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portraits
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any tips on this topic wud be appreciated! cant seem to get it right, subject focused, background blurred correctly etc….
phil
Hi Phil.
I’m no expert, but I think you need either a longer focal lenght lens or to use a wider aperture to blur the background. Moving closer to your subject would also help throw the background out of focus. Also use portrait format to allow you to get closer.First thing that strikes me is the empty space either side, I would crop in more even
as far as her shoulder on the right and her elbow on the left, and watch out for hands
covering the face, if her hand had been more to the left so that her cheek were visible,
would agree with miki that a larger aperture would have thrown the background out a
bit more.The most immediate thing you could do to increase the amount of background blur
would be to post your picture bigger-You don’t give any detail of what lens and sensor you’re using,
but as has been mentioned, bigger is better there too-
the smaller the sensor, the shorter the lens, the lesser the magnification, therefore, the more depth of field-As miki said, having her move closer will help too, again, making her bigger…
as will using a longer lens- again, more magnification-Some people go to silly lengths to separate the background from the subject-
but there’s usually a requirement in portraiture to get at least the two eyes in focus-
although some will complain if their nose and ears aren’t in focus too.Using a crop sensor, you might need to be using f/2.8, f/4 at this distance to achieve that,
assuming that you’re going to want to enlarge the picture to a reasonable size-
though if this is the largest the picture is going to be reproduced, you could get away with f/1.2-Fast lenses help, but at the size reproduced here, not that much-
Regarding the picture, what Shutterbug said-
though I’d add, that a reflector could help too-
it looks like the main light source on her face is the green of the grass in front of her-
not a particularly flattering colour for a lady’s complexion- and there are a lot of deep shadows too…Her face could be better lit. A simple reflector would do the job, and failing that, use the dodge tool in PS to brighten it a little.
She’s too central, I’d crop portrait orientation for such a central subject, crop out her left shoulder maybe, just leave her right side in. And maybe fit in a little more of her [like the rest of her elbow]
Apart from the greenery in the backing, it’s not the most colourful portrait, have you tried it in monochrome? or a sepia tone? I think that would work pretty good with a little contrast bump after processing.
She seems to be well in focus, nice DOF, though that really is down to what you want personally. Don’t think anyone can ever tell you “Should be blurrier” :D
Don’t know about that…just plain and simple…careful with her eyes as its abit dark…
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