How to click good Portraits

iamsomnath

iamsomnath

Where is the remote?
nishchaya said:
1. First and foremost thing that has caught my attention from a critique's perspective is the color of the hair. Certain strands look blue to me.
2. The crop - just a bit tighter towards the left and eliminate some space above the head too.
3. The exposure seems almost perfect for ambient light, perhaps a 1/3 stop more would make it more vibrant. The skin tone is a bit pale, especially with a shade of yellow to the right cheek/nose.

I can't find anything negative. The above comments were just for the sake of critique. The picture is indeed wonderful for a SOOC image.
Click to expand...
Valid pointers there. It was shot within an airport. I remember that there were a couple of eating joints/bars on the side of the lounge where we were sitting. Must be some play of artificial lights that were caught . The light was mighty dim too hence even at ISO 1000 & f2 I only got 1/60 ss.

cheers
Somnath
 
polly

polly

never ever give up
iamsomnath said:
Use exposure compensation. There are a lot of articles on this subject available on the Internet.
Cheers

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One straight out of camera JPEG. Yet to convert the RAW . Critique please. This was shot with legendary nikkor 135 f2 DC wide open. This lens gives you just enough sharpness at F2 and a creamy meltdown of the background, see the colour meltdown behind her face? That is a Pepsi stall :p. I have not touched anything in this pic ISO 1000 , f2 and shutter speed only 1/60 sec. I rested my elbow on a chair handle so the shake issue was mitigated.

Click to expand...
Very very pleasing to the eyes.
Dada,one question,
ISO 1000
I have been going thru so many tutorials,lesson,,one thing is common with them,"keep the iso to bare minimum", they say!
So,,,,,
Pls explain at large
P.S,,,
Plus aperture is also f/2, that is,big aperture.,more light,,
So,,,,,
 
iamsomnath

iamsomnath

Where is the remote?
polly said:
Very very pleasing to the eyes.
Dada,one question,
ISO 1000
I have been going thru so many tutorials,lesson,,one thing is common with them,"keep the iso to bare minimum", they say!
So,,,,,
Pls explain at large


P.S,,,
Plus aperture is also f/2, that is,big aperture.,more light,,
So,,,,,
Click to expand...
hello Polly,

It seems that I should clarify 2 points :-

1. Why did I employ ISO 1000 : Yes I also follow the rule of keeping the ISO to bare minimum but two things generally influence my judgement. First is how much detail I want to retain in the image. This was an impromptu image, shot at an airport and I don't see it getting printed bigger than say 18"X12" . Had it been a macro shot then I would have considered using lower ISO and perhaps use of flash. Second issue is capability of sensor. This was shot with Nikon D600 which is quite capable even at higher ISO.

Now a deeper issue is why did I employ ISO 1000 ? I had to because the ambient light was so poor that with even f2 I bare managed to get shutter speed of 1/60 sec. Lower ISO would have resulted in even slower shutter speed which would have induced shake even with my elbow supported on the chair handle.

2. Why wide open at F2 ? Yes i usually shoot at 2 stops higher but this Nikon 135 f2 DC is a legendary lens and as you see, retains acceptable sharpness and contrast even at F2, though at f2.8 or f3.2 it becomes spectacularly sharp and contrasty. With a less capable lens I never shoot wide open.

regards
Somnath
 
hensil

hensil

Guru
iamsomnath said:
Use exposure compensation. There are a lot of articles on this subject available on the Internet.
Cheers

- - - Updated - - -

One straight out of camera JPEG. Yet to convert the RAW . Critique please. This was shot with legendary nikkor 135 f2 DC wide open. This lens gives you just enough sharpness at F2 and a creamy meltdown of the background, see the colour meltdown behind her face? That is a Pepsi stall :p. I have not touched anything in this pic ISO 1000 , f2 and shutter speed only 1/60 sec. I rested my elbow on a chair handle so the shake issue was mitigated.

Click to expand...
I would like this picture more tightly cropped eliminating the top space. That would the portrait. Other than that the exposure (which to me seems fine) and the skin colour can be easily fixed in processing.
Henry

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Here is a short video by Bryan Peterson giving tips on shooting portrait.
http://vimeo.com/117290761
Henry
 
adsatinder

adsatinder

Peace
hensil said:
I would like this picture more tightly cropped eliminating the top space. That would the portrait. Other than that the exposure (which to me seems fine) and the skin colour can be easily fixed in processing.
Henry

- - - Updated - - -

Here is a short video by Bryan Peterson giving tips on shooting portrait.
Wheel Covers on Vimeo
Henry
Click to expand...
Please press Edit and Save your post !
Your link will start working like a magic !
If do this again once more, video may appear !
LOL !

No Joke !
Experience yourself !
 
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iamsomnath

iamsomnath

Where is the remote?
autofocus @ f1.4 with hard on board (?) flash will always look like this. AF at f2.8 at least ( for higher aperture use manual focus with live view) and do something to diffuse flash :-D
 
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Ankur003

Ankur003

UltraWideLife.com
Thanks for the advice gents. I can , now, see a better picture :)
I used on board flash to lit up the shadows.
 
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