Spontaneous portrait


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aaron-xp

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Aug 14, 2008
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3001586831_c7dc96c9be_b.jpg


Shot with a E510, 14-54.

Shot during some school function rehearsal.

I wanted to be able to catch the spontaneous moments within an event which is happening, with no posed shots at all.

Would like critique mainly on:
1) Composition (had to do some cropping)
2) Post processing (vignetting?)

Any other general comments are much welcomed! Thanks.
 

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I would always say no no to cropped of body parts like in this protrait, the hands in the pockets or by the side. The lack of eye contact here also does not work for me here although spontanteous.
 

I would always say no no to cropped of body parts like in this protrait, the hands in the pockets or by the side. The lack of eye contact here also does not work for me here although spontanteous.

So all of the portraits you say yes to have to be full-body, and have absolutely no body parts cut off? I have to respectfully disagree here.

Not every portrait has to, and will be, a full-body portrait with absolutely no body parts cropped off. If your targeted shot is a medium shot (waist up), medium-close-up (head and shoulders with some upper body), or a close-up (headshot), then obviously you'd have some cropping of body parts.

The key to making sure that the cropping is not jarring is to ensure that the edges do not cut off body parts at the joint - for instance, cropping off a person at the elbow or wrist abruptly where the edge of frame lies.
 

Calebk, there are certain conditions in which cropping are ok. Examples like you named, half body, or the head and shoulders kind of shoots are ok. However in TS pic here, the wrist of the subject is mysteriously missing or rather adruptly cropped off... I do hope you get my point of view here.
 

Calebk, there are certain conditions in which cropping are ok. Examples like you named, half body, or the head and shoulders kind of shoots are ok. However in TS pic here, the wrist of the subject is mysteriously missing or rather adruptly cropped off... I do hope you get my point of view here.

At first glance, it did not seem abrupt, but now that you mention it and I gave it a second look over, I do get your point. :)
 

Hi Aaron-xp

I like your bokeh! Feel that it's just the right amount... and also the colour...

Wah, debate! Lol

Maybe one of you guys could do a crop and repost the image? I think it'd be useful to be able to see what you actually mean...

So he should have cropped it closer-up with the school crest near the edge of the frame?
 

Thanks for the comments so far!

Have re-cropped the photo to put the crest closer to the edge, though that means cutting away the elbow (which seems a little awkward)

3004872855_b4300453a4_b.jpg


Second crop is higher up, right up to the elbows, hopefully appearing less awkward a crop than that of the wrist crop.

3005728194_bf5da6aaf7_b.jpg
 

Thanks for the comments so far!

Have re-cropped the photo to put the crest closer to the edge, though that means cutting away the elbow (which seems a little awkward)

3004872855_b4300453a4_b.jpg


Second crop is higher up, right up to the elbows, hopefully appearing less awkward a crop than that of the wrist crop.

3005728194_bf5da6aaf7_b.jpg

Cropped higher looks better now...
:eek:
BUT why you chopped off the shoulder also. The subject's broad shoulder looks weird now.
 

Cropped higher looks better now...
:eek:
BUT why you chopped off the shoulder also. The subject's broad shoulder looks weird now.

The higher crop works, but yeah, why crop into the shoulder? :dunno:
 

Was taking simplequirk's suggestion of cropping closer to the edge, allowing the crest to be right at the side. Didn't really work though.

Final edit

3006929498_e00a545d5d_b.jpg
 

composition-wise, it would have been better if that think vertical line wasn't directly protruding out of the head. You can perhaps reduce the contrast+brightness of that a bit so it doesn't stand out?

nice colors. Maybe you can PP lighting on the nose a bit too.
 

3001586831_c7dc96c9be_b.jpg


Shot with a E510, 14-54.

Shot during some school function rehearsal.

I wanted to be able to catch the spontaneous moments within an event which is happening, with no posed shots at all.

Would like critique mainly on:
1) Composition (had to do some cropping)
2) Post processing (vignetting?)

Any other general comments are much welcomed! Thanks.

overdoing with vignett.
expression is fine but the wrist should not be chop off assuming u are taking 3/4 shot.
u can move ur framing toward right abit..cropping slightly tight.
 

At first glance, it did not seem abrupt, but now that you mention it and I gave it a second look over, I do get your point. :)

No prob bro. :) Me still learning too... Glad that you saw my point.
 

My personal opinion is you have to ask yourself, what makes u want to take this shot? Is it his facial expression or his smile or the way he stands?

IF the facial expression is more of what u want to capture, then crop your pic to solely focus on his face. In my frank opinion, this is a good shot of his smile and facial expression. It doesn't matter if his school crest needs to be included in the pic. That is of secondary importance.

Hope u mind me being direct in my opinions....
 

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