A day at the park, comments welcomed.

[jewel]

Here are a few photos I took last week and I had said they all turned out pretty bad. I guess the only way to learn is to put them out there as a few of you had mentioned to me. I was at the park with my sister and she was kind enough to pose for me. In one of the photos you see my reflection in her glasses, is there any way around this besides the obvious of moving out of the way,lol. I don't mind the hair in the face, just the glasses bothered me. Any comments on any of the pics would help, thanks in advance.

http://www.thephotographyforums.com/albums/album15/park2.jpg

http://www.thephotographyforums.com/albums/album15/donna3.jpg

http://www.thephotographyforums.com/albums/album15/donna2.jpg




Jewel :D

Edited to show pics in thread.... CT

[Digital SPG]

The first picture is a little busy, your eye kinda wonders around to find the focal point of shot. That said you have made good use of the rule of thirds and placed the goose well. If possible I would have moved to the left, gone lower down and got in a bit closer that would have also given a better depth of field.

Second shot. The tree coming out of her shoulder his a huge distraction. If your sister had taken a few steps to her right the composittion would have been much better. Also when framing the subject for a portrait think about how you are going to fit them in. I generaly I try to use the joints as a marker. I.e either full body, cut off at the knees, hips or elbows or obviously a close up face shot. That way it looks a bit more natural. Also don't be afraid to either catch the subject unaware or set a shot up so it looks more natural that way you are capturing the person as you know them rather than have them looking uncomfortable in a posed shot.

Three. A much better portrait :wink:. Good depth of field in this one. I would maybe have lost the glasses. I like the the hair blowing across the face it does make it a more natural shot. Avoid going dead centre with the subject. Framed a little more to the left would have been better. Also think of the back drop, it is not to bed because you have a good depth of field but the trees behind are a slight distraction.

All in all not bad shots though 8)

[matty]

i would agree with what steve said, pretty good overall and with time and patience you will certainly be improving!

[CT]

Taking our own photos in reflections is something that catches us all out from time to time. Shiny cars are awkward for that reason. Then there was the guy who took a pic of a highly polished kettle and put it on ebay to sell it. He ws in the nude when he took the pic and... don't ask! :shock:

[Pook]

Here are a few photos I took last week and I had said they all turned out pretty bad. I guess the only way to learn is to put them out there as a few of you had mentioned to me. I was at the park with my sister and she was kind enough to pose for me. In one of the photos you see my reflection in her glasses, is there any way around this besides the obvious of moving out of the way,lol. I don't mind the hair in the face, just the glasses bothered me. Any comments on any of the pics would help, thanks in advance. http://www.thephotographyforums.com/gallery/album15/park2
http://www.thephotographyforums.com/gallery/album15/donna3
http://www.thephotographyforums.com/gallery/album15/donna2



Jewel :D

The problem with the first one, is there's too much going on, and the depth of field is too deep, so everything has almost equal importance in the shot. Also, it would have been better to get down low.. real low.. on your stomach, and soot the goose from his (or indeed her) level. Zoom in a bit also.. and try to use manual more.. that way, you could have increased shutter speed, which would have allowed for a wider aperture, and therefore shallower depth of field.. Time of day as well.. looks to be noon/early afternoon... the sun is high anyway.. always looks rubbish that. Shooting more into the light, or with it to one side helps, but generally, mid day sun is just boring. Not that you have a great deal of control over where the sun is of course.

Second shot: I'd have used a longer lens, and stood further away. You;d still end up with as much of your sister in eth frame as this, but the depth of field will be less, as you're using a longer focal length... this would make the background less of a problem. Take the time to look around the viewfinder before you press the shutter. Think of where things are placed within the frame. That tree, as others have said, is not in the best place.

Third: Way better, but why is she in the middle of teh frame? ALso, why are all the shots in landscape format? There's nothing of interest in the background of your sister, so why include it at all? Turn the camera around and shoot portrait format more. Sure, you can crop it afterwards if you want, but then you're losing quality. One of the things beginners do a lot, is hold teh camera in landscape for everything, and place the subject dead centre. Don't be scared of placing things to the sides more, and get that camera turned around more :)

Also.. lighting... mid day sun again... look at all those shadows across teh face. Not nice... just pop up your flash at times like this, but make sure it's set to around 1.5 stops below the main exposure (read your D70 manual if you're not sure about this).. that way, it will still look like a daylight shot, but the flash will lighten up those dark shadows. Better still, use a reflector. Lastolite make good ones that fold away small anough to carry around with you, and they bounce back a huge amount of light, and the effect is far more natural than flash.

People tend to think that if it's daylight, there's nothing you can do with lighting.. not true.. there's loads.... flash balance effects, reflectors, off camera flash etc. One of the best ways to improve daylight portraits in bright sunlight ***, is a reflector.. Get one.. you won't regret it. even a A2 piece of white paper will work... just something on the shadow side, slightly off frame to bounce light back into the shadows.

[jewel]

The pictures were taken at around 1:00 in the afternoon, yes. I was aware of the time of day and the harsh light, but I didn't realize there would be "that" much shadow on her face. I wanted her to lose the glasses as well but she wouldn't. As for being in "landscape" mode, wasn't aware that I was,lol. Guess I'll do some more reading,lol. :P Thank you for all the comments guys, very much appreciated. Alot of great pointers there for me. As for the tea kettle there CT, I can only imagine what he was doing, but did he sell it?LOL

Jewel :D

[CT]

Some very sound basic advice from Pook there Jewel. All Pook means by landscape mode is you're holding the camera always with the longest edge of the viewfinder at the bottom as is the case with most landscapes. Try turning the camera through 90 degrees so that the shortest edge of your viewfinder is at the bottom - commonly called portrait mode. It isn't a setting on your camera. :D

Like so...

http://www.tomkinson.org/albums/Ced-Jan/avatar.jpg

Try to think about which way (Portrait or Landscape) suits your subject best.

[jewel]

Thanks again there CT for pointing that out for me,lol. Alot of good advice yes. Where would I be without these forums and all of your help,lol. :oops:

Cheers, Jewel

[CT]

Look how your sister is squinting very uncomfortably too - very noticeable in that 2nd shot. At that time of day you're better going into the shade for that type of shot and using flash. Around midday is a bit of a nono photographically.

Better still, wait till towards early evening when the Sun is lower and the light has that nice reddy gold quality. Turn your subject with her back to the Sun and use fill flash or move in close - meter on her face - lock the exposure with the exposure lock button - move back, frame your picture and take the shot. Either way with the light from behind, the hair gets a lovely halo fringe from the backlighting. - coupled with an out of focus background it's very flattering and the ladies love it. :wink:

[jewel]

CT I will definately keep that in mind next time, thanks. My sister is squinting in the shots for two reasons. One being the harsh sun, and two she isn't very comfortable in front of the camera at all. I guess that's obvious in the pictures. :( Besides my children I find it very hard to find people who like getting their pictures taken. Does anyone else have this problem? I want to learn how to take better portraits of people but nobody likes to be in front of the camera to help me out! Me personally I love to be in front of the camera,lol :P

Cheers, Jewel

[CT]

It's a common problem for everyone Jewel. Professional models radiate confidence and know how to look relaxed even if they're not. Most of the rest of us aren't keen on having our pictures taken, and we tend to avoid it even more as we get older.

If the camera coming out is a bit of an 'occasion' it doesn't help matters and people will be on their guard and look self conscious in your shots, particularly if they're stood in front of the camera like someone having a mug shot taken. You have a great camera now which is capable of taking great shots in all conditions, let people get used to seeing you with it and using it all the while and they'll be more relaxed. Try to take people off guard in a more candid fashion which is typical of the person, and not something posed for the camera- those sort of shots often make the best portraits anyway.

For posed portraits you can take some great shots indoors with your subject seated by a window using just beautiful soft natural light. Use a white sheet - anything, as a reflecter on the shadow side as Pook suggested, to get a bit of light filling the shadows. Think 'outside the box' and take people in their usual surroundings, the office or wherever they work, or spend a lot of time - it can say so much more about them than just a head and shoulders shot.

[CT]

This is my wife Jan - portrait with a difference. The flared trousers are a clue to how old this pic is. If I get the camera out now she runs off. :wink:

http://www.tomkinson.org/albums/Ced-Jan/Foursome.jpg