Posted: 2/13/2012 11:10:02 AM EDT
Have at me. Initial impressions to in-depth is appreciated. I'm posting my favorites to my maintenance flickr account (so if you browse the account, it's all going to be relative garbage ), I'll post some more as we progress.
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The first thing I notice is that most of those are over-exposed, imo. The background is completely washed out on most of them, so you don't have a sense of where she is. I would bring the exposure down to a level that doesn't wash out the background (I'm guessing the ocean), and take the pictures with her facing the sun. By taking them with the sun behind her, there is less light on her face (and the front of her body) and you have to compensate by overexposing the rest of the photo. If you've every had pictures taken and wondered why the photographer makes you squint into the sun for a pic instead of just moving somewhere else, this is why. It should also help knock down some of the sun spots you're getting.
I like the composure on the last pic. The first several pics where she is centered in the frame are duller than the bottom one, in my opinion. Google the "Rule of Thirds" and try implementing it later. The photos will feel much more dynamic if you move the subject away from dead-center of the frame. |
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The first thing I notice is that most of those are over-exposed, imo. The background is completely washed out on most of them, so you don't have a sense of where she is. I would bring the exposure down to a level that doesn't wash out the background (I'm guessing the ocean), and take the pictures with her facing the sun. By taking them with the sun behind her, there is less light on her face (and the front of her body) and you have to compensate by overexposing the rest of the photo. That should also help knock down some of the sun spots you're getting. I like the composure on the last pic. The first several pics where she is centered in the frame are duller than the bottom one, in my opinion. Google the "Rule of Thirds" and try implementing it later. The photos will feel much more dynamic if you move the subject away from dead-center of the frame. Appreciated, a few things, first of which is the composition. Shooting the 35L with center spot metering against the sun means that you either have to AE lock the face or center the subject, otherwise you end up with a silhouette as it meters off of direct sunlight. 35L is a relatively wide lens so shooting towards the center avoids the optical distortions towards the edges...definitely not as pronounced as say a 20mm, but it's certainly intentional. Sun flare and sun wash is also very intentional. Shooting in open sunlight (with the sun low) prohibits facing the model into the sun, first, their eyes are always closed or squinted and second, you get EXTREMELY harsh shadows. Here we shot metered for the face with a white reflector bouncing light back into her face. The lens flare is entirely intentional. I would love not to blow out the background, but without multiple exposures and some hefty post work, you really can't have sunflare and a pretty background. Well...I won't say that, but shooting on the water it is extremely hard. Shooting in a field for example, you could work in flare and leave a tree line in the background, but when your background is all empty sky it's nearly impossible. Some of the higher series Canons have spot metering that follows the active AF point, but without a pocket meter or meter-then-recompose, you can't really quickly implement the rule of thirds. Maybe I need to work on slowing down the whole process for the sake of the rule of thirds, but I'm not so attracted to the concept either...so...maybe I'll try it next time out. |
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Like the last one the best, in terms of composition. I think you could get the effect you seem to be looking for in that one with a minimum of post.
The first two suffer from the model leaning into the shot, giving her the giant head/tiny body look (which isn't the case from the full body shot). The problem goes away in the third shot, but that pose isn't flattering; it might be that the hairline draws the eye too much. You can fool the metering using center point by focusing on the face, half-press the shutter, then recompose, at least on my canon bodies. |
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Like the last one the best, in terms of composition. I think you could get the effect you seem to be looking for in that one with a minimum of post. The first two suffer from the model leaning into the shot, giving her the giant head/tiny body look (which isn't the case from the full body shot). The problem goes away in the third shot, but that pose isn't flattering; it might be that the hairline draws the eye too much. You can fool the metering using center point by focusing on the face, half-press the shutter, then recompose, at least on my canon bodies. Meh...I didn't really like the last one very much, guess we found the problem, it's me
I think maybe I'll post some of my less favorites, you guys will probably like them better. Standby. |
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The standing photo in your less favorites is one of my favorites. All of the graphic components lead me to her face, which, I feel has a very unique expression.
The blown out background does not bug me at all. You held detail in the whites of the dress. That is what is important. Using this technique as a "stylistic decision" for a whole port would not bug me at all. It's about the model or the dress, not the background. The top off your less favorites has one component that I think would make the rest better. A nice catchlight in the eye. A samll flash set 1.5 or 2 stops lower than you exposure will give you this consistantly without affecting the rest of the image. Very nice work overall, by model and photographer. |
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Have at me. Initial impressions to in-depth is appreciated. I'm posting my favorites to my maintenance flickr account (so if you browse the account, it's all going to be relative garbage ), I'll post some more as we progress.
Good job with the back-lighting; it really helps highlight her hair. In your attempt for sun flair, you have a bit too much sun in a few of the shots, but that is not something that probably could not be compensated by an assistant with a large reflector. In shot #4, a slightly lower angle from you might have kept some of the flair without losing the model's head in the sun. As others have pointed out, shooting in manual mode in these circumstances can help keep the camera from out guessing you. Your "less favorites" are of a different style (no flair), I actually like them better (due to the lack of flair). |
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Have at me. Initial impressions to in-depth is appreciated. I'm posting my favorites to my maintenance flickr account (so if you browse the account, it's all going to be relative garbage ), I'll post some more as we progress.
Good job with the back-lighting; it really helps highlight her hair. In your attempt for sun flair, you have a bit too much sun in a few of the shots, but that is not something that probably could not be compensated by an assistant with a large reflector. In shot #4, a slightly lower angle from you might have kept some of the flair without losing the model's head in the sun. As others have pointed out, shooting in manual mode in these circumstances can help keep the camera from out guessing you. Your "less favorites" are of a different style (no flair), I actually like them better (due to the lack of flair). I want you to want me to have flair... |
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The problem goes away in the third shot, but that pose isn't flattering; it might be that the hairline draws the eye too much. Agreed there...not sure if it is fixable....oh well... Quoted:
If you'd said you were intentionally blowing the background out for artistic effect, I'd have bought it. 
Nice pics and cute model! It's actually sort of a thing I have going at the moment (more the sun wash/flair, but the BG is a byproduct of that)...Flickr (Thank You) |