suggestions/help?

[mls]

I'm fairly new to photography in general and then started adding in and working

on portraits a few weeks ago. I've put a few examples up on PN in hopes of some

suggestions and a direction to go in with them. They've fairly consistently

received 3's and 4's, which is fine - I'm just learning, but I'm not sure what

I'm doing wrong on them and what I need to work on. If anyone has any

suggestions I'd greatly appreciate any positive or negative feedback. I've

tried to include most of the camera, lens, and filter info for each shot if

that's helpful.

 

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=834131

 

There are 2 shots of the same girl, 1 was a 2nd shoot I did today hoping to

correct lighting from the first time.

 

Thank you!!!

[greg jansen]

It's all about the lighting. Get them out of the harsh, contrasy sun, Try to look at the light BEFORE you take any pictures. Good lighting comes first, then work with the background.

 

TIme of day is going to have a lot to do with it. Try shooting late in the day, A good test of the light is to place one hand about 6 or 8" over your other hand. Look at the shadow it casts on your lower hand. Are the edges of the shadow crisp? If so, the sun is too harsh.

 

Try the same test on an overcast day. You will see the shadow edges cast are nice and soft. That's what you want. The camera can't handle extreme light and dark (sun and shadow) areas like in your posted shots. You need to eaither tone down the sun by using diffusers or waiting until it isn't so contrasty.

 

After you learn that you can play with how to add a bit of fill flash to lighten up the eyes.

 

ALl of this is just practice and trial and error.

 

After some practice you should be able to look at a scene with your eyes and tell if the light is too harsh or contrasty.

[frans_waterlander]

Placing a person right in the middle of the frame is boring, but your placement way off center is a big distraction in my opinion.

[seismiccwave]

Photography is all about lighting. Greg covered what needs to be done. Digital

photography doesn't really cost much money to create images once you get a camera.

Go out and practice and see for yourself what kind of result you get. Everyday when

you are going about your daily life try to take notice of the lights around you. Notice

how the shadow falls under a tree. Notice how the light filter through a window. Practice

makes perfect.

[gerund]

Hi Marissa,

 

Although it's not a substitute for good lighting in the original, in many cases

you can salvage an otherwise excellent photo in PS. You can do selections

on the areas you want to salvage and either lighten them or do almost whatever you need to do. Remember often that in order to lighten too dark areas,

you may also have to do some noise removal and resharpening of that area.

 

Gerry

[mls]

Thank you all for your suggestions! It sounds like lighting is my biggest issue right now so I'll definitely work on that!

[heatherc]

Speaking purely as an amateur who is actually going to do her first portraits today-I like the lighting in the first picture the best. I thought that might give you a frame of reference...there aren't any strong glares like there are in the others.