In Need of Constructive Criticism

[mr. sullen]

Hello there. I could use some constructive criticism on this. My sister, a

hairstylist, asked if I could do a before and after shot of her friend. This is

the first time I worked with somebody I did not know. I feel it went well but I

really need to here from those who know better with more experiance them me

that could explain what areas I could improve in as far as the photography

goes. Thanks for your help. Shay.

 

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/6890561-lg.jpg" />

[Matt Laur]

A couple of things jump out at me. First, any time a before/afer sequence seems to go WAY out of its way to light and compose the 'before' shot in a deliberately unflattering way, it makes the whole exercise seem a bit insincere. To that end, it seems appropriate to have you shoot the before and after in essentially the same way.

 

Likewise, it's only fair to have the subject give her best try at achieving - if not the same exact pose - at least the same attitude, so that she doesn't appear to be poisoning the 'before' shot on purpose.

[mr. sullen]

Thanks Matt, honestly I did not even think of that. My sister woke me out of bed saying I needed to hurry up and get a before shot so she can get her hair and stuff done. I just grabed my camera and snapped a shot. I'll keep that in mind for the future.

[leicaglow]

How did you manage to post such a large in-line image on this page?<g> Too bad most of it is zapped by the ad on the right, but from what I can see, I like the new shot. Very nicely lit and great control of DOF.

[mr. sullen]

I just posted it as a photo link. Sometimes I forget others use smaller screens and to reduce the file size. Thanks. Shay

[catherine_oostdyk]

Since you're showing off her new hair and makeup, I'd stop down a bit more to everything is focus. You can see her bangs in front of her right eye are in focus but not her eye and none of the hair on that side.

[giggles]

I agree with Catherine on the focus issue. Your DOF in the after shot is way to shallow and has caused much of the photo to be out of focus. You lighitng is nice and helps with the definition of her hair. Your sister also did a great job and most regular people would be very impressed with the results from both of you instead of us picky photographers:)

[mr. sullen]

Thank you for your replies. I agree with what you say. I suppose I was getting slightly "pictorialist" working with such a wide open aperture. I am aware that non photography type people would be impressed, my sister and her friend were certainly happy, I am still waiting to see what her friends and family say.

 

I have not done much portrait type work and in doing this I get worried about getting that Wal-Mart type portrait look so I tried to get a little more dramatic with lighting, pose and camera dof. There is still much I need to learn about portrait photography and hope that some experienced portrait people can give some general advice and advice about this photo here. Thanks. Shay.

[barry_kenstler1]

Shay,

 

I just want to say I think you've done an excellent job considering your experience in portraiture. The lighting and the posing angles you've chosen for the after photo yield a mostly balanced and flattering view of the subject. I like the overly bright hair light and the shallower depth of field you've chosen. I think those kinds of things are rather subjective, though for some commercial uses, they can be critical. There are times when you have to make someone look their worst too, as when shooting for a personal-injury case. You seem to have a grasp there too.

[mr. sullen]

Thank you. I see you are building some sort of portrait lighting website. So I think I can safely assume you know much more than me in regards to my reasoning behind the post. Considering that it's rather flattering to hear that from someone like you. I am humble though and realize how much I need to learn and do.

 

I must reiterate though that I was not intentionally trying to make her look bad, as Matt pointed out and I stated I was not really aware of this sort of thing. For the future I will be putting before and after shots in the same context to keep it "honest".

 

Thank you for your thoughts. Shay.

[kellyphillips]

Shay,

For someone who claims to just be starting with portraits this is great. I really don't see anything wrong with it. Someone said that your DOF is too shallow but I think it works fine. Alot of portrait photographers will add some blur to the entire portrait except the eyes in post. This is no different. The front eye is in sharp focus, well sharp enough. It actually looks like the focus is on the forehead area. I shoot most of my portraits between f/8 and f/11 because that's where my lens looks the best. Really though, this is great. Practice makes better, right? I'm still trying to get good. We learn something new everyday. Take care my friend.

[mr. sullen]

Wow Kelly thank you. I must say I did nothing in post. This was shot at 2.8 and I know I had the focus point on her right eye but Capture NX is not showing me a focus point, I'm still figuring that out. She may have moved slightly giving a greater DOF on the forehead. Thanks for your thoughts. I still need to email ya, I hate talking through comments, speaking of which there is a new survey put up by Josh asking about improvements I asked for an IM type thing to talk directly to other members.

[mr. sullen]

I had the focus point on her left eye, our right.