# portrait help



## Koru (Sep 25, 2006)

i have another family gathering happening at the end of this month and i want to be able to take some special photos of people. here's some from a gathering yesterday. can you give me some pointers? if you don't mind, how'm i doing?





































rosesm


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## sandybottom (Jun 1, 2005)

To tell you the truth your doing fine. That glass of wine looks refreshing.


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## madf1man (Jan 28, 2005)

Since you asked!! I'd say all were to close. Close in portriat shots are nice when folks are posing(looking at the camera). Casual shots benefit more room around the subject also making the same more at ease.


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## Charles Helm (Oct 22, 2004)

I'd like to see the entire head in the shots, but that may just be me.


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## Koru (Sep 25, 2006)

cool, thanks. i'll step back a bit 

rosesm


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## The Machine (Jun 4, 2007)

nothing wrong


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## Capt Rick Hiott (Dec 14, 2007)

Your exposure time on the third shot of 1/15" shows a little motion blur.
I would use fill flash outside (and inside). Shoot early in the AM or late in the afternoon.
Also a longer lens outside. I like the 70-200 on a monopod for shots like that. Your crop is a little tight on these shots.


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## Koru (Sep 25, 2006)

Capt Rick Hiott said:


> Your exposure time on the third shot of 1/15" shows a little motion blur.
> I would use fill flash outside (and inside). Shoot early in the AM or late in the afternoon.
> Also a longer lens outside. I like the 70-200 for shots like that. Your crop is a little tight on these shots.


i have an 18-135mm lens, so i don't know how much of a difference it would make... if both you and i took a shot at say 70mm, from the same position, then we should have similar portrait, wouldn't we? not sure, just guessing there.

i understand what you're saying about shooting time but it wasn't possible with this get-together nor the next as both were/are at lunchtime... worst possible time of day.

thanks for the thoughts on the fill flash. i'll see if i can work on using that. 

the third shot that you mentioned with motion blur, i took on aperture mode which i set at F5.6 in the hopes the background would blur enough. should i have set it at perhaps F9? --- i am struggling to learn this skill.

thanks for your comments. i appreciate them.

Thanks too The Machine. i appreciate your thoughts also.

rosesm


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## Capt Rick Hiott (Dec 14, 2007)

You asked,,,,,"i took on aperture mode which i set at F5.6 in the hopes the background would blur enough. should i have set it at perhaps F9?"

No ,,go the other way,, like 2.8. A higher f-stop would have made your shutter speed even longer.
The flash bounced off of the ceiling or wall would have been the way I would have shot it.


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## richg99 (Aug 21, 2004)

K...I'd consider shooting more of the shots holding the camera vertically. That way, the ....."top of head cut off".... syndrome is much less of a problem. Or, step back ( or zoom less) to leave some "cropping room" on all sides of your portraits.

I ran into some issues yesterday on the Luau shots that I took. I initially cropped them all to 8 x 10. 

Now, the person running the program wants to print up all 250 pix into 4 x 6 shots and hang them in our Recreation Hall. Well, as you know...a 8x10 doesn't crop well into a 4x6 format. I had to go back and re-crop ALL of them into the 4x6 format. My vertical shots suffered the most, since I was somewhat close and occasionally there wasn't any "crop room" left on some pix. 

Leave some crop room, so you have flexibility..regards, Rich


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## Koru (Sep 25, 2006)

Capt, this lens i can go to F3.5 if i take the shot at 18mm. i probably would have had the camera touching the subject noses if i'd done that... or would have had the entire room in the image. hmm gotta be a happy medium there somewhere. i'll work on it some more if i get the chance. thanks.

Rich, thanks for your advice also. i haven't even got to the printing part of the whole camera operation thing yet. (actually that's not quite true. yesterday i sent my first two 'serious' images off to be printed so i'm on tenterhooks waiting to see how they turn out. they were landscape shots that i've shown here previously.) i chose a size that ended up cropping a smidgeon off the top of the vertical shot, so it'll be interesting to see how it turns out. i'll keep your advice in mind and try some more vertical portraits (and will zoom less).

rosesm


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## Gator_Nutz (Sep 27, 2006)

Personally I would like to see more views from the front, especially the first and last shots. Some fill flash would be something to try as stated earlier as well because they do look just a little flat. Lastly I am seeing a reddish hue in all 4 images that seems a bit off. It may be time to reprofile your monitor? Or it may be time for me to re-do mine


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## MT Stringer (May 21, 2004)

Karen, I'm not a portrait guy, but I do have a few pics I really like. Looks like eye contact is a good thing.

Hope this helps.
Mike

Taken with 70-200 f/2.8; ISO 400, f/4.5 at 76mm (no flash)









Taken with the same lens at f/4 at 70mm (no flash)









Taken with 85 f/1.8 at f/2.8 (w/fill flash)


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## Koru (Sep 25, 2006)

there is a slight reddish tinge to the skin... that was the first day of sunshine we'd had around here since i don't know when and my daughter's skin actually heated up quite a bit while she was sitting outside. we were all reluctant to go indoors but that's were the food was. lol so, i won't say it was my camera settings or your monitor, but it was the sun. had i shot in RAW they could be toned down slightly, but i rarely shoot in RAW.

okay so, front shots and fill flash (i didn't use any flash as it really was a bright sunny day). 

thanks Mike, i see what you mean about eye contact and can see the difference between fill flash and nothing. thanks for those.

i've got to git me a model to practice on.


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## Capt Rick Hiott (Dec 14, 2007)

I always shoot in RAW. Its a lot easier to edit them in Photo Shop when you do.
A lens around 85mm works best for portrait work,,I do like the 70-200 though.


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## Koru (Sep 25, 2006)

Capt Rick Hiott said:


> I always shoot in RAW. Its a lot easier to edit them in Photo Shop when you do.
> A lens around 85mm works best for portrait work,,I do like the 70-200 though.


i shot in RAW for a couple of days no problems. but my computer couldn't cope with the files very well so i've been giving it a miss since then - until i can afford to do something about it.

thanks for the heads up with the 85mm. i'll try that. 

rosesm


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