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8th August 2017, 02:51 PM
#1
Kellany
Kellany, my 9 year old niece. She loves having her picture taken and I like the practice I get in taking portraits.....which I need.
Dave
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8th August 2017, 07:14 PM
#2
Moderator
Re: Kellany
Hi Dave,
I am no expert and have little portrait experience myself, but analysing and critiquing other's shots and also reading what the more experienced members contribute does help me a lot. So since this thread has been up a while and several have viewed and no-one has commented yet, I'll take the plunge.
I hope you do not become discouraged by the number of points I raise, I am just thinking out loud and bear in mind that my analysis may be flawed and/or assumptions incorrect.
Neither is particularly working for me as 'portraits' due to a combination of factors; pose/expression, lighting, background, shooting distance.
Starting with the shooting distance first, when viewing the two, I was surprised when I saw the EXIF data, that both were shot at 42mm (equivalent to 63 mm if shot on Full Frame) - I was sure that the second was a longer focal length and you'd consequently shot from further back, although I guess you might have - and cropped this one more in PP.
Anyway, the point I'm (slowly) getting too is that the close shooting distance encouraged by the 42 mm (when your lens could go to 140 mm) has led to the on camera flash exhibiting quite a fall off of light between Kellany's face and shoulders in the first. It also arguably makes her head appear somewhat larger due to the perspective.
Whereas in the second, where if anything, her shoulder may be closer to the lens (and flash) than her face, the opposite is almost true.
In #1, it looks like you had to do some serious highlight recovery/dimming on the background and I think there's a slight halo around her right shoulder as a result (although it could just be natural effect of vegetation patches on sand). I'd suggest a vignette would have worked well on this shot to control the brightness of the sky and left hand side.
Ditto for #2 with vignette - as I find her shoulder and neck competing with her face due to their relative brightnesses - and the brightly coloured, sharply defined patterned costume doesn't help either.
Regarding pose and expression, the 'stare' in #1 at something we can't see above the camera isn't vacant enough to be wistful, it kinda just looks like an accident of timing clicking the shutter.
In #2, I find her eyes just a little too closed.
The light, being on camera, is quite 'flat', although shadows are not too sharp edged, did you use some kind of diffuser?
I appreciate you're after portrait practice and you generally have to work with the 'available subjects', especially if they enjoy it, however I'm thinking that 9 years old is possibly a bit too young to be portrait 'posing' unless the photographer knows exactly what to ask for (as in "chin up, rotate your neck left a bit, a bit more please, thank you" and by the time you've done that, her eyes may not be 'engaging' with the camera/viewer), but I may be 'over-thinking' it.
What I have learnt from this analysis is that in a similar situation, better portrait lighting might have been achieved with the subject some six feet or more under the pier, while the camera is almost outside, shooting at 45 degrees inwards, so her background is darker and her face lit by natural light coming from a defined direction which would provide some 'modelling'. Don't use flash (if on-camera is only option, or use it a stop below ambient as a fill only), but be wary of subject movement during exposures.
Perhaps at this age it would be better to shoot candid shots while the subject(s) enjoy themselves running about and playing.
Just another Dave
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8th August 2017, 07:35 PM
#3
Re: Kellany
Thank you Dave for your comments. After reading your comments while comparing them to the images I can see what you are talking about.
Good points for me to remember for next time. I was using a SB700 on camera with an 8" diffuser and as you suspected #2 is cropped about 60%.
Dave
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8th August 2017, 09:09 PM
#4
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8th August 2017, 09:46 PM
#5
Re: Kellany
Thank you Richard for taking the time to explain your procedures and setups. This will certainly help me to improve as I work on my technique.
Dave
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8th August 2017, 10:25 PM
#6
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8th August 2017, 11:34 PM
#7
Re: Kellany
I'm sure that Kellany will be pleased with these Dave.
Perhaps one of the things we should consider in this type of photograph is our we taking the pictures for the 9 year old or for ourselves?
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