Hi guys, this is my first post and I've just recently delved into the world of photography. I've been learning a lot and will buy my first pro camera tomorrow... This one was taken on a SX 400 IS which I used to learn a little bit, you know, to find out if I really liked photography. Turns out I loved it. :)
Now this image is an old one and I've been asking myself, if it had the right crop and some light/environment tweaks, and of course, had been taken from a 80D and a 50mm lens, could it be considered a 'good" image, a pro one I mean?
Other than that, any hints on how to improve my next shots?
Thanks everyone!
Hi Paulo, This is a good start. Some suggestions would be
1) Use the rule of thirds (google it if you aren't familiar) to help the composition. I like to place the eyes along the top horizontal line. So this would mean either zooming out a little for this shot OR cropping into the top of the head (which can look fine, it's a preference thing).
2) There are a couple of distractions that pull the eye of the view from the face - the hand over the mouth and the fly away hair all around her head.
3) Lastly, although there are many shots that have the subject looking away from the camera that can work, having the subject's eyes looking straight into the lens will generally add a lot more power to the shot as this connects the viewer with the subject.
I hope this helps.
Peter
Hiya Paulo.
Well done on not being afraid to get in close. Way way better than too far away.I agree with Peter's critique, and would also like to offer one more thing.
You may have heard the saying "Expose to your highlights". Simply put, You can't recover blown highlights but can do quite a bit with shadows, so better to slightly underexpose than over. On my screen, your subject's forehead is verging on being overexposed, which tends to grab for attention.
Now after hearing many pros say "you have to be within a third of a stop of perfect exposure to have a usable image", I sought to understand what that meant when taking headshots & portraits.
I use Canon photo professional, which in the tool screen has a brightness control that can alter exposure 1/3rd of a stop at a time.
What a revelation that was when I saw the impact on my images and suddenly grabbed the truth of their advice. I also noticed the camera can do the same thing in exposure compensation. Set in aperture priority, then you can back it off a third of a stop at a time.
Pretty sure your SX can do that too.
All said, if you can nail exposure and composition, your gonna be half way home in no time at all.
Cheers
-Greg Fulton