Sunflower portraits

[Evertking]

1.
IMG_4919 by James Cason, on Flickr

2.
IMG_4820 by James Cason, on Flickr

3.
IMG_4815 by James Cason, on Flickr

Any advice is more that welcome.

Thanks

[William W]

Hands...

Careful with any posing of Hands: note how much more relaxed, and therefore more inviting to the Viewer's Eye is Image #1 contrasted to Image #2. Certainly the facial expressions are different: but the Hands in Image #2 are 'stiff starch' and that communicates a lot to the Viewer.

Typically the Hands (if Hands are in shot) are the next most important communicative feature to the Viewer: the Face (usually) being the most communicative feature of the Subject.

WW

[Shadowman]

Nice series, odd blur spot on the first image.

[lovelife65]

Not being a portrait photographer, I must ask how you are getting your bokeh in these images, because each one has very odd looking backgrounds/bokeh ... It's either that or I am not in tune to how it works.
#1 has a weird spot on top of the above, and #3 has as well, right at her hair mid down head.

Nice efforts, agree about how the model is perceived... she looks stiff in 2nd image...

[xpatUSA]

Not being a portrait photographer, I must ask how you are getting your bokeh in these images, because each one has very odd looking backgrounds/bokeh ...

About the only classic bokeh is in the third shot, sticking out from her head toward camera right. It looks OK (bokeh-wise). Can't comment on anything else in that shot because there is no EXIF.

Can't say that I like the background being blurred so much against the sharpness of the model's rendering.

[Evertking]

We got to the sunflower feild and the owner was like " flowers look awful but more will be up in a few weeks" and he was right.. lol
They were haggard looking! so i found one or two that was "ok" but.. i made the best out of it and shot anywhere from f1.2 - 2.8 and i honestly not sure about the bokeh but it should be smooth as a babys rear for as much as i have paid for them.
William, again, thanks.. i get so caught up in the technical that i just... i dont know.. its like i put blinders on and when the shoot is over im like... i should have done this or that. Practice makes perfect, right??

Thanks everyone for the input, it does help.

[lovelife65]

What camera and lens, just curious

[Manfred M]

+1 to Bill's comments. Overall I still wonder about your exposure in this series.

Image 1 - the strongest of the group. The out of focus foreground flowers are definitely a bit distracting.

Image 2 - Agree with Bill's comments on the hands. A looser and more flowing placement of the hands would help. It looks like you are shooting at an angle as your subject seems to be ready to topple over. I've straightened things out and played with the exposure here:





Image 3 - Again, the camera does not appear to be level and the way she is standing looks awkward. The exposure just seems off a bit here too. I don't like the bright spot on the camera right side of her head and the sky above the tree line is not working all that well for me either.

[William W]

. . . when the shoot is over im like... i should have done this or that. Practice makes perfect, right??....

Absolutely practice makes for the next personal best – not “perfect”.

Also, remember that the other photo, the photo that you made with the WA lens, is a cracker, sensational and you should shout yourself a beer or two… yet there are nits to pick within it.

There will always will be nits to pick at – how else would we get better and move on to our next personal best?

WW

[William W]

BTW the Subject has the ability for a wonderful connectivity via her face and her expression: I assume she is not a Professional Model, or if she is, it appears she has a short experience.

I think that if you let her be more free (i.e. you not be prescriptive apropos the pose), and/or you advise her to be more relaxed (she seems to be trying too hard), then her face will open up to many more expressions which will connect to the Viewer.

It's interesting that she was most connective to the Viewer in the other shot - in that shot she was holding someone's hand.

It might be that she needs that communication with another person . . .

Try talking to her more during the shoot - general stuff.

Probably talking more about general stuff to her, will relax you too. Maybe you'll forget about thinking about all the technical stuff and realize that you know enough of it NOT to actually have to think about it ALL THE TIME . . .

WW

[Manfred M]

+1 to Bill's comments. He's been doing this a lot longer than I have.

He brings up two important points:

1. Communicating with your model - this develops a "connection" with your subject and is critical for a taking a strong shot. I will always review my communications techniques with my models, even if I have shot with them before. I use a combination of verbal and visual cues and explain how I do this before every shoot. If they don't seem to get this (often as the shoot goes on), I will talk to them about it. If I get a shot I like, I will show it to them on the back of the camera to let them know that we are having success.

Any model, regardless of their experience in front of a camera needs feedback from a photographer. Lack of communications is the quickest way of losing the connection with your model, even highly experienced ones. The best way to convince your model that they are doing something wrong is to take a few shots, review your shots and proceed without saying anything.

2. Practice (i.e. experience) does make perfect - I hate admitting this, but photography is all about "good enough" images. If you are shooting for friends and family, you want images that they are happy with. If you are shooting "commercial" images, they have to meet your client's expectations. If you are shooting for photo competitions, you have to create images that stand out and have an impact on the members of the jury who are judging your images.

Skills in posing the model, using your equipment and post processing all come into play.