C+C My Portrait Session Effort? (10 Pics)

Hey all.

Always find that this forum offers invaluable advice when it comes to C+C (which is partly why I often shy away from posting on such threads when I see them), so I just thought I'd throw these up and see if people love them or hate them, and why.

My most recent lens purchase is the Sigma 30mm f/1.4, which is the lens I used for all these. I think it's a fantastic little lens. I must see if theres an EX Sigma to replace my Canon 17-85mm.

But anyway, on with the photographs.



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10.





I'll most likely be seeing these two ladies again at some point in the very near future, for more of the same (though with a different clothing and location, hopefully). I have absolutely no idea about framing two people (never did it before, except for snapshot-ish photographs), and can't seem to come up with any decent ideas for two girls together that'd look good/interesting.

So if anyone has any hints or tips on that front either, by all means feel free to throw some advice up.



Cheers for taking a peek

pete4130

To be blunt, honest and harsh they aren't good. Ther are blown highlights, the models look uncomfortable, the crops and compositions aren't strong, the location is uninteresting and the natural light is just too harsh. They look like you decided to shoot some portraits without any real forethought of what you wanted to achieve or how you wanted to achieve it. There isn't enough bokeh either. The clothing clashes with the background/location too. It's like you tried to do everything without actually capturing it. Like I said I don't mean to be so blunt.

Get a reflector, find some shade and bounce fill light in. Tighter crops, wider apertures, longer lenses, distant non distracting backgrounds. Think of a nice landscape and place a person in there and crop it to fit. Don't go so close with the wide lens. 50mm/30mm on crop sensor isn't so flattering closer than 1.5 m or so. Don't be afraid to crop the excess afterwards.

paulusdu

As a casual observer of portraits with no real experience in shooting them, i would have to disagree. There are 7 of the pics that i think are really good, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 & 9. I think they look good, i like the over exposedness on some of the shots, i like the poses, i think number 8 is a superb shot.

But i will agree that a reflector would have gotten rid of a lot of those annoying shadows.

I think some of the poses in the other ones are just a bit too uncomfortable looking the light not flattering.

But, like i say, im a novice in portraits, so take anything i say with a pinch of salt.

oshead

To look at each one individually....

1# is not bad. Good eye contact. Though her expression is blank. Her chin looks too big due to the wide angle of the lens.

2# No eye contact, Highlights are blown, shadow on her face, sun light on the tip of her nose, to much pp on face to bring up the shadows and her crotch is pointing straight at the camera.....

3# Hurts my eyes just to look at it. No eye contact. The pose is ok, camera angle is wrong. Get rid of the bg.

4# They look like they are bored or don't know what to do next. Hair over the face of girl on right. Shadows on eyes are pp'd too much on bored girl on right....

5# Is that mother and daughter? Can't see mother's face properly. Like in all the shots, the skin is just washed out.

6# Probably the best light... The model isn't really doing it for me. How long was she holding the hat there for... Her right arm needs to be doing something else. She should lean back against the wall, use it as a prop.
Straighten her back fix her hair and bring her hips forward a little.

7# Is ok. She needs to change her expression....

8# Is awful..... You should delete that file. It's just all over the shop. Why try to recover a badly over exposed shot?

9# Too many highlights. and the face should be in shadow but is recovered in PP and it dos'nt look normal. The pose is not bad but her arms are much brighter than the rest of the image and attract the eye.

10# Again, the angel is too wide and her chin looks abnormal.

All in all the images are much too serious. Dosn't look like fun. If you want to get the most from the talent, especially novices, you have to put your own head on a block, show good energy and not be afraid to make a show of yourself. If they laugh at you and think you're bonkers, they'll relax and forget about the camera. The best poses can be achieved when they're not trying too hard.

In general the light's all wrong. Try and concentrate and pay attention on direction and intensity of light....

Hi all,

Cheers for the replies. Good, bad or indifferent, it's always good to get some constructive criticism.

I should probably point out though, that I didn't really try to lift shadows on anyone's faces, except a slight bit around the eyes on #1. 99% of my editing is in Camera Raw, adjusting the exposure/clarity etc., but I didn't go too mad on any of them (except #3, obviously).

Number 8 wasn't overexposed. I brought it up in ACR and reduced the clarity. To be honest, I think it's one of my favourite images.

Anyway, no doubt there are still lots, and lots to learn (I'm very, very new to the world of portraiture) so I do appreciate the comments. Cheers OShead for giving them individual one-by-one comments.


Just as another note though, they weren't actually bored at all, and seemed to be enjoying themselves. I think they wanted to do some portrait stuff for a while. #7 was my idea, the rest, they were just making it up as they went along. I didn't do much at all in the way of re-posing them or directing them about.

I have a reflector (i used a softbox/flashgun on a low setting to try and rid the faces of shadows, which only really worked in some photos) so I must give that a bit of use next time and see if I can get used to it/get better results from it.

Lots to learn!

smelltheglove

Looking at these I get the feeling you were going an edgy sort of set but didnt quite get there due to harsh sun and a colourful location.

I decided to do a shoot similar a couple of years back so I will link you to the folder for you to see, http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1310776539471.109174.1532348992 I got what I aimed for but I still had a bit to learn and prob could have done better so bearing in mind that I feel the edgy style would suit these girls I may be completely wrong on what I say here. I feel to give these pics more emphasis you need to bring down the exposure and make them mostly black and white.

I will go through one by one as oshead did


1.
My first thought is there is not enough fill light on the face, eyes have shadow that I would lift myself but I dont like the angle. Have you brightened the whites of the eyes? Under the eyes are in shadow.

2.
Would like it more if there was eye contact, colours feel a bit faded, is a tad bit over exposed for me but I like the pose, not mad on the background.

3.
Thats my kinda shot, I like it BUT it is too bright for the editing and the style I feel it is aiming for, defo needs to be in black and white or duller with extra contrast to achieve an edgy feel to it.

4.
I would like it if it were not for the bars behind the girls. I actually think I would prefer it if they looked more disinterested, as in less of a smirk going on in their faces.

5.
It is making me think either these girls are gay (nothing against that by they way just the preception it gives) but are uncomfortable showing their emotions in public or you had something in mind that did not work, it looks uncomfortable and posed and is also slightly too bright.

6.
Too posed, I would go for her standing a bit away from the walls and a bit more of a stance for that kind of shot.

7.
I like it, I think it can be funked up to look quite cool.

8.
Way too bright and just not to my taste, dont like the pose in full length as I find it unflattering on most girls, crop close to the face without showing the ass and it would most likely be a completely different shot.

9.
Bars are killing it for me.

10.
Divided by this, manly pose and look but then I think that migt suit the girls personality, feeling I get from looking at the pics, but there is too much daylight and too much colour in it for me to suit the pose.

Cheers STG. Will check out the link when I get a chance. I'd imagine your stuff puts my photographs to shame, though.

Generally speaking, I avoid black and white unless I need it to recover detail in people (I shoot music in a place that has a mad red/purple light shining on the bands, so you have to go with black and white there, for example, or the images just look crap). I actually quite like the colour in the above photos. So much so, I actually brought up the saturation in most of them (only by a teeny weeny bit though).


The girls aren't lesbians, by the way, I don't believe. Only friends, but I do kinda like how they're lit up in that one (#5).

smelltheglove

Deleted User wrote: »

Cheers STG. Will check out the link when I get a chance. I'd imagine your stuff puts my photographs to shame, though.

Generally speaking, I avoid black and white unless I need it to recover detail in people (I shoot music in a place that has a mad red/purple light shining on the bands, so you have to go with black and white there, for example, or the images just look crap). I actually quite like the colour in the above photos. So much so, I actually brought up the saturation in most of them (only by a teeny weeny bit though).


The girls aren't lesbians, by the way, I don't believe. Only friends, but I do kinda like how they're lit up in that one (#5).

Haha, if you saw that link you wouldnt think it would be putting to shame. I just feel like the shoot location and brightness doesnt suit the models or the style of shots you have taken i.e. how the models are posing and angles you have gone for etc.

I think if you had girls in pretty dresses and makeup girly girls type yes the colour, the brightness would suit but I dont feel like it suits these girls personalities, looking at how they hold themselves and the clothes they are wearing.

When doing a shoot I think it needs to reflect the subjects so say you wouldnt put a heavy metal band in a shoot like westlife....