Portrait Feedback Please!

[ThatOneGuy]

Hey guys,

I have been following this forum for quite some time and I trust your opinion and advice. I'm new to photography in general and I recently purchased a T4i with the 18-55mm lens. I did some editing in Lightroom 4 and I'd like your feedback on some recent portraits I took.

Thanks in advance!

 

[akiskev]

Hello there! Colors, contrast, sharpness, I find them great.
Now for the actual images:
I really liked the first one!
The girl is too centered at the second shot (for my taste)..
The 3rd one is not flattering because it was taken from a higher point(I think) and makes the model look like a dwarf!

 

[Menace]

Like the first one most. Agree with akiskev re the third image - makes her look a bit short.

Carry on shooting and have fun

 

[Kernuak]

I like the framing of the building, but for me, the model is too centered on all of the images. For the first one, the tallest part of the building is on the right, so I think having the model more to the left would help to balance it better. I think having her in front of the the middle window of the three would work best, as it would set her against a plainer background and the dark space would accentuate her blond hair. That said, it is the one that works best for me too and the last one definitely gives the appearance of being a snapshot (even if it was intentional), due to looking down on her, instead of being at her level. That isn't to say that it can't work, I remember seeing an image recently where pretty much all the rules were broken. The model was photographed with a wideangle lens, which is usually not recommended and the camera was a long way above her. Despite that, it worked, even if it wasn't to everyone's taste. The key to breaking rules is making it look like it was deliberate, if you don't achieve that, then everyone will assume it is a mistake. Even when you do successfully break the rules though, it will polarise opinions, some will like it, others will hate it. It is important to learn compositional (and other) rules, but also don't be afraid to break them to give your images a sense of individuality.

 

[Kernuak]

I think the white balance might be a little off on the third one too, so it's worth checking that.

 

[ThatOneGuy]

Thank you guys for the pointers and your opinion! Kernuak- I can see what you mean about changing the position of the model compared to the tallest part of the building and we are going back tomorrow to try out the new positioning as well as making sure the model is not in the center of the picture as much.

Thank you all again and I look forward to my future in photography and to see what else I can learn from you guys!

 

[Drizzt321]

The other issue I have with the 3rd one is you're at a pretty wide of a focal length, all the way wide at 18mm. Generally for portraits it's better to go a bit longer if you have the room to back up and get the framing you want. If you look, you can see the perspective distortion a bit between her feet and her body and her head. Also the truck body seems a bit of a distortion if you look. Some of that may be the lens, which Lightroom 4 can generally correct, but some of it is just what a wider focal length does to the perspectives.

Also, what the others said. Watch out for having the back of the camera tilted at a significant angle off of perpendicular to the ground (meaning pointing the lens up/down in relation to the ground). You should also often put your subject towards one side of the frame or the other.

Some general guidelines (rules are made to be broken, right? But you gotta know them first) for composition can be found at http://www.photographymad.com/pages/view/10-top-photography-composition-rules/ and http://www.ephotozine.com/article/12-top-photography-composition-rules-17158. These are by no means comprehensive, but bring up topics/ideas that you can easily do more research on. Do you have a nearby community college or camera shop? Check with them about intro to photography workshops.

Don't let all of the above discourage you, you have a great start and obviously a willing model. As long as she can be patient with you, you'll get better and better! Really, only way you get better is shooting, looking at your photos, and getting feedback like from us. I look forward to seeing more!

 

[Hillsilly]

Looks good. What's going on with that house? I reckon you could probably take a few cool photos of it on its own.

I'm getting a vibe that your model is only partially enthusiastic? Perhaps get her to smile a bit more? Maybe tell some jokes? Maybe convince her there's no spiders or snakes living in there? She does have a nice facial expression in the third photo - hopefully its not because you've said its the last photo and its time to go home! Also, I'd consider removing the palm tree antenna from the car in the third photo. Personally, I like the second photo as your model plays more of a prominent role.

You've chosen an interesting location for a photo shoot. That's always a good start.

 

[verysimplejason]

Nice colors on all pictures. They're just a little bit boring for my taste. It's just my opinion but you could have played a little bit more with the placing of the model. You can also play with camera angles. Try to excite the eyes a little bit more. You can also let your model be creative with her emotions and poses. Just remember that there are rules in photography and those rules are also meant to be broken.

 

[RLPhoto]

All these are technically fine.

The problem is the poses are un-flattering and lacks a final vision.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[michi]

Being new to photography, you're doing very well, you have a good eye. I'm not a fan of the poses with the hand in her hair, kind of unnatural. But all in all great pictures. Keep it up!

 

[marekjoz]

If you are a beginner, you're doing a great job.
Many aspects are quite subjective matter of a personal taste, like saturation. There are people, who prefer more saturated colors, and you can find known people publishing their blogs who start making photos with saturation slided +3 in their cameras. I prefer rather less saturated images like in your picture, which I tried to edit and shown beneath. There are some general advises regarding the framing, according to the rule of third, where it's usually better to put the main subject not in the center but rather somewhere in 1/3 of the hight/width of the frame. It's good, when while watching the photo, your eye can slide through it catching main subject, it's surroundings and finally the background. If you manage to catch some blurred foreground in edges or sides of the frame as well as background behind and even can make that subjects on the photo are sharp but become more and more blurred in some areas, it can make the photo "pop" showing truely 3-dimensional scene. As composition is the most difficult part of the photographer's job, I don't feel myself confident enough in this area to discuss it any longer
From technical point of view, to make subjects blurred, you simply set the number of the lenses' aperture as low as you can. If you move your focused subject more away from the background in the camera's direction, it will also lead to more blurred background. It helps to focus the viewer's eye according to your intention with the camera's AF focused area. It's also very often good to catch the sky not quite white but blue and the most dark areas not black but dark grey (if they are not really black of course). As it's in most cases the limitation of camera's sensor, you can fight aginst this shooting in RAW mode rather than JPEG mode and fix it later in postprocessing by increasing the shadows lumination and decreasing the highlight lumination and playing with tonal curve.
As all have mentioned before discussing the third photo, there was some problem with the setting focal length on your lens. You can read this article to see how the focal of your camera affects the image captured by the camera: http://photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/photography-fundamentals/exploring-how-focal-length-affects-images/ and see this wonderful visual explanation: http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3hp9gKTiO1qjltcyo1_500.gif
At last but not least, always observe your model's surrounding, like stones or branches to avoid situation "when you see it..." - 2nd photo
Anyway personally I think you deal great with your camera and only more shooting, reading, discussing and learning on your own errors will lead you to better work. And don't blame yourself, that your photos are not briliant (like other you see in Internet) just after downloading them from the camera - it's very rare not to enhance something or crop even a litlle in postprocessiing!. Ah, it's always easy to discuss someone's other work
Keep on shooting and make your model more smile

 

[kurnitb]

Hi there ThatOneGuy,
The photos are good for a beginner. Here are some feedback from me :
General Comments :
When taking portraits - try to see when the light sources are coming from, then try to pose your subject because usually common people does not know what looks best in front of the camera. Rule of thirds might be good here as well for your images. I have written a few photo tips on my blog, please do feel free to check them out (www.lightingjourney.blogspot.com).

Photo1 :
I am assuming you are shooting an environmental portrait type of look, which is pretty cool. My suggestion is that you might want to get the subject to have her right arm to be angled away (not aligned to her body) such that you could see a separation between her body and the arm (creates depth and more pleasing look). Rule of third might be a good idea as well (placing the subject a little bit to the left or framing it more to the right).

Photo3 :
For this the car behind her is somewhat huge and it gives the weight to the car rather than the portrait so what you can do is to bring her closer to the camera which will give the focus and attention more to the subject instead of the car. When you are shooting cars, maybe it is advisable that you should not cover the front of the car so maybe place your subject to the right of camera.

Hope my feedback helps. Keep on shooting.

 

[canon816]

Also on # 3 you could shoot with a longer focal length and larger aperture. This would isolate your subjects more from the background... which is currently in focus and does not add anything to the image. You can move your model closer to the camera to make her look larger in the frame and take the focus (sorry for the pun) off the truck.

If you have a few lenses with you and a willing model you should try a few different shots. Try different apertures, focal lengths and poses so when you get home you can see which setups support the what you were envisioning.

Keep having fun!

 

[marekjoz]

(..)
If you have a few lenses with you and a willing model you should try a few different shots. Try different apertures, focal lengths and poses so when you get home you can see which setups support the what you were envisioning.

Keep having fun!

lenses; apertures, focal

Oh man, this is so true..

 

[ThatOneGuy]

Hey guys,

Thank you very much for all your feedback! After seeing some of your comments I can definitely tell what you are talking about. I had a couple of those "duh" moments. As for the 3rd picture I knew something was off about it, but I couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. But now that I see what you guys mean about the distortion due to me having my lens wide open I see what you guys mean. The posing I am still getting used to and getting some different ideas. These were within the first 200 pictures I had with my camera, so I am still trying to get used to it and lightroom 4. I am hoping that with all of your help and more experience I can definitely have the ability to create those 'wow' images.

Haha the model (aka my girlfriend) was not in a good mood that day and I was definitely in the dog house. I feel like it would be a little easier when the subject is more willing and wants to do it. She was in a better mood so we went out yesterday and did the pictures again at the same location so I could see what differences I was making compared to last time. We both had a lot more fun this time, until she realized she was wearing the same outfit as last time.lol.

Here are two more pictures that I took yesterday when we went out. I tried to have her pose a little differently and made her move around, but the weather was not cooperating that day.

Thanks again for all the input everyone!!!

 

[wickidwombat]

That squatting pose is really not good delete it from your shot list, very very unflattering to the poor girl
Also try not have straight joints like the main supporting leg where knee is locked solid
and get her to wear heals it will make her poses a lot better due to creating better shape to her legs
Search for some posing guides there is a lot of resource around on the net get a few good poses and practice those shoting at different angles

 

[Andy_Hodapp]

The photos don't seem to me to be all that flattering, I'm sure she is very pretty in person but I recommend going closer to your subject, she shouldn't look like an ant. Also try and draw attention more toward her face and eyes. I'm the kind of person that thinks that the eyes should be the centerpiece. Sometimes isolating your subject helps, just don't get carried away or lazy with shallow depth of field. I would recommend for future shots to shot at 55mm as at 18mm the subject often looks a bit strange at such a wide angle. Your photo editing seems to be good. I'm not a professional, I'm just giving my advice, amateur to amateur. If you are planning on doing more portraits, I would recommend picking up a 50mm 1.8 II, it's a great cheap lens that I use for all my portraits. Here are some shots with my Canon T1i and the 50mm 1.8 II.

 

[picturesbyme]

That squatting pose is really not good delete it from your shot list, very very unflattering to the poor girl
Also try not have straight joints like the main supporting leg where knee is locked solid
and get her to wear heals it will make her poses a lot better due to creating better shape to her legs
Search for some posing guides there is a lot of resource around on the net get a few good poses and practice those shoting at different angles

I was about to write the same... the pose on #2 is a no no.. seriously...
OK. I'm far from pro too so my 2Cs...
The others are too centered. Nice model but doesn't show much interest and the not too interesting backgrounds add to that... next 2 are better as far as the smiles but again the pose, the composition, the backgrounds "ruin" it for me.
Think about why, where what you shoot. What light, backgrounds you are using and what would you like to achieve with them. Think about composition. Be strict with yourself. Don't be afraid of getting rid of photos that are not your bests.. of course this will continuously change as you're getting better and better.
Try more than one versions (DOF, light, comp).
If you haven't done it yet look at videos on youtube. This is a pretty good place: http://www.youtube.com/user/adoramaTV/videos but only one of the many good ones..
If you are interested in portraits it would be a good investment to get a good lens preferably in the f1.4-2.8 area... even if it's a 3rd party... I always said lens 1st bodies 2nd..
But the most important... You're heading to the right direction just Keep shooting!

 

[Drizzt321]

Hey guys,

Thank you very much for all your feedback! After seeing some of your comments I can definitely tell what you are talking about. I had a couple of those "duh" moments. As for the 3rd picture I knew something was off about it, but I couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. But now that I see what you guys mean about the distortion due to me having my lens wide open I see what you guys mean. The posing I am still getting used to and getting some different ideas. These were within the first 200 pictures I had with my camera, so I am still trying to get used to it and lightroom 4. I am hoping that with all of your help and more experience I can definitely have the ability to create those 'wow' images.

Haha the model (aka my girlfriend) was not in a good mood that day and I was definitely in the dog house. I feel like it would be a little easier when the subject is more willing and wants to do it. She was in a better mood so we went out yesterday and did the pictures again at the same location so I could see what differences I was making compared to last time. We both had a lot more fun this time, until she realized she was wearing the same outfit as last time.lol.

Here are two more pictures that I took yesterday when we went out. I tried to have her pose a little differently and made her move around, but the weather was not cooperating that day.

Thanks again for all the input everyone!!!

I think those 2 have better composition, although the posing can be improved I think. On the first one, you again have her squatting. If you could have her kneeling, or legs turned to the side, or sitting on something that'd be more flattering. When people are squatting like that, everything is visible, if you get what I mean. Otherwise, you might be able to crop up some for that photo and still get something usable.

I do notice something your model wants to keep doing, which is tilting/leaning her head off to the side to get the hanging hair. Does she look at a lot of bikini/fashion magazines? Sometimes they use those kinds of poses, hair hanging all the way off to the side. I'd recommend having something there to give the excuse for your model to lean against, or put her hand/fist/palm underneath her chin or lean the side of her head against rather than just having it suspended off like that.

The 2nd one I do like what you did with your composition, and the vignetting (darker edges/corners of the frame) which draws the eyes naturally more to her. Maybe move her a touch closer to the left edge of the frame for that shot, but that's just nit-picking and a maybe/maybe-not kind of thing. Also have her stand up straight. Head aligned more with her spine, and head level.

Just a tip for the future, be careful if you have her tuck her chin down and/or take a shot at an upwards angle with people as that can exaggerate their chin/nose or other things that makes the shot less flattering. Unless you are trying for that specific look at least. It's worth doing a couple of times as an experiment to see what it does, but otherwise avoid it in general.

But now that I see what you guys mean about the distortion due to me having my lens wide open I see what you guys mean.

In general, when we say wide open we're talking about the aperture being at it's widest (smallest f-number). In that case, the lenses was at it's widest focal length or it was a wide-angle shot. You'll get all the lingo, just pay attention and ask questions