agree with Graig, ask her out.

I can't comment about the technical part but IMO the expression you caught there overcomes a lot of the technical imperfections. It a keeper for sure.

vonnagy · Mar 17, 2004

drdan said:
I agree with Graig, ask her out.

I can't comment about the technical part but IMO the expression you caught there overcomes a lot of the technical imperfections. It a keeper for sure.

lol, i agree! Good point drdan!

I think everyone has said some valid points here about the photo, but I agree that the expression here overcomes alot of technicial imperfections. Good shot!

Only thing i would change here is that i would burn out the top bit of triangle lighting abover here head and the student pass just behind. I think that would give more of an emphasis on the girl.

drdan · Mar 17, 2004

Vonnagy was right about the light bits being distractiing. I did a quick cloning tool fix on this small version and once I started I decided to try removing all the lighter spots near her face. I think it makes her face look more focused and luminous. If you decide to try it I would do a more careful job on a copy of the full sized picture. The dark, somewhat indistinct background makes it easier. I hope it's all right that I messed with your picture?

Skyeg · Mar 17, 2004

yes, of course its all right, thank you all for your thoughts

ksmattfish · Mar 17, 2004

Much as already been said, I'd use a wide open aperture, longer focal length (80mm+), and I'd try to get the flash off camera if possible. Of course for me that would mean turning the image around as I need to hold the camera with my right hand, and the flash in the left, and I'd want it pointing towards her face. Another trick would be to have an assistant hold a reflector in front of her, and then aim a flash at it.