Hey people! I have been taking photos for 4 years and I wanna get some opinion... What is good on it? What is bad on it? Almost everything what i wanna know.
Hey people! I have been taking photos for 4 years and I wanna get some opinion... What is good on it? What is bad on it? Almost everything what i wanna know.
Besides the tree growing out of her head?
Hmm i couldn't cut the tree in the park, sorry man.
I think I would have tried blurring out the background to separate her from it. Also her face is quite dark so a fill flash or reflector would have helped there.
main thing that stands out to me in the contrast, watch your histogram closely. If you pulled those blacks out a bit, worked on the tones/lighting on her face, maybe warmed it up a bit, you'd be good.
With your 70-300, you could have backed up a bit, zoomed in more, and made your background a little less messy. Or perhaps taken a step to the side, and not had that tree right behind her. There's also too much space at the top, and it seems to be taken from a low angle, which I find odd for a subject that is sitting down.
I'm not familiar with Nikon's Matrix metering, but it appears to have averaged the whole scene, when you really should have exposed for her face instead. That would have blown out the background a bit too.
If you stick with the kit lenses, you will need to learn how to work around their limitations. Since that lens only opens up to f4.0 on the short end, you're going to have to really pay attention to what is behind your subject. Either put more distance between you and your model, or your model and the background.
Hi Roppanto, no you could not cut down the tree but you could have slightly changed your position so the tree was to the side, a bit. Or you might have used a wider aperture so it was more out of focus. Or cropped tighter, cropping the top off but also making the depth of field more shallow. Or a combination of these things. Or turned round to a very different background. There are always alternatives. As it happens, I don't mind the tree too much but making frivolous excuses is no way to improve as it stops you thinking how you might have solved the probelm or how you would solve it next time. Of course, you would be perfectly entitled to just say I like it, if that is true and that would be a valid answer. You certainly don't have to agree with any of us.
I think it looks like a nice personal snap shot of a friend during a nice walk in the park and there is nothing wrong with that. However, with a little work it could have been more professional, if that is what you wanted. A bit more detail in the dark end of the tonal range might help. A bit more yellow in the mid tones, not too much, and her face would be less blue. She is in the shade light from a blue sky so one expects a bit of blue but maybe a bit less would be better.
We have to think; wardrobe, make-up and hair, unless it is just a snap shot of a friend. If you want to make a more pro type image then perhaps use a reflector or off camera flash. You have to decide from the outset if you are just going for a walk with a lovely girl and your camera or are you on assignment, in which case you need kit and a different mind-set, both of you. A shoot is a walk ruined, for sure.
if you look at the pictures at the top of this page, they are essentially similar to yours, but so much better. Let's think about the differences. And they are not massive. They are framed rather tighter, what we in TV call a medium shot, waist up, or medium close up, meaning head and shoulders. They are lit by natural light, which is soft and their faces are warm. They have either beautiful and subtle make-up or beautiful and subtle photoshoped faces. The backgrounds are very out of focus. And that is the main differences listed. Like yours, they are casual, not groomed, not lit, nor styled, not so we can tell anyway. You are half way there. The other half of the journey is a tad harder but not rocket science, neither is it especially difficult at all. Main thing; shoot lovely girls, like the lass you shot, and let us see their faces, ideally looking at us through your lens. No mystery, no magic, but lots of fun practicing now you have the general formula. I played with your image, which is a bit small and a jpeg so not as good as if shot as above with the cropping and depth of field etc. we have discussed, all done in camera. See below.
Then we are into detail picking. With the shot as is there are framing issues, the top is too high above her head, a bit. The bottom is too tight below her feet and her toe is too near the edge, slightly. Her shoes are a bit dirty, OK in a personal photo but not great in a fashion type image or even perhaps in a life-style pic. So, you need to decide what you are trying to make when you shoot. Her hair is a bit casual, again OK in a snap but perhaps not in a pro fashion shot. Her coat cord is stuck between her legs and catching the sun. Better hanging in the shade. Her legs might have looked better if she had them slightly more towards the lens, not entirely but half way or there abouts. I would have prefered to see bare hands perhaps holding her gloves rather than wearing them and just a bit of her shirt below her bust, over her tummy. Maybe she could have given us a big gesture, like arms up and wide with a big smile or a much more angular fashion type pose but overall she is pretty and looks really nice but the photo needs a bit of polish to be less of a snap-shot. Most of these points are seemingly small but together a few of them might make quite a difference.
Let us know what you think of the sample below, please. Consider, this version is your shot with the shortcomings mentioned addressed in Photoshop. How much better it could have been if the things I have tried to do as an edit had been done in camera, all very easy and so very much more effective.