First Portrait attempt

[celtex]

Hi,

Finally got round to attempting a portrait with my 60D (had to wait until my Daughter would actually sit for me!)

not quite got the hang of post processing sharpening so this may appear a bit soft?

anyway, how did I do?

Ian



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[colin C]

Re: First Portrait attempt

Good first attempt and with such an attractive model, I suspect many more sessions coming to perfect your portrait techniques.

Here are a few thoughts:

Always focus on the eyes. If they are sharp, everything else looks ok. If ever the eyes are at an angle away from you, make sure the closest eye is sharp.

Lovely blured background. That always helps with the apparent sharpness of the sitter, but the foliage and flowers are a little too vivid.Check the background before taking shots to avaoid any distraction.

The exposure is a little overexposed. Blonds with fair skin and blue eyes need a little more care with exposure. If in doubt, take a couple of shots to test the exposure, see how they look on the rear screen and adjust the exposure to suit. Check your camera's manual and read up on histogram, that will help.

You have made full use of the frame and there aren't any huge wasted areas at the top (a common mistake) and you obviously have a rapport with the model and it shows in the pose and facial expression.

Well done and keep up the good work ................... much better first portraits than I ever managed.

Colin

[celtex]

Re: First Portrait attempt

Thanks Colin,

Great coments, just what I was looking for. Re the background, yes, I kind of knew that when I was shooting, but this was one shot from a bunch, we had 8 teenagers and 5 adults all runnig around the garden, all there for me to take a group shot as a present to the Grandparents - so this (although it looks quite calm and serene) was a quick grab pose amongst all the chaos - so it was actually all a bit rushed, not the best environment when I am still getting used to the camera and changing settings on the fly (given me a new respect for wedding photographers though!).

I thought it was over exposed (funny, I took some braketed shots of other folk - typical!) but also, I think I made it even worse in DPP afterwards by messing around with the brightness. All good stuff to learn about.

I am struggling with focus though, my eyesight is good, no need of glasses (yet) but I do seem to struggle with some shots - espcially with the telephoto lens (this was a tamron 70 - 300 at 70 mm, F4, at 1/80th on AV). And I find it hard (on my laptop's monitor) to see how sharp the images are.

Oh, and apologies, I missed a 0 out in my post - it is 600D - not a 60D

Thanks for the feedback

Ian

[gibsonk]

Re: First Portrait attempt

Hi nice shot,

Just picking up on your comments about your monitor, i recently replaced my laptop to one with a high resolution display and have never looked back, my images now have taken on a whole new lease of life.

I originally had a cheap laptop with a 1366x768 display, i found like you that i struggled with checking my focus and exposure of images.

I have since replaced it with a DELL XPS 15 with a 1920x1080 BG+R LED Display, this has incredible sharpness and colour gamut, granted this was a £170 option on top of my configured price of around £850 but i have never looked back.

I understand this is a very expensive option just to help with your images on your computer but it may be worth considering if you upgrade.

Alternatively you can get some very good deals on secondhand monitors, for instance i have seen some used "DELL 20" Ultra Sharp" monitors for excellent money these are very very good. Just be aware of what display ports you have on your Laptop and ensure the monitor is compatible.

As a rough guide if your laptop is quite old 3-4 years then you will more than likely be looking at a VGA monitor port, if reasonably new then you may have HDMI but i wouldn't recommend this for a decent monitor it's ok to plug it into your TV, you may have a DVI display port if you have a Mid to High end laptop, this would be my display port of choice, ask your friendly local store they will advise you, or if you let me know what your laptop is i should be able to guide you.

Regards

[celtex]

Re: First Portrait attempt

Thanks Gibsonk,

Great info, it is a Toshiba equium, and it must be 2 years old, but it was pretty middle of the road spec - it is my business computer and to be honest, it has been hammered - it is on from 8 til late every day, I have killed the battery and it has only a VGA monitor port. - works fine with my DLP projector for powerpoint and the like.

But to be honest the processor is quite old and low spec (centrino duo 1.6) what I am trying to do here of course is convince myself it is time for an upgrade!

Thanks for the help

Ian

[gibsonk]

Re: First Portrait attempt

If you do upgrade you probably want a 2nd gen I Core Intel CPU I5 and a minimum of 4gb memory ideally 6gbl, it's surprising how much processing power is needed when using Applications like "Adobe Light Room" etc.

The Centrino DUO isn't bad for its day but really aimed at portability than anything else, let me know if you want advice in a choice if you do upgrade (IT is my job (GEEK LOL))

[briansquibb]

Re: First Portrait attempt

If you do upgrade you probably want a 2nd gen I Core Intel CPU I5 and a minimum of 4gb memory ideally 6gbl, it's surprising how much processing power is needed when using Applications like "Adobe Light Room" etc.

The Centrino DUO isn't bad for its day but really aimed at portability than anything else, let me know if you want advice in a choice if you do upgrade (IT is my job (GEEK LOL))

I have a 3Ghz Core 2 duo with 8Gb memory which occasionaly peaks out. But as I dont process masses of photos at a time that is not a problem. I would suggest a soldi state disk (SSD) and 8Gb memory more important than raw processing power.

A VGA out to a 1080p 40" television is an interesting monitor at home - you see a lot more detail that way (just make sure you the PC/laptop can output at 1920 x 1200). If you can manage then a 17" laptop screen is the way to go (again at 1920 x 1200). Screen size is one area where size does count!

[celtex]

Re: First Portrait attempt

Thanks again guys, re the computer, I am actually looking at keeping the laptop, getting a new battery and using it just as my mobile workstation, and upgrading to a descktop with a nice big monitor. It will have to wait a couple of months but I am starting to look. Appreciate the offer of advice gibsonk, may give you a shout nearer the time.

Thanks everyone.

Ian

[Trevoreast]

Re: First Portrait attempt

Hi Ian,
I think you’ve done very well !

In my garden I have a couple of places where I tend shoot all my portraits, sounds boring but it gives me one less thing to worry about when people are milling about. I know the DOFs I will get using different apertures and focal lengths, just from having done it a loads of times in the same position in similar light.

In that light, I would put my camera in manual with no flash and adjust my exposure for how I want the BG - how bright or dark. You could call this metering for the ambient light if you want.
Next I’d wheel my subject(s) into this area fire with the flash in ettl – no compensation. After the first shot I’d check the histogram and adjust the Flash exposure compensation (FEC) if required.

On your camera, if you are using the built in flash, you can hit the Q button then adjust the (FEC) quickly (+or-) if required. No need to adjust the ambient light exposure setting unless the ambient light changes.

Just giving you another way to skin a cat.

Trev

[celtex]

Re: First Portrait attempt

Thanks Trev

Ian