August Challenge

[Are You Serious Jo]

Digi does tend to leave images a bit flat and lacking colour as well as slightly soft so most need some basic editing.

[Cat]

1344162072[/url]' post='5920746']

Well for no editing they are fantastic, use the clarity slider and maybe contrast in LR and they would come out a bit sharper and maybe pop a bit more if thats what your looking for. What sort of camera are you using?

Thanks. It's a Nikon D40x. I'll have a play further.

[Lollipup]

My sister and my mum today

My sis and her dog

Chester begging

Lola

Chester

all in full manual :)

Edited August 5, 2012 by Lollipup

[Are You Serious Jo]

You've done really well :D You can see the emotion in these shots, even though there are a few technical things wrong you don't notice them as much because of the reaction you feel when viewing them. Once you've got the technical aspects under control you'll make some great shots. The one with your mum and sister is the standout, just needed a higher aperture for sharpness on both faces, but it's a really nice picture.

[tlc]

Great shots, Love the first two and the two of Chester are great, would you mind if I had a play with the one of your sister and her dog (the third one down?)

I meant to add another thing to try with the dogs is get down low so instead of shooting them from above you are at their level, also its easier said than done if you have velcro dogs like mine! :laugh:

Edited August 5, 2012 by tlc

[Lollipup]

You've done really well :D You can see the emotion in these shots, even though there are a few technical things wrong you don't notice them as much because of the reaction you feel when viewing them. Once you've got the technical aspects under control you'll make some great shots. The one with your mum and sister is the standout, just needed a higher aperture for sharpness on both faces, but it's a really nice picture.

Thank you, yes first thing I thought when I put it on the computer was that I should have used a higher aperture for more focus! But I really like that shot with mum because of the emotion. She is very sick and my sister was trying to make her smile and she did for just this brief moment.

Great shots, Love the first two and the two of Chester are great, would you mind if I had a play with the one of your sister and her dog (the third one down?)

I meant to add another thing to try with the dogs is get down low so instead of shooting them from above you are at their level, also its easier said than done if you have velcro dogs like mine! :laugh:

Thanks and yep, go for it :)

I've done a few down low with the dogs but they see you get down and come running!

Awesome job Lollipup! You're doing so well on manual! I just love the emotion in the first two photos. :)

Thanks Snook I appreciate all the feedback :)

[tlc]

Lolli, my mum is sick too so i can relate, hope your mum is feeling better soon. I many have over down this pic now that I look at it.

[Lollipup]

Lolli, my mum is sick too so i can relate, hope your mum is feeling better soon. I many have over down this pic now that I look at it.

Thanks, hope your mum is better soon too :)

I like that you have brightened it up a bit so it looks clearer, but it does look slightly too orange on my screen :)

I probably would have done it the same way though if my LR was working. I tried the trial version and same thing happens. I think it might be because my harddrive is doing that recovery. It has about 96 hours to go so I'll have to wait until its done and then hopefully I will have LR back

[tlc]

Yea you are right it has a kind of orangey feel to it, I used the brush in LR which I have only use started doing and could possibly have changed the saturation level on the brushed up bit. I think you might be right about the recovery thing, hopefully once thats finished it will let you use it again.

[Lollipup]

Hopefully :) I am just saving up all my photos in the meantime. I have Photoshop, but LR is so much simpler and is the only kind of editing I really want to do right now. I have taken some shots in RAW and can't wait to get them into LR for a go :)

[kja]

Looking really good, Everyone :)

I haven't added much to this thread so here goes with some things I've been noticing from posted shots and something that I find helpful when thinking about portraits.

Move around. You can make very small adjustments to your stance and view to totally change the results. It's easy & fast and creates a nice diversity. Here's three of Boof from yesterday all taken within a couple of minutes. The last two were taken within a minute of each other.

I changed the processing to suit each frame, too. Took about 2 minutes for all three.

The top four things I've noticed that are easy to work on and can really improve a shot:

1 - avoid ugly backgrounds. Think about what's behind your subject and move until it's not there, use a very shallow DOF to try to minimize it, look at processing to get rid/minimize or move your subject.

2 - eliminate distracting elements. Huga had a great before and after with the broom in the original. She knew it was there, knew that it was distracting & added nothing to the image, knew that she was going to have to extend that wall to create the image she wanted and knew that she was going to remove the broom in post - that's one way, and can be the only way depending on the scene. So you have to know beforehand so the elements are relatively easy to remove without mucking the whole image up. Removing elements before you take the shot is often easier so be sure to look around the scene and try to eliminate as much as you can in the first place.

3 - room to breathe. I know it's tempting to fill the frame but sometimes with portraits that can feel a little claustrophobic or crowded. It can also feel like an afterthought - didn't check around the frame so just cropped the snot of out it to isolate the subject. Negative space is your friend. Room for the subject to breathe in front of the face is a good thing. You can always crop tighter, but it's hard to get space back if you've gotten too close in the first place.

4 - focus. If it's not spot on the eyes - or in rare cases other crucial spot - bin it. Close enough is often not good enough.

Hope this helps someone :)

Edited August 6, 2012 by kja

[tlc]

Thanks for the advice, love the Boof shots, the first one is so cute especially, he looks kind of disheveled as if he has just woken up. :laugh:

Really appreciate your advice!

[huga]

I went a bit nuts this afternoon, it has been a while since I've done something as simple as photograph my own children in my own backyard. Gotta remember to do that sometimes!

ETA Exif :

ISO 800

f 2.8

1/800th

24mm

Edited August 8, 2012 by huga

[tlc]

Lovely Huga, they are so much like you especially the little fella, growing up so quickly!

[tlc]

Not a Portrait but I liked this one, I tried HDR but I failed miserably. :laugh:

[huga]

Thanks ladies. Yes, Ed is like me, Ollie is like Mr Huga. We have one each :D Just added the exif data for those who like that kind of info :)

Tlc - I don't know much about HDR, but it looks overcooked.

[tlc]

It's not HDR, my HDR effort failed big time. This was just one shot I added a preset to it in LR, it was a HDR effect one.

[anniek]

couple of portraits taken yesterday with the Sigma 17-70

top one

AV mode

ISO 1600

s speed 1/8000 (was hoping she was going to run)

AV 4.0

focal lenght 17mm

partial metering

exp comp - 1 1/3

bottom one

AV mode

ISO 1600

s speed 1/2000

AV 4.0

focal length 40mm

partial metering

exp comp - 1/3

[tlc]

Nice shots Annie, especially the second one, such a sweet face.

Thought I'd add this one, from the 21st I was at a few weeks ago, they asked me to be the offical photographer. :) it reminded me of an old 70s shot with the B&W added, I think its the ladies dress and his scarf.

Edited August 10, 2012 by tlc

[Lollipup]

One of Lola today. Working on the challenge of her being black and white.