Some Honest Critique Please

[Colin Southern]

Had a bit of company from Snoop Dog for the shoot too!

[Shadowman]

Great capture Colin.

[Shadowman]

Sometimes the photographer has to be a bit of a comedienne. I was posing for a photograph for my company and the setting was a laboratory. I didn't want to smile but the photographer would not stop shooting or joke telling until he got me to smile. I think most models for a candid portraiture are trying to convey a sense of maturity when the photographer is going for sparkle and liveliness.

Steve, I am impressed that you got her to smile! I had the hardest time getting some real smiles from my daughter on prom night. She's very pretty.

Over here Square cropped portraits (SCPs) - please post them here Ashwin sent me a grey card to copy and Colin had some pictures and words of advice for using one, but you may already know all this stuff so disregard if so

Myra

[Wirefox]

Thanks Dave. I have got the gist now. GIMP does allow me to spot sample. I tried spotting off a mid grey paving stone. Works a treat.

at least 4 or 5m long would be ideal

I have a 5m E-TTL cord on order. Straight cable this time, my 3m springy cable has an effective length of about 1.5m beyond that my light weight stand and shoot through brolly start to be magically drawn toward the camera. I will pop into the local photography shop for a grey card next time I am in town.

That is a very impressive shot without flash. I will give this a try.

Steve, I am impressed that you got her to smile! I had the hardest time getting some real smiles from my daughter on prom night.

I could not get Becki to flash me a natural smile for the life of me. I think they get really stressed out over these events. There is a lot of (perceived) pressure on them to look just right especially the girls

She's very pretty.

Dad's genes Well I vaguely remember my jeans were involved in the conception at some point. I cannot take any credit for her looks. Mum's responsible for the aesthetics. I am responsible for sarcasm and their weird senses of humour....apparently

I do remember your thread and ended up getting really good results. I will go back over the thread in more detail. I have developed a nasty habit of speed reading from reviewing technical papers at work. If flash and portraits were not in my mind as keywords at the time I would have skipped over a fair bit of what is now going to be useful to me.

Steve

[Colin Southern]

Great capture Colin.

Thanks Shadowman - but honestly, shots like that are 100% simple technique, and approx 0% "brainpower"; they only take a few minutes to do - all one has to do is find some shade with an interesting background that's in the shade, but not far away from sun - get a VAL (standing in the sun) to reflect some light bad into the shade (from the right direction), and "job done"

PS: What IS your first name?

[Colin Southern]

Sometimes the photographer has to be a bit of a comedienne. I was posing for a photograph for my company and the setting was a laboratory. I didn't want to smile but the photographer would not stop shooting or joke telling until he got me to smile. I think most models for a candid portraiture are trying to convey a sense of maturity when the photographer is going for sparkle and liveliness.

In my experience, a spontanious laugh / smile wins hands-down EVERY TIME. It's true that you do kill more shots due to catching goofy expressions too, but the keepers you do get are an order of magnitude above what you'll ever get with the old "say cheese". Getting them laughing is the hard part though - I'm about the closest thing to an "anti-comedian" as you're ever likely to meet, so I have to reply on other techniques; with kids, usually the best way to get them laughing is to get their friends to do it for you - parents usually do a pretty good job too - and the occasional "exact opposite" from me works a bit too (right you - don't smile - I Said - Don't SMILE - DON'T SMILE DAMN IT!!!) (followed by a smile ... click!). Also, sometimes I'll give the camera to the kids and get them to chase their parents with it trying to take a few shots (parents generally don't mind inflicting photography on their kids, but it's a different story when the camera is pointed at them -- and the kids love it!).

Whilst on the subject though, I'm always careful to brief the parents into ensuring that they keep the kids in a "happy space" before hand - if it gets to the point where they're yelling "Jonny - get out of the darn car - you're getting your photo taken whether you like it or not" then it's pretty much game over before you even start Also, a glass or two of wine for adults being photographed is also a no no - it goes straight to the face and screws up skin tones.

[Colin Southern]

I have a 5m E-TTL cord on order. Straight cable this time, my 3m springy cable has an effective length of about 1.5m beyond that my light weight stand and shoot through brolly start to be magically drawn toward the camera. I will pop into the local photography shop for a grey card next time I am in town.

Grab a white / silver reflector and a 1m diffuser while you're there, and you'll be "good to go"

[Shadowman]

The name is John.

Thanks Shadowman - but honestly, shots like that are 100% simple technique, and approx 0% "brainpower"; they only take a few minutes to do - all one has to do is find some shade with an interesting background that's in the shade, but not far away from sun - get a VAL (standing in the sun) to reflect some light bad into the shade (from the right direction), and "job done"

PS: What IS your first name?

[Shadowman]

Colin,

Great techniques. If you were photographing an executive or officer would you just accept the attitude?

In my experience, a spontanious laugh / smile wins hands-down EVERY TIME. It's true that you do kill more shots due to catching goofy expressions too, but the keepers you do get are an order of magnitude above what you'll ever get with the old "say cheese". Getting them laughing is the hard part though - I'm about the closest thing to an "anti-comedian" as you're ever likely to meet, so I have to reply on other techniques; with kids, usually the best way to get them laughing is to get their friends to do it for you - parents usually do a pretty good job too - and the occasional "exact opposite" from me works a bit too (right you - don't smile - I Said - Don't SMILE - DON'T SMILE DAMN IT!!!) (followed by a smile ... click!). Also, sometimes I'll give the camera to the kids and get them to chase their parents with it trying to take a few shots (parents generally don't mind inflicting photography on their kids, but it's a different story when the camera is pointed at them -- and the kids love it!).

Whilst on the subject though, I'm always careful to brief the parents into ensuring that they keep the kids in a "happy space" before hand - if it gets to the point where they're yelling "Jonny - get out of the darn car - you're getting your photo taken whether you like it or not" then it's pretty much game over before you even start Also, a glass or two of wine for adults being photographed is also a no no - it goes straight to the face and screws up skin tones.

[Colin Southern]

Colin,

Great techniques. If you were photographing an executive or officer would you just accept the attitude?

Hi John,

Thanks for the first name

To answer the question, it really depends on what the shot is for; eg an officer looking staunch and formal wouldn't really fly if it were at a Christmas party, and of course a shot in full military uniform & ceremony sword wouldn't really fly if he or she were laughing like they'd just heard the joke of the decade. So horses for courses; perhaps the best way to answer the question is simply to say just "bracket" your expressions ... you don't have to use every shot, and it's easier than reshooting later

[cneedha]

Steve,
This is a little late in the thread (sorry!) but I think the lighting in your original post needs some directionality to it. Everything is a bit 'flat'. Other than that I think it is a nice shot.
Chris