Winter colours

[katalen]

what are your thoughts on this photo, what needs improving?

[Marko]

I'm afraid this would be a redo for me. It looks like a direct flash shot that was copied and pasted onto a background. Is it? can you describe the lighting setup here?

[katalen]

lol do u not like me or something? you seem to have nothing nice to say at all , no the background is digital green screen and i dont have high expensive equipment to use so yes it was the cameras flash that was used, but really is it just that totally bad that there's nothing good about it? i mean if your right then im all for it but i just do not see it as something totally a loss, but if everyone else thinks its back to the drawing board then im all for it (and no im not mad just trying to understand)

[Marko]

I'm just an honest critic :) and I've been around a while and taken many portraits. I always make an effort to be nice but when an image needs a lot of help it may come across as less nice I guess.
you can get a great setup for 500 or less. No expensive equipment needed. Window light is free and when used well produces fabulous portraits. used bounced flashes can be had for 50 bucks.

In this case for this image....You needed to separate the subject from the background. This subject looks glued to your green screen - she should have been at least 6 feet in front of the screen... and a white wall or neutral coloured wall is far better and free. You do need nice light and exposure. Direct flash with no supplementary light is normally the worst light because it gives no shape to an image - it just blasts the subject with light from the center of the camera. Feet are too close to the bottom of the image so the proportions look off. I'd recommend finding portraits you love end emulating those portraits.
Hope that wasn't too harsh.

[Iguanasan]

I've never been a fan of digital backgrounds but maybe that's just me - compositing is so very hard to do well. There's no perspective in a digital background so it looks like the person is kind of floating in space which feels awkward to me. The pose looks relatively comfortable which I like but as Marko mentioned the front facing flash or lighting takes away the shadows and makes the whole image look very 2D rather than 3D. Try a few yourself by moving the flash off to a bit of an angle and I think you'll see what we're talking about. If all you have is on camera flash try it with a bright lamp with a higher ISO or even a nice bright window light. I use Yongnuo flashes which you can pick up for about $50 depending upon the model which will give you the ability to angle your flash a bit even if you can't get it off camera. Triggers from Yongnuo are quite inexpensive as well. (and no, I'm not affiliate with the company in any way). I just photograph on a budget and I've found their products to be inexpensive and work reasonably well.

I hope that helps.

[katalen]

thank you for the info , i find it hard to work with the digital backgrounds as well but i have nothing else to work with in the winter months and with bad weather i tend to work outside on nice days, as for the camera flash its a pain, i find if i have a window or light in the photo it turns the photo really dark and i havnt found a setting to stop it from doing that my camera that i have now is new so i dont really know a ton about how it works yet

[Barefoot]

It might help us to help you if we knew what model of camera you have and what software you use. The amount of portraiture work I do is practically nil, but I know a good one when I see it and in my eye the ones that exhibit intimacy speak the loudest to me. I totally agree with Marko and Iggy in regards to a nice window light. Sitting while reading a book or filing your nails. Anything of that nature is far better than the "passport" look.

Just so you know, Marko has run us all through the ringer at one time or another. Those of us who took his advise have shortened the learning curve considerably. Have you searched the archive of his podcast? If not, then you should. Great source of info to be found in them.

[katalen]

my cameras a canon EOS T3 rebel and i have 2 lenses ones the 18mm - 55mm it came with a i have a longer lens that reaches to 300mm

[Iguanasan]

I should be able to help quite a bit if you are looking to learn. I'm shooting with the Canon T3i which is almost exactly the same and it is a fine camera with lots of potential. You can do a LOT with that camera. What software are you using? I highly recommend, if you can afford it, to spring for Adobe LightRoom. I used to rail against paying money (I'm always broke) but it makes editing images so very much easier than just about anything else you could use.

[Barefoot]

I used to rail against paying money (I'm always broke) but it makes editing images so very much easier than just about anything else you could use.

Well, hot damn! Gave up on the Gimp, huh? Don't let Iggy fool you, Katalen. He's still got the first dollar he ever made. Just a tightwad, that's all.:laugh:

All kidding aside, I have a copy of Photoshop Elements 11 that I deactivated some time ago and its just sitting in a draw wasting away. If you need some decent software, its yours for free. Someone might as well use it and I don't see any legal problems with it as long as I turn the license over to you.

[katalen]

all i have is Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0 and Digital Photo Professional that came with my camera, i shoot in RAW format as well but in order to get them into adobe i need to run them through Digital Photo Professional and change the file format

[Iguanasan]

Hehehehe... not completely, Barefoot. I get the shot mostly right in camera and Lightroom lets me do the basics. If I need advanced stuff with layers I still flip over to Gimp but that's rarely necessary unless I'm doing something very specific. Lightroom does almost everything I want.


Well, hot damn! Gave up on the Gimp, huh? Don't let Iggy fool you, Katalen. He's still got the first dollar he ever made. Just a tightwad, that's all.:laugh:

All kidding aside, I have a copy of Photoshop Elements 11 that I deactivated some time ago and its just sitting in a draw wasting away. If you need some decent software, its yours for free. Someone might as well use it and I don't see any legal problems with it as long as I turn the license over to you.

[Iguanasan]

I'm not super familiar with either of those but I believe you should be able to do most of what you need. If you don't want to splurge on Lightroom just yet you might want to check out Picasa. Picasa (http://www.google.com/picasa/) It is free and works a bit like a very basic Lightroom where it lets you organize your images and edit them non-destructively.

The biggest recommendation I can make is to take small steps. Don't try to learn everything at once or you will likely get frustrated. Getting better at anything - photography included - takes lots of time. I've been working at it as a fairly serious hobby for years and I'm still learning.


all i have is Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0 and Digital Photo Professional that came with my camera, i shoot in RAW format as well but in order to get them into adobe i need to run them through Digital Photo Professional and change the file format

[Barefoot]

I get the shot mostly right in camera

Indeed you do, Ig. As a result, everyone here enjoys your work. I know i do, anyway.

[JAS_Photo]

A very wise photographer once said, "Your first 10,000 images are going to suck." Which is a way of saying, practice makes perfect. But not just practice, practice where you take away something, every time. You learn from your mistakes. You know compositing so that means you are not afraid of technology or learning. :)

Now is my chance to share a little Joe McNally video.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqN1wcHsREc

[Marko]

great share Jas!

[HighSierra]

... i find if i have a window or light in the photo it turns the photo really dark ...

The window doesn't have to be in the photo. Just use the window to provide side lighting.