- This topic is empty.
Self portrait
-
Little bit nervous about posting this as I’m not good at the people photography let alone happy with myself in the shots! But anyway, I want to try and work on trying to get better at portraits (and using photoshop to ‘enhance’…) and I don’t think the patience of a friend would survive with the number of shots it took to get one that I was reasonably happy with. I’d appreciate feedback on how to improve on people shots, using techniques in photoshop to ‘soften’ the image as I’m struggling to figure this out and any recommendations for reading material.
Thanks in advance :-)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22574140N00/4739498615/
Hi there,
I’ll start off by saying that you’ll get more feedback on your image by embedding it in your post as opposed to linking it to another site.
I think the image has potential but is let down by the “pose” primarily. For the subject matter (woman and violin), I would have posed you at an angle (head and shoulders about 45deg to the camera but with your face looking at it) which is more feminine and flattering. I would have concentrated on not blocking blocking your face so much with the instrument either. I think there is potential for a similar pose where you could still hold the violin and maybe use the strings on the instrument as lead in lines to your face.
I like the contrast of your dark hair/dress with the background, but maybe would have also tried the traditional upright “portrait” crop as opposed to the “landscape” crop used.Well done on your post and I hope you take my points in the manner their intended (constructive feedback).
Regards,
John
Thanks a million John, that is great feedback and all points taken onboard. I’ll go and do my homework and repost here. It’s amazing how tough it is putting yourself in front of the camera, there’s so much to try and think of, including hitting the remote and not having it pointing up in the air….I like the suggestion of the strings, one or two ideas are coming to mind.
Thanks again
D.Hi D.
One thing to bear in mind with portraits in the focus must be on the pupils of the eyes and there’s hardly any room for error with this. It’s the first area people will look at and always needs to be really sharp. If using a lens wide open make sure you have enough depth of field to get both eyes in focus especially if the person is not facing the camera dead on. Once you have that right then you can use various techniques in Photoshop to smooth the other parts of the face etc. etc. There are a lot of books and videos on that topic including some free downloads.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
