 Karla J. Cox |
Critique Please!
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Todd Bennett |
Karla, I am by no means an expert on studio photography; but, here is what I see with these pictures. The first one is way out of focus. Looks as though through post editing you were able to bring the focus in a good bit on the second; but, it is still out of focus. If you were trying for a soft focus look, I think it is still too out of focus to really be concidered soft focus. I see two shadows that I don't think should/would be there if the lighting were set up correctly. One shadow is on her right arm caused by her body and the other is on the left side of her face caused by her hair. And lastly, the more I look at the two pictures, my eyes are drawn more and more to the white background and not the subject. I don't know if it is because the dress she is wearing is white also or something else; but, to me the white overwhelms the picture and distracts from the subject. Taking the picture in portrait rather than landscape may have helped some and perhaps a different color for her dress may have helped. Just my opinion. Others may see it differently.
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Todd Bennett |
One question I thought of after I posted is, how did you meter this shot? It may be that when you did the shot you used the camera to meter the entire scene, which appears to have under exposed the entire shot leaving the subject underexposed. Then in editing the picture you adjusted the brightness to bring your subject up to an acceptable level; but, totally blew out the background. Again, this is what I see and others may see it differently.
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Karla J. Cox |
Thanks for your comments. I think the pictures look blurry too. I used AF on my Canon XT. Maybe I need to manually focus. I used a handheld meter on myself before my subject arrived to get my aperture setting. I did photoshop the background some to get some visible wrinkles out of my backdrop.
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Todd Bennett |
Karla, One thing I do when I shoot people, because I shoot mainly in aperture priority, is to set my autofocus to the top bracket on the focus screen (whether in landscape or portrait it is always at the top) and then have that bracket on the eyes and depress my shutter button half way down and hold it. I then recompose the shot. By holding the shutter button down I have locked the focus so the eyes will be in focus which is what you want. You have to be sure your camera is set so the autofocus isn't continually tracking the subject or this doesn't work. I've had good success with this technique. I am usually shooting handheld outside so this isn't too much of a problem. In a studio on a tripod, it may be a little more difficult though.
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Pete H |
Hello Karla, I won't soften this for ya'..You can take it; right? :) 1)Contrast is way off. 2)Too much shadow..product off contrast prob. 3) Too much dead border width..shoot this vertically. 4) Gaussian blur is overused. Eyes only. Suggesstion: In studio autofocus is a no-no..You will miss opportunities...Manual focus and keep your distance. At f/11 you have some DOF leeway. f/8 will require a little more attention..Zooming? Refocus and fire away. Wanna' try an experiment that might help your understanding of contrast? Turn off the strobes and white balance & expose for the modeling lights. Yep, you will have to open up some more and maybe shoot a little slower. Just try it and lemme' know what you learn..You will be amazed, I promise. All the best, Pete
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John G. Clifford Jr |
I agree with the other posters... no blur! The blurred photo doesn't look artistic, it looks as if you took a bad shot. The second one is better but the lighting doesn't provide any contouring to the subject, and so it is a bland photograph. I'd also work on the pose... the model's head is forward and down so it appears to be jutting towards the photographer. Not a flattering pose. Try having her head up, her body turned at a 45-degree angle at the waist, and have her looking slightly to one side to show the contours of her face. Remember, unless you're Diane Arbus you want your photography to flatter your subjects!
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Karla J. Cox |
Yes,I want harsh critiques! That's the only way to learn. I need to try your experiment, because I'm not sure about the contrast issue. I appreciate your advice. I've had trouble with auto focus before. My software is showing that the focus point was right on her nose. I figure at f11, that should have her entire face in focus. Maybe I can get another model lined up to practice shooting this weekend.
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