Millicent

I'm back from Africa. I have 2312 photos from two weeks. I actually could easily have taken more, but I was actually working as a volunteer, so I didn't have a lot of time to use my camera. :-) Anyway, I thought I'd start with some photos of the women I worked with. The organization is called Amani ya Juu, which in Swahili means, "Higher Peace". It is a reconciliation project, teaching marginalized women to sew so that they can have a trade and thus support themselves and their families.

Millicent is a mother of two little girls. She's fun and playful. We had a great time working together for two weeks.

Photographically, do you think that the hot spots on her skin are too hot? Exposure of her skin? DOF? Any other thoughts? I think that the photo looks better in B&W, but wanted to keep all of the shots of the women in the colors that they were taken because so many of them wear beautifully colored fabrics. I'll attach a B&W copy of this below.

I'm anxious to hear from you..... :-)

Here's the B&W version. I like it better in B&W. What do you think?

Any comments or ratings are appreciated! :-)

IHi Lou Ann, I like both with a tendency to the B/W. did you use a flash. the shadow behind her is distracting a bit, but it is a very nice portrait, thanks for the explanation.

I like that you are doing portraits of the people on your project. It's good experience, and good documentation of a very important event in your life (and theirs).

 

Some things I see that you are doing well are that you are eliciting some great expressions and capturing them, and that you are filling the frame with the subjects. The above image is nice and sharp (I noted a couple of others which are not so sharp).

 

Effectively using an on-camera flash is not so easy as one might think. I am not a tyro with on-camera flash, but I'm not really well-seasoned with it either, as I have always avoided it because I don't like the harsh light and shadows, the fall-off, etc. On-camera flash is just right for the type of photography you are getting the opportunity to do because it will let you get the picture quickly and where you might not have gotten it otherwise.

 

There are some things you can do to control or soften it some, such as using it to fill where there is otherwise enough ambient light (but be careful not to overpower the ambient light), and also you can use a card taped to the flash to bounce it, or a piece of thin tissue or other suitable material to diffuse the light a little which cuts down on the harsh shadows.

 

http://www.wedpix.com/articles/002/working-with-on-camera-flash/ (this deals with weddings, but some principles can be applied elsewhere on location photography)

 

http://www.shortcourses.com/guide/guide2-28.html Short course on using flash - might have some things of use.

 

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101balancing-flash-with.html very good article on balancing flash with ambient light, with some very nice examples

 

To answer your questions:

 

"Photographically, do you think that the hot spots on her skin are too hot? "

I don't think so. Using direct on-camera flash is going to produce more specular highlights, especially if the subject has oily skin and is not wearing makeup. This could be lessened by diffusion or bouncing the flash.

 

"Exposure of her skin?"

I think it is just right here. There is a lack of detail in her hair (on this monitor, anyway). Diffusion or bounce might help. You could also shoot RAW format, and make two conversions, one overexposed. Sandwich the two as layers in photoshop with the overexposed one on the bottom layer, then, with a feathered brush and the eraser set to about 50% carefully erase out the blank dark areas to let the detail show through from the overexposed layer (I do this all the time).

 

"DOF?"

I think the DOF here is just right, especially because it shows the nature of the painting in the background.

 

"Any other thoughts? I think that the photo looks better in B&W, but wanted to keep all of the shots of the women in the colors that they were taken because so many of them wear beautifully colored fabrics."

I like color better for the subjects you are photogaphing because, as you said, the colors in the garments.

 

I hope some of this might be of use. I'm making an effort to get my brain in some sort of constructive activity.

 

-Steve

Thank you so much, Steve, for the detailed answers to my questions. I will surely check out the links that you sent!