[Lony]

Hello all,



As I am just starting out in portrait photography I am still learning, but making progress.

Therefore I would like to have some feedback on my portraits and tips to improve my skills.



I hope to get some feedback, thank you!



Lony

[Guest]

Please upload the photos again and this time don't clip file size that strong. The compression artefacts are terrible to look at.



Ciao, Walter

[Lony]

Hi Walter,



That brings me to another question, how do I do that then? I used a site where I could make the files smaller.

I am quite new to all this! The size of the pics is just a little bit over 5k.



Ciao,

Lony

[Guest]

[quote name='Lony' timestamp='1300364865' post='6903']how do I do that then?[/quote]



Which OS are you using and which image manipulation program(s) do you have installed?

For windows users there is a small program named JPGcompressor: http://www.nsonic-net.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=296

Don't forget to add some sharpening for images scaled down.

Try 200k file size.



Ciao, Walter

[Rainer]

Just a short comment on the layout of the two portraits:



I like the Jose portrait. Would you cut it in the middle, you would have a

very traditional (but somewhat boring) portrait. As is, it moves the head out

of the middle and the eyes near to one of the "rule-of-thirds-points". Also,

Jose establishes a sort of contact with the viewer (by the direct look of

her eyes).



The Simone portrait is (in my eyes) somewhat the opposite ...

The head is nearly centric (which makes this one a bit boring), but

Simone looks out of the picture on the "short side" ... thereby, her look

doesn't occupy the larger amount of empty space on the right ...

which leave the beholder asking himself what the space is meant for.

Eventually a bit of cropping could help this picture. A real boost would come

from "something" on the left side that Simone is looking at.



But that is just my opinion and the beauty as in the eye of the beholder ...

... Rainer.

[Lony]

@Rainer,



Thank you for your feedback! I am more satisfied with the picture of Jose in comparison to Simone's picture.

Now that I look at it again, I can understand what you see about the perspective and the direction of her eyes.



Today I received a comment about the picture of Simone not being completely sharp. I do not really see it, but I would appreciate to get comments on that and if it is true some tips to change that. I use a CANON EOS 1000D with a 50 mm. F1.8 lense.



Thanks!



Lony

[Rainer]

[quote name='Lony' timestamp='1300387428' post='6909']

Today I received a comment about the picture of Simone not being completely sharp.

[/quote]



The least important thing in a good portait is it being sharp entirely. Well it shouldn't

be too blurry in important parts either, but sharpness is certainly not a problem that

I would see in the Simone portrait ... but ... opinions vary ... and so do styles of

fotographers ... I really would give too much on the opinion of others ... if you and

"the client" (if there is one) like the picture, that is a very good start ... seeking

improvement is a good thing, if YOU like the improved result better than the

original one .... but warping your own style just to please others might not be

the way to go.

[Lony]

[quote name='Rainer' timestamp='1300388272' post='6910']

The least important thing in a good portait is it being sharp entirely. Well it shouldn't

be too blurry in important parts either, but sharpness is certainly not a problem that

I would see in the Simone portrait ... but ... opinions vary ... and so do styles of

fotographers ... I really would give too much on the opinion of others ... if you and

"the client" (if there is one) like the picture, that is a very good start ... seeking

improvement is a good thing, if YOU like the improved result better than the

original one .... but warping your own style just to please others might not be

the way to go.

[/quote]



Thank you so much, that is an answer I can work with!! "the client" was happy and your answer makes me happy!!

It boosts my self-confidence as a photographer!

[anyscreenamewilldo]

well i'll bite too -



soften the shadows, brighten the eyes, smooth the skin, less contrast on the feemale face, better reflector, softer fill? + the eye of the beholder indeed -





here's a quickie for a look + artefacts - hmmm, i don't do portraits - it's possible to do some touch-ups in post but not the special lighting that is so important i think



or why not have a look at portrait pro - it's been advertised here - it's interesting

[Guest]

Noooo!



Don't start your portrait odyssey by messing around with any of those 'instant portrait' filters/plugins for the computer.



I feel you should start with the basics about lighting first - would these shots have been better with fill-in flash or a reflector? Did you underexpose the first shot, or is that computer fiddling that's made the background so dark?



The first shot is very heavy on the blacks, which might look great at first, but this kind of shot creates 'eye fatigue' after while and viewers don't bother looking at the details.



Then it might pay to start looking at composition and poses - there are some fantastic books on the subject and also very good internet articles posted by generous photographers sharing their tricks. In the second picture, her off-camera gaze is arresting, but is she in the right place in the frame? Try a square crop just behind her left shoulder and start experimenting with the 'standard' frame divisions.

The first photo obviously has a large, meaningless space to the left of the subject - this is the space that should be occupied by her out-of-focus daughter on a swing in the background (for example).



Overall, the photos look too processed to me - but that may be due to the compression. My advice would be to try taking as many different types of portrait as you can until you can get a few killer shots (good lighting, good pose, good composition) without the help of any computer tricks. After you can confidently and consistently take 'good' portraits without any post-processing, you can move on to using computer tricks (there's a zillion programmes out there, you can spend a lifetime on 'em.)



Personally, I think doing exclusively B&W photos is one of the best instructive methods when starting out doing portraits, but that's a matter of taste.