Portrait ... need critique please

[shesells]

Hi everyone.. I've been away for awhile because ... well, because of life! Anyway, im trying something new to me, portraits, and i would like to improve enough to make money at it...wouldnt we all? I've taken many snaps of people but never tried to do it in a proffesional way. This is my first try.

Those of you who know about portraits, please give me a tough review, I'm really serious! Anyone who has an opinion at all is more than welcome to help. Thank you so much and I've missed coming here.
Kit

[Knight]

"Those of you who know about portraits"

Well i dont know anything about portraits but it seems to me that this portrait may be croped to tightly on the left and i find it dark in the upper right corner , But it could be the monitor that im using at this moment mine is in the shop for repairs. Other than that its a beautifull portrait & the cutest of subjects

[shesells]

"Those of you who know about portraits"

Well i dont know anything about portraits but it seems to me that this portrait may be croped to tightly on the left and i find it dark in the upper right corner , But it could be the monitor that im using at this moment mine is in the shop for repairs. Other than that its a beautifull portrait & the cutest of subjects

Thanks for your critique, Knight. You are right about the crop... i should have remembered a little thing i learned in a photograpy class years ago.. " Always leave space in front of the face".. Thanks for the reminder! Also, i had burned in the edges and I agree, it does look too dark in the upper corner. Here's the original.. any better? I can lighten more if needed. she is cute and was so easy compared to the little guy.. omg...i gotta practice my action shots! lol
Kit

[gahspidy]

Good to see you on again. I think this is fine, except for the tight crop in front of the face, as noted before. Good subject, nice exposure and lighting, catch lights in the eyes are great, but the tight crop hurts it. ( but does not kill it)

[jar_e]

I agree with Knight, the main thing for me is the tight crop. The colors work, and the DOF is great. Nice and crisp too, which works perfectly for a portrait,

Nice shot,

Jared

[shesells]

Sorry it took me so long to reply, had my puter in the shop for upgrades. now me happy! Thanks for critiquing it. Nothing is crucial about this set that i took so i'm happy to learn from them. It was a freebie for friends so they cant complain..heh. next time i'll take my time more and pay attention to the things you said. Portraits are really not my thing but that's why i want to learn it. I'm anxious to see what everyone has been doing while i was away and to get back in the fold, so thanks for the "welcome back". ttyl
Kit

[Janie]

The subject is adorable but it's a little too tight a shot. I always err on the side of caution and leave cropping & matting margins. I'd up the contrast a little bit, just to give it a little more oomph! And don't forget the rule of thirds!

One thing I like to do with little kids portraits is to get the portrait to tell a story - make the viewer wonder what he's looking at... i think you've almost accomplished that, but it's just too close. If you framed and matted that you'd lose half his face. Keep shooting - took me quite some time to really shoot kids well, especially on the fly!

Hi everyone.. I've been away for awhile because ... well, because of life! Anyway, im trying something new to me, portraits, and i would like to improve enough to make money at it...wouldnt we all? I've taken many snaps of people but never tried to do it in a proffesional way. This is my first try.

Those of you who know about portraits, please give me a tough review, I'm really serious! Anyone who has an opinion at all is more than welcome to help. Thank you so much and I've missed coming here.
Kit

[hellinvader]

the kid is cute~however, its a too tight crop, also, try to use a reflector to reflect some light on the right (darker) side of the face might help too~

[opus]

I'm seeing a bluish cast on the face, most noticeable in the whites of the eyes. It gives the subject a dark, dull, sickly feeling.

I think you'd want to lose any color casts like that if you went professional.

[Janie]

I'm seeing a bluish cast on the face, most noticeable in the whites of the eyes. It gives the subject a dark, dull, sickly feeling.

I think you'd want to lose any color casts like that if you went professional.

Maybe checking the white balance would correct that. Looks like the white wasn't up far enough.

[shesells]

Hi! how are you guys doing? Thanks for mentioning that,...I didnt notice it at all. I had the white balance perfect, then punched up the blue to bring out her eyes.. doh! Thank you so much for picking up on that.. im gonna post a link to the other pics from this shoot... tomorrow... have a look if you like... The hardest thing i found was that those kids would not hold still for one second .. lol
Kit

[Lava Lamp]

Hi everyone.. I've been away for awhile because ... well, because of life! Anyway, im trying something new to me, portraits, and i would like to improve enough to make money at it...wouldnt we all? I've taken many snaps of people but never tried to do it in a proffesional way. This is my first try.

Those of you who know about portraits, please give me a tough review, I'm really serious! Anyone who has an opinion at all is more than welcome to help. Thank you so much and I've missed coming here.
Kit

I haven't read anyone else's comments here, so forgive me if I repeat. My first thought is that it is trimmed a little too tight and that I'd like to see a different expression - perhaps the mought closed or in a smile. All you need fo rthat is to fire off a bunch of shots. Also the wide aperture makes the eyes in different levels of focus, which can be disconcerting fo the viewer. All in all not a bad picture, though.

[shesells]

I haven't read anyone else's comments here, so forgive me if I repeat. My first thought is that it is trimmed a little too tight and that I'd like to see a different expression - perhaps the mought closed or in a smile. All you need fo rthat is to fire off a bunch of shots. Also the wide aperture makes the eyes in different levels of focus, which can be disconcerting fo the viewer. All in all not a bad picture, though.

Hi Lava... I was testing a new lens at the same time as testing my skill in taking photos of children... the lens was great but i also realized that the F/1.4 is good for DOF but definately not for when the subject is a persons face. It is annoying when the eyes are not the same focus. I took a bunch of shots that day and will post a link to them today. I need major help in this arena because I kind of have a hang up about shots that I cant spend time setting up. That includes action shots of anything but especially kids. I notice that in all the pics there is some part, and not just the background that is blured because of the aperture... I have tried smaller apertures but am unable to get the dof i like... any suggestions? Thank you Lava, you always have something constructive to say.
Kit

[Sebastian]

Kit,

I've been looking at this since you posted it, and it's been tough to figure out what to say. Basically, I don't consider this to be a "portrait." I see a candid shot of a child, one that could use better framing and color balance. To me, a portrait tries to get across as much as possible about the person. Attitude, features, personality, etc. You do that by using lighting to highlight the shape of their face, choice of clothing or setting or even props to showcase some of their personality. And you spend some time interacting with them to get them to feel comfortable with you, to show their true self hopefully. When you look at a portrait you should feel like it really gets the person across to the viewer. To me, your shot says nothing about the little girl. I don't even feel any connection since she's not looking at the camera. Not that she needs to be looking at the camera, but that would have been one thing that would have helped this particular photo. I just think this is a long way from a portrait, and an even longer way from something I would pay for if it was my child.

A portrait is always about the person, the technicalities comes second. I would take a technically poor shot over a good one if the poor shot got more of the subject's personality across. That's not an excuse to not try to get technically good photos of course.

Hope that helps.

[shesells]

Yeah Seb, but how do you really feel? lol Please notice that I said in my post that it was "my first try". Well, I think you have some valid points and i appreciate your sharing your ideas with me. While I'm not some kid who got their camera from a cracker jack box, i am lacking in knowledge of portraiture and realize that its a whole other ball game. Do I think these photos are worth paying for? no. I'm just trying to learn.

As for calling it a portrait.. well thats one of those arguments that can go on forever.. I think any likeness of a person is a portrait, especially a head shot. I like seeing kids in their normal play, so I will probably try for more candid portraits. I did attempt to use lighting and reflectors... failed but tried.. lol

Here are a few more from that same shoot. Don't forget that I was using a new camera, new lenses and I am totally unpracticed with people shots. I do know kids, and was able to talk and play with them... just couldnt coordinate the shooting with the playing.. i suck. lol

[jar_e]

Your latter shots are great! I love the colors of them, and how the majority of them are unposed. The last one has some flash problems, but it works and I love them!

Nice shots.

[shesells]

Jared, thank you so much.. thats really encouraging. I have some kind of hang up with taking people shots and am trying to get over it. I adore kids and would like to show them in their best light so I have to read up on how to do it technically. Do you, or anyone else know how to hold the reflector and shoot at the same time? Does everyone have an assistant for this kind of thing? must be nice! I find myself kind of frustrated with the fact that the kids move so much just when they were facing the right way. Maybe in a studio it would be more controlled but 2 year olds are wiggly! lol Thanks for coming back!
Kit

[jar_e]

Kit,

Though my work with reflectors is limited, the stuff I've seen either uses an assitance or something to prop them up (a chair, table, etc.) Two year olds can be tough to shoot, and maybe even a bounce shot off the celing might work if the refelector thing gets a tad hard. No problem for my response, there are some great pics!

Jared