Hey all! My first post here. I've been shooting about a year and just got into natural light portraits a couple months ago so would love any cc and advise :)
Thanks!
Hey all! My first post here. I've been shooting about a year and just got into natural light portraits a couple months ago so would love any cc and advise :)
Thanks!
Great work, love the amazing shallow depth of field, really nice job.
Are these natural light portraits?? The catch light in the first two would suggest otherwise, but I suppose they could be reflectors....the third one looks like natural light.
They are all beautifully done. My only thoughts would be, on the second one, you might want to hold back just a bit more on the retouching. It looks like he's wearing make-up.
And on the third one, she seems a bit over-posed. I suspect there might be a better pose somewhere in the photo shoot.
I like the expressions in all of them, but I'd say the third is the weakest of the three. You've got some nice skills there. Good shots.
I don't see any catch light from a reflector nor from any light modifier.
Retouching is fine. At this low res I still can see some structure in his skin + if you shoot wide open some lenses tend to be a little soft and with this shallow depth of field the skin is mostly out of focus.
Thank you guys! These are definitely all natural light. If I remember right the first one had a reflector and the second (male portrait) was in an alley facing open sky. I dodged the catch lights too in post to bring them out more so that's why they look more like ocf catch lights.
For retouching I didn't manipulate skin texture at all but did use FS to help blend skin tones. is there a better method or I've heard adding digital skin tone texture to bring back some of the areas that lose it from the shallow depth of field?
Really appreciate the CC! Thanks!
I guess I'll go ahead and be the party pooper. I love fast zooms, and fast primes, and own plenty. But I still use the DOF preview to make sure my subject will be in sharp focus, front to back. Not just the eyes, but the whole subject. So they pop out from the soft background. With the first two, you have enough distance behind them that you could have stopped down another stop, maybe two, and gotten a sharper image, without really affecting the background.
In all three images, there is something whitish, bright, and distracting, at eye level. Even with a fast lens, you need to watch your background. Just because it's out of focus, doesn't mean it's not a distraction. You could burn the orbs on the first one, and it looks like on the second, merely moving a bit to your left would have framed him in green. Minor details, but still important.
The pose on the last one is less of an issue than the setting. All those vertical and horizontal lines that don't really lead anywhere are also a distraction. And that break in the fence leads the viewer's eye to whatever is behind her. Natural curiosity causes us to stop on that, rather than her face. Had you just leaned her against the building, I think it would have been a much better image.
That's probably more than two cents worth, but you did ask for some feedback.
Thank you for the cc! Like I said I've only been shooting natural light for a couple months and photography in general for a year so I'm very much still in the learning process and appreciate all the little things to keep in mind next time!
I didn't realize the depth of fields issue so I'll pay more attention to that next time to not just pay attention to the eyes. Also, I did lean her against the wall for those shots but it was insanely windy that day so I didn't have many useable shots to choose from and tried to reduce the bright area in the background a bit in post but again thank you because it gives me the opportunity to learn for next time.
Try the same image at several different apertures, and see which you like best. I know some may disagree on how much DOF you should have.