Male Portrait III

[Digital]

Other than the top right hand corner of the background, I kind of like this shot. Tried to get one of the managers of the Senior Citiens Center to remove that Halloween decoration for my shot. She replied "after November 1st, have atta it". This is not the spirit of cooperation I was hoping for. Also, you can see part of another decoration off to the left.
Shot with on-camera flash bounced off ceiling to subject's right. Next time, I plan to bounce the flash off a white reflector.
Aperture- f/5.6
Shutter - 1/125
ISO - 400
After initial testing, the ambient light was to insignificant to have an influence on this pic.
This is an example of short lighting.
C&C welcomed. Bruce

[Manfred M]

You've correctly identified the pumpkin in the top right hand corner, but as I continue scanning the edge of the image, I see a few more spots that would warrant attention when composing this shot. There is a small dark spot at the top on the centre left side, something else intruding on the top left corner. There seems to be a strange shadow on the bottom left side and the suspender on the bottom right corner is a bit awkward too. When I can, I do a quick scan around the viewfinder before pressing the shutter release. If I find an issue, I will reframe and repeat the process.

Other issues; the image needs some import sharpening; it's a touch too soft. These are due to the AA filter on your camera and the demosaicing process by the raw convertor. If your shoot raw, you need to sharpen your images.

There are some hot spots on the usual areas - forehead, checks, under the eyes and on the nose that need a bit of dodging. I would also to a tiny bit of burning in on the eyes to add a bit of brightness / sparkle.

[Digital]

Manfred, thanks for the pointers. I did some sharpening in LR along with some dodging of the facial highlights.
I believe that what you are seeing is part of the Halloween decoration (top -left corner). The "strange shadow" on the bottom left side is his suspenders.
The intrusion on the left top a part of a wall clock.
Is there anything that is positive in this pic, in your opinion?


Bruce

[rpcrowe]

Why not just remove the offending Halloween decor in PP?

[Manfred M]

Is there anything that is positive in this pic, in your opinion?

Sorry for the omission. I was primarily looking at the image from a technical standpoint.

The harsher lighting works well for a mature male subject. All the lines in the face, the stubble of his beard and the other "badges of honour" that he has accumulated through his life are reflected in how you captured and processed this image. I think you have done a good job in capturing his personality.

[Manfred M]

Why not just remove the offending Halloween decor in PP?

Agreed, that can be done, but ideally this should be avoided when the picture is taken. Learning good technique avoids having to do so in post.

[Digital]

Manfred, thanks for the positive feedback. The facial highlights were more pronounced since I did not use a BFT on this shot so some of the light from the flash apparently hit his face. When I next shoot I plan to use the "Black Foamie Thing".
I am including a pic that shows what I am dealing with at the Senior Citizens Center when it comes to the only available spot in this entire room (and it is a pretty big room). My "studio" is the wall between those two windows. You can understand why I asked that those Halloween decorations be removed. I am usually pretty good at cropping the wall clock out as well as the windows. The decorations I could not completely crop out, and I knew this going in.
Bruce

[Manfred M]

Bruce you list everything other than the focal length you are using. What focal length was this shot taken with?

A longer focal length will give you a smaller field of view, so this can be used to limit the width of the background. You were shooting from just below eye level. Shooting a little bit above it would also reduce the higher elements on the background. If your subject is sitting, rather than standing, this would position them lower on the background as well.

[KimC]

Manfred, can you elaborate on this further for me, or point me in the direction where I can read about this? Thanks

Other issues; the image needs some import sharpening; it's a touch too soft. These are due to the AA filter on your camera and the demosaicing process by the raw convertor. If your shoot raw, you need to sharpen your images.

[Manfred M]

Manfred, can you elaborate on this further for me, or point me in the direction where I can read about this? Thanks

CiC has some very good tutorials:


They can be found in the tutorial section on this page.

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/ph...-tutorials.htm

[Digital]

Bruce you list everything other than the focal length you are using. What focal length was this shot taken with?

A longer focal length will give you a smaller field of view, so this can be used to limit the width of the background. You were shooting from just below eye level. Shooting a little bit above it would also reduce the higher elements on the background. If your subject is sitting, rather than standing, this would position them lower on the background as well.

Focal length: 52mm

The subject was seated, as was I.


Bruce

[Manfred M]

Focal length: 52mm

Next time, try to go longer. 52mm (78mm full-frame equivalent) is a very short focal length for this type of image. For head shots I tend to be in the range of 135mm to 200mm FF, or 90 - 135mm on your D300.

[Digital]

Thanks Manfred, will do. Believe it or not I prefer to use longer focal lengths for portraiture.


Bruce

[Cantab]

Why not just remove the offending Halloween decor in PP?

Bruce, I think you've done a good portrait here (with the assistance of Richard's removal of the wall decorations).

[Digital]

Thank you Bruce.


Bruce

[Digital]

Practicing my sharpening skills. Feel free to comment.
Bruce

[Manfred M]

Can you please describe how you are doing your sharpening Bruce?

I find it is still a bit soft for my taste, especially the eyes.

[Digital]

I attempted to sharpen under LR. In the detail tab in the Develop module. If I am not doing this correctly, please point me in the right direction.
Thanks.

Bruce

[Digital]

Any better?

[Digital]

Still playing around.