Bavarian Garden Shoot

saxk

saxk

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Name
Brad 'Electron-Don' Foster
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Hey,
now i have not used this forum for a long time, and never used the portrait section. However i am in Bavaria visiting my girlfriends family and for Christmas, Simone (said lady friend) wants to give her mum a portrait of herself, i offered to have a go as i think its time i started to get a bit more into people pictures.

I asked a few non tog friends about them, and they came back with some weird responses, such like, 'she needs to smile more' and 'there are no plants in the picture' (no idea what plants are about)

So i wanted to ask here, amongst all you knowledgeable people, not friends who know squat about photography.

I am simply asking for tips, what would make them better, where i may have gone wrong, do you like them etc etc.

I will Just post 2 for now, they both are shot in natural light, with a little bit of fill flash here and there from my off camera Yongnuo, in manual mode and 1/128.

Oh and its 1 deg, so time was of the up most importance. (angry girlfriend is never good)

IMG_7047 by saxk, on Flickr

IMG_7067 by saxk, on Flickr

Thanks for the help team :D
 
I really love these, I think they are great. I particularly like the second with the warming light, and the cold glass background. I can't really fault them, however I do agree with your friends.
The lack of plants isn't an issue but if they are for a Christmas present for your (hopefully) soon to be mother-in-law, I bet she would like a nice picture of her daughter on the wall with a big cheesy grin!
 
Thanks Tim, I guess you are right, a smile might be better. I think i was trying to take it to serious, after all i have not done stuff like this before really, so i was probably trying to make the most of the opportunity and make a bit more out of it that just a Christmas present. I do not really want to do portrait work often, but would like to improve my skills as its nice to keep all options open.
 
Hi

I sort of agree with your friends. The first pic technically is alright but there is n't much of a connection with the subject. All I can see is "I don't want to be here" and if it was cold, I suspect she didn't. You need to engage her with the camera/yourself, especially if it's a pic for her mum!

The second again is technically ok, but not sure what she's holding onto, and for me the cold empty greenhouse, with a warming tone is slightly odd.

All just my opinion so feel free to ignore!

Shaheed
 
Thanks Shaheed, valid input.

The first shot i think you are right, she looks a bit distant.

The second, that was how the light was, thought i got so lucky having the sun dip out for a second.
 
Don't know many technical things about portrait photography so feel free to completely ignore the following![emoji23]
I love the background of the first pic and the lighting on the second. I agree with the others about the overall look - they look a bit sort of portfolio-like if you know what I mean?
If you kept the backdrop of the first pic, with some of the warm light from the second so it picked out some warm tones in the wood and made your gf laugh at an inappropriate moment it would be stunning I think.
 
Just one more thing to add to shaheed!s excellent comments - she's a little low in the frame, it looks like you've just used centre point focus
 
Thanks guys, to be fair I was trying to make them look a bit portfolio-ish, to try and make them look as professional as possible, perhaps i should have gone with my better judgement and just had a bit of fun with it.

I wood is under cover and not reached by the sunlight at this time of year, but i could try a fill flash with a warm gel i guess. i see what you mean and it would look nice.

As for being a little low in the frame yes, you are correct, i am 6'4 and need to crouch more lol
 
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