"School of Portraiture" - Lesson 08 - Taking it to the next level ("The Reunion")

[Loose Canon]

Congratulations, Jen!

Can't wait to see your shots.

So what lens did you end up with?

PS. I won't tell Hubby but that could cost you a pan of cinnamon buns!

[M Aella]

Thanks, Terry. Done! And I have a secret recipe involving cream and ooey-gooeyness. . I got the 70-200 f4L usm (non-is, but I seem to be doing okay portrait-wise). I've never gotten such nice bokeh... *sigh* the seperation between background and subject is something I'd been developing a longing for. LoL. Even with better-than-horrible light I couldn't seem to get better than maaaaybe F5.6....I didn't think going to f4 would make that great a difference. I thougt I was being all smart and tried taking the same pictures at different apertures with my kit lens and comparing them to "see" what my new lens might be like before I got it. Not even close!! *facepalm* lol. I have soooo much to lern. And I do have tendencies towards ocd... Runs in the family, so now that I have the right camera to actually/finally be able to get the pictures from head to paper . Well.. Look out because I"l be flooding this place. Just. Be gentle when you see the 3,618th picture I post. What's the thread limit again?? LOL

[Loose Canon]

Awesome, Jen!

My only regret about your new lens is that Colin will probably expect me to share the Secret-Recipe-Ooey-Gooey Cinnamon Buns with him! After all, it is his thread!

I believe the thread limit is 3,619 so its on! Looking forward to seeing that new glass in action!

[M Aella]

Challenge accepted. Now if only I had that damn LR3 license key! I need to practice the whole shebang! I guess I could manage 2 pans of homemade goodness (no doughboy here ) soooo.... when were you swinging by Canuck-land? LOL

[Colin Southern]

My only regret about your new lens is that Colin will probably expect me to share the Secret-Recipe-Ooey-Gooey Cinnamon Buns with him! After all, it is his thread!

It's OK - my good friend and model Ashley popped in on Wednesday and have me a big hug and a big chocolate Easter bunny ... the diet starts (again!) today!

[M Aella]

uh.... oh great and esteemed Professor, chocolate that fits under any of the following has exactly 0 calories:

-> Easter eggs (filled, solid or hollow), Dark/Milk/White chocolate or any combination thereof.

-> Easter Bunnies, Dogs, Cats, Cartoon Characters (licenced or generic), Money or other random object(s) or being(s)rendered in either Dark, Milk or White chocolate (filled, hollow or solid) or any combination thereof, including those containing nuts, rice crisps, raisins or other edible ingredients. Please note, should any of the above be wearing a jaunty bow, the calorie amount shall decrease from the preset "0" in direct correlation to it's cuteness as determined by an 7 year old human female. Also note the removal and disposal of any sugar derived "eye(s)" is imperative to maintain the 0 calorie or less rating. Should you consume the aforementioned "eye(s)" you will immediately gain 20 pounds which will offset your current center of balance resulting in both a noticeable forward lean and a resulting decrease in shapness/focus in your pictures for the next 3 years, 7 months, 2 weeks and 5 days.

[juliac]

I know everyone says we must see into the eyes but must we? My portraits seem to always be looking down. I am not very experienced but I try to take photos while the subject is unaware. This one I took the subject was not aware I was taking photos of her at all. Any views on this?

[Colin Southern]

I know everyone says we must see into the eyes but must we? My portraits seem to always be looking down. I am not very experienced but I try to take photos while the subject is unaware. This one I took the subject was not aware I was taking photos of her at all. Any views on this?

Hi Julia,

It's by no means a hard and fast rule -- some times it's better, sometimes it doesn't work as well. Here's one where I think that not looking at the camera works far better (than looking at it) ...



With regards to your shot, it's nice, but just a couple of things "bother" me slightly about it ...

- The moment you've captured - to me - looks like she's blocking her nose to try and equalise the pressure in her ears

- The eyes have ended up almost centre-frame (which is generally sub-optimal) - you're showing all the hair to the back of the head (which is generally not necessary) - but then we've got even more negative space behind that which really doesn't contribute anything (we call it "negative space"). Normally I'd suggest a simple crop to fix this, but in this case it's going to cut into the hand too much; what I think would look better is not so much "less space behind the head" as "more space in front of the face" - something that gives a bit of space for the eyes to gaze off into. eg ...



Hope this helps

[juliac]

Really useful -thanks. I see what you mean about the hand. I saw it as a pensive shot and I now know exactly what you mean about the negative space.

[M Aella]

Ok, this is my first attempt to use exposure compensation with a backlit subject and using flash for fill (all at the same time... lookit me! lol) I know I have a ways to go, but am I at least heading in the right direction? I have to admit, I'm kind of excited about what appears to be, albeit small, progress in my ability to "think like a photographer". Thanks in advance for any and all c&c. I'm still waiting for Lightroom so this is SOOC. I still think it's a bit bright, so maybe a little more ec? ETA. I also lost the rule of thirds and her eyes are smack in the middle. On to next time!!

[Colin Southern]

Ok, this is my first attempt to use exposure compensation with a backlit subject and using flash for fill (all at the same time... lookit me! lol) I know I have a ways to go, but am I at least heading in the right direction? I have to admit, I'm kind of excited about what appears to be, albeit small, progress in my ability to "think like a photographer". Thanks in advance for any and all c&c. I'm still waiting for Lightroom so this is SOOC. I still think it's a bit bright, so maybe a little more ec? ETA. I also lost the rule of thirds and her eyes are smack in the middle. On to next time!!

Hi Jen,

Normally if you're compensating for a backlit subject then the background would be visible - but here it's blown out ... so I suspect that you need a bit more compensation

The fill flash has worked well though, but the black point is waaaay too low - you don't have any blacks in the image - only low to medium grays.

Here's what you get when you raise the blacks slider ...

[M Aella]

Thank-you! I can't wait until my friend finds the copy of Lightroom 3 we bought, then *I* could have brought out the blacks more. And I'll try it next time with MORE exposure compensation. I'm trying to build an instinct by trying shots I've been hesitant to try for lack of knowledge. LoL. Good thing I'm not throwing myself into the lake to learn to swim, I'd sink like a rock... But I get to do a jig for getting: "The fill flash has worked well though" from the teacher! YAY! I can't wait until tomorrow morning when the light hits that window again. Good thing one of my girls loves having her picture taken, the other one runs away screaming or buries her head somewhere. Normally 50% isn't optimal, but this time I'll
gladly take it. lol. Thanks, Colin, I greatly appreciate your taking the time to help me build my working knowledge.

[Colin Southern]

Thank-you! I can't wait until my friend finds the copy of Lightroom 3 we bought, then *I* could have brought out the blacks more. And I'll try it next time with MORE exposure compensation. I'm trying to build an instinct by trying shots I've been hesitant to try for lack of knowledge. LoL. Good thing I'm not throwing myself into the lake to learn to swim, I'd sink like a rock... But I get to do a jig for getting: "The fill flash has worked well though" from the teacher! YAY! I can't wait until tomorrow morning when the light hits that window again. Good thing one of my girls loves having her picture taken, the other one runs away screaming or buries her head somewhere. Normally 50% isn't optimal, but this time I'll
gladly take it. lol. Thanks, Colin, I greatly appreciate your taking the time to help me build my working knowledge.

No worries Jen - that's what we're here for.

If you're shooting by a window - and you want what's on the other side of the window visible - then I'd suggest putting the camera in manual mode and sorting out an acceptable exposure without the subject positioned on front of it. Once that is sorted, add your subject - then just work on getting your fill light right. So in essence you're working 2 different zones of light, but one at a time - which will make life a lot easier.

Possibly this is a good example of what I mean (albeit it's an outdoor shot -- although I'm shooting into the light which is much the same thing as what you're doing).

The camera is set to expose the colourful sky ... the bottom half behind the subject gives you an indication of how much reflected light there is (ie "next to nothing") - and yet the flash illuminates the subject nicely.

Now you go do it

[M Aella]

Ah! *lighbulb* I get it. Now to figure out this exposure compensation. I guess on the Canon 1100D you can only use bracketing exposure? I'm so confused, I don't seem to be able to control it. I also don't understand when they say it takes 3 pictures of different exposures. I can only see one. I tried to view them in camera and on my laptop and all I see are the Jpeg and RAW files. What so very obvious thing am I missing here? LoL I can set the exposure bracket up to -2 0 +2 but that's it AND I can't seem to pick which compensation I want!! Grrrrr.... I checked the manual(s) and even tried Google. Is it just that my camera is limited in this?

[M Aella]

I figured it out!! I gave it a couple more tries and figured out, when you have it on single shot and use exposure compensation my camera takes one with the middle compensation, one with the "higher" comp and one with the lower. How can I make it so that I can shoot multiple shots with the ONE compensation I want? or is that the impossible with my model? I don't want to have to take three pictures every time, *after* I figure out the right compensation. That will get annoying very fast. LoL

[Colin Southern]

I figured it out!! I gave it a couple more tries and figured out, when you have it on single shot and use exposure compensation my camera takes one with the middle compensation, one with the "higher" comp and one with the lower. How can I make it so that I can shoot multiple shots with the ONE compensation I want? or is that the impossible with my model? I don't want to have to take three pictures every time, *after* I figure out the right compensation. That will get annoying very fast. LoL

Hi Jen,

You're off on a bit of a tangent here I'm afraid ... what you're describing is exposure BRACKETING (where it takes 3 shots so you can choose the best one) - what you're "wanting" is exposure COMPENSATION (where you're over-riding the exposure that the camera has chosen).

Personally though, I wouldn't use exposure compensation in this situation - it CAN get it right, but it can also be inconsistent - which is why I suggested "going manual".

What flash do you have?

[ronno13]

[Crovean]

Got to share this family picture of mine. The wife and kiddo.


I need to upload a better version of this one. It seems like after uploading it to facebook it soften the faces.

[M Aella]

Sorry, not trying to get on a tangent. lol That's what my camera is telling me I'm doing when I try to use exposure compensation (Exposure comp./AEB setting). It "brackets" and I don't know if I can or how to turn that off and just pick one compensation. My camera only makes it to two shots when I have it on continuous shooting so I don't even get three shots to "choose from" LoL. I have to be doing something wrong, but can't figure it out yet. I have it on manual constantly as I'm trying to get a feel for when and how to use the different settings. I just have a inexpensive Zeikos external flash that came with the kit I bought.

[Crovean]

Jen,

When did you bought your Lightroom3? If you just bought it last month, you should be eligible for a free upgrade LR4.

Check it out!