Messages

16

Portrait / Re: Speedlight for perfect night portraits

« on: August 27, 2012, 06:37:17 PM »

don´t be afraid of long exposure times, the flash will freeze you subject and  for  you background there is IS

Yes, thanks for another post mentioning about high ISO.  With 5d3, dont be afraid to go for high ISO up to 3000.  Also, agree with the suggestion on Van Neil's books. 

17

Portrait / Re: Speedlight for perfect night portraits

« on: August 27, 2012, 02:42:14 PM »

Yay, welcome to the world of speed flash photography.  You should start reading http://strobist.blogspot.com.
To get you started, here are some simple camera setting to improve your night shot. 

- Switch your camera to Av mode
- Keep Evaluative Metering mode
- Set your camera to the faster aperture as possible and still maintain the good DOF. Eg: f2.8 on 50mm lens.

Without flash, fire it.  Note that the scene is correctly exposed but the subject could be underexposed if it's backlight.  That's why you need to add fill flash.

Attach and turn on the flash, change the flash's mode to E-TTL (extremely important), and without changing any previous setting,   fire the shot again.

Now, your subject should be lit properly and the background still maintain a good exposure, not DARKEN.

Enjoy!

18

Portrait / Re: natural light

« on: August 18, 2012, 11:56:45 AM »

All my shots are with reflector.  They were good images to start with.  Directional lighting!

19

Portrait / Re: My photos look so dull

« on: August 16, 2012, 07:58:57 PM »

Looks like all of them are shot with flash , except the first one (Unless you were using a diffuser to soften and spread the nice evenly while shooting at a higher focal length)

I vote that the last one was bounced. just because i like the picture the most

Indeed, only the last one is shot with bounced flash at night time inside the house.   The others are all natural light coming from a large window.  Window lighting is the simplest thing I learned to shoot portrait and I strongly suggest every newcomer should learn to master it .

I would not recommend buying WB card or such, it's a waste of $. When you first start, shoot in RAW and adjust it in post-processing.  Only take < minute.  When you're good, you can set manual WB to adjust to the env you need and off you go, no more post-processing .   

20

Portrait / Re: 50mm f1.4 group photo

« on: August 16, 2012, 07:49:45 PM »

I don't recommend using tripod to shoot portrait as it's too sssssslow to act and there is not much difference in sharpness.  You may need it if you want to print anything > 24 x 36in.  Otherwise, dont.  With the right technique and practice, you will get a sharp photo without tripod.

With just ambient light as main light, you will have to use fast speed, ~1/100s for a non-moving subjects (general rule is 1/focal length as some already mentioned) for medium lens.  If you shoot kids, forget it.  YOu will need at least 1/200s.

With flash acting as main light, you can drag the shutter, meaning you can shoot as slow as 1/15s without getting blurry.  See the following shot taken @1/20s, f/5.0, 800 ISO.

21

Portrait / Re: First time at wedding - feedback please

« on: August 16, 2012, 12:57:17 PM »

My sincere advice to the beginner is to learn how to get it right out of the camera, not with PP.  You still need to learn Photoshop skills but that takes time.  Focus on technique, composition, lighting, and the rest will follow.

22

Portrait / Re: 6 Months into Photography - Collection of Photos - Critique

« on: August 15, 2012, 10:01:47 PM »

You are 6 months in. Just keep shooting and growing as a photographer and artist. I wouldnt even begin to think about getting paid for work until people start saying, "hey, your work is special, I want to give you my hard earned money in exchange for your talent."

Just focus on your craft and not the cash.

Bottom line: I wouldn't expect people to pay me for anything after just 6 months of practice.

Concur that

23

Portrait / Re: My photos look so dull

« on: August 15, 2012, 07:51:26 PM »

I know it's hard to explain.  However, it's all about quality of the light, whether it is natural or flash, whichever.  For  a portrait photo, soft and directional light is "usually" the best light for a subject, particularly in a female, or kids . 

Yes, some photos you post were in wrong white balance setting, which is another thing you will need to learn so my suggestion is shoot in RAW so you can easily fix it in pp.

These are the shots of my kids taken 4-6 years back.  Tell me if you know which one is shot with flash.  Hint: only 1 taken with "bounce" flash

24

Portrait / Re: Sadie - Lyra, Flour, and Chaos

« on: August 15, 2012, 01:06:32 PM »

awesome!

25

Portrait / Re: BODY portrait....of Alex, 19....

« on: August 15, 2012, 12:36:05 PM »

Very nice, indeed.  may I suggest twisting the lighting ratio (hightlight-shadow) even higher to emphasize the strength and manly side of Alex ?  Very low-key ....

26

Portrait / Re: First time at wedding - feedback please

« on: August 15, 2012, 12:26:57 PM »

My fav is the shot with the dancing couple.  However, it look to me that the shots are underexposed.  Also, I would stay away from blurring the photos in post processing (pp) as they don't enhance your photos.  Focus more on the technique and lighting., IMO.

27

Portrait / Re: A girl and her horse

« on: August 15, 2012, 12:18:41 PM »

Good shots and lighting overall.  Love the first 2 shots.  The first one would be improved with a better composition, 2 horses on both side is a bit of distraction.  I would focus on the horse that the girl holds and get rid of the other horse.  Beautiful model!

I would add some shots with the girl using the horses are background or prop.

28

Portrait / Re: Reverse Engineer this please

« on: August 15, 2012, 12:15:08 PM »

It looks like just proper exposure with post-processing done. Dodge and burn.

The first one might be flash but I cant see the eyes enough to tell.

Agreed.  The main soft light comes from the sun at the right side of the camera; it's soft on cloudy day.  May add a bit of fill-flash.  Some D&B at the corner in post-process.  Other than that, not much to comment on the photo

29

Portrait / Re: 50mm f1.4 group photo

« on: August 15, 2012, 12:08:09 PM »

Agreed!  If I would do it, it would be with bounce flash at the combo f/3.5 and ISO-2000, which is roughly  equivalent to the setting you had at f/9, ISO 12800.  I would not push ISO beyond 3200 even on 5d3.

Still a beautiful group of people .  Have fun shooting!

30

Portrait / Re: natural light

« on: August 15, 2012, 12:00:41 PM »

If you don't mind criticism, the photos are just ok.  The lighting in most shots are neither flattered nor directional. 

Hope you don't mind me referencing the shots I took with natural light using reflector

Good stuff. Bit much on clarity on some.

Thanks.  Agreed w/ your comments.  These shots were taken 3-5 yrs back when I just started . 

BTW, I apologized to the thread's owner, I did not intend to use your thread to show off my stuff, just to make the point.  Have fun shooting!