Granddad Portrait BnW - trying out


acousticjun

New Member
Jul 18, 2010
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Singapore!
www.littlesofthands.com
6334022000_3e07589871_z.jpg


Managed to get my grand dad to pose for a simple portrait.


1. In which area is critique or feedback to be given?
Lighting, technique

2. What were you hoping to achieve with this image?
Portrait of my grand dad

3. Under what circumstance was the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)
Canon 7D 50 mm F2.8 1/10 ISO 200


4. Thread-starter's personal thoughts about the image.
My grand dad - old but young at heart
 

Hi acousticjun,

A couple of comments:

1. You seem to have sharpened quite a fair bit- on my monitor it looks almost as if it's been over-sharpened, to the extent where your grand-dad's face is unnatural, almost caricature-ish.

2. On first glance, I thought the chinese dish (it is a chinese dish right...?) in the background was useful because it added context to the photo. After pondering it for a while, I'm leaning towards the opinion that your photo would be better without it.


Cheers,
AC
 

Noted friend. I will tone down on the sharpening. I used a technique to bring out the details, might have been overzealous - was inspired by some of the shots Im seeing from some photographers overseas.

Dish was there because I am guilty of not prepping the place properly.. was keen to test out the flashes:D
 

I agree with candycaine that it's over-sharpened, but other than that its a good photo. I really like the way the lighting brings out the textures on his face.
 

I really like how sharp the photo is. Great detail!
 

A wee bit oversharpened, but it brings out the texture of his weathered face out rather well.

It's a interesting Dragan-style portrait, my only nitpick is that the background could afford to be a lot less distracting with careful selection of where this shot was taken, since said subject was posed.
 

1. In which area is critique or feedback to be given?
Lighting, technique

2. What were you hoping to achieve with this image?
Portrait of my grand dad

3. Under what circumstance was the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)
Canon 7D 50 mm F2.8 1/10 ISO 200

1. Lighting -If the photographer request critique on lighting, the photographer must first 1) had controlled the lighting, 2) or played a part in the lighting or 3) the minimum influenced it - then describe how this picture was lit and critics may comment accordingly? Otherwise, there is no lighting - merely exposure. There are differences when a photographer created and/or sculpted the light to his favor, or just merely meter and expose without control of of the light in terms of intensity, softness/hardness, direction and tint.

So, how as this lit? Window light?

The oversharpened thing was already mentioned many times.

Overall quite a nice picture.
 

Hi sjackal,

Set up was one 580EXII on the left of the subject at approx 4 feet distance. another 430EX up front to fill the face. 430EX was at a power of 1/8 of the 580EXII. Background was under exposed by 1 stop. Both flashes went through umbrellas.

1. Lighting -If the photographer request critique on lighting, the photographer must first 1) had controlled the lighting, 2) or played a part in the lighting or 3) the minimum influenced it - then describe how this picture was lit and critics may comment accordingly? Otherwise, there is no lighting - merely exposure. There are differences when a photographer created and/or sculpted the light to his favor, or just merely meter and expose without control of of the light in terms of intensity, softness/hardness, direction and tint.

So, how as this lit? Window light?

The oversharpened thing was already mentioned many times.

Overall quite a nice picture.
 

Here comes the critic:

Do you really need the fill light? IMHO, it takes away the mood. Without the fill light you probably get a moodier pic that is more dramatic for this kind of look.

Also, I would rather use the key light at camera right, and opt for softbox - preferably with flags like the westcott apollo or black-backed umbrella which is easier to control split. Taking it from the right side and shooting towards the left, and flagging it, and bringing it really close for a sharper fall-off, you might avoid the light pollution into the table and porcelain plate behind. Or just remove the porcelain plate first and pull the subject further away from the background if possible.

Also, you do not need 1/10 shutter, it burn in too much ambient, again, which contributes to the distracting background. I like the background items there, but also like it to stay quiet and not distracting.

Overall its a good effort and nice picture.

Hi sjackal,

Set up was one 580EXII on the left of the subject at approx 4 feet distance. another 430EX up front to fill the face. 430EX was at a power of 1/8 of the 580EXII. Background was under exposed by 1 stop. Both flashes went through umbrellas.
 

Here comes the critic:

Do you really need the fill light? IMHO, it takes away the mood. Without the fill light you probably get a moodier pic that is more dramatic for this kind of look.

Also, I would rather use the key light at camera right, and opt for softbox - preferably with flags like the westcott apollo or black-backed umbrella which is easier to control split. Taking it from the right side and shooting towards the left, and flagging it, and bringing it really close for a sharper fall-off, you might avoid the light pollution into the table and porcelain plate behind. Or just remove the porcelain plate first and pull the subject further away from the background if possible.

Also, you do not need 1/10 shutter, it burn in too much ambient, again, which contributes to the distracting background. I like the background items there, but also like it to stay quiet and not distracting.

Overall its a good effort and nice picture.

Thanks bro. I would certainly love to buy better light modifiers as I go along. The soft box is definitely much better at softening the light. I used to stay away from flash photography relying more on ambient natural light, but now I swear by artificial lighting.

What you said about the background objects is true - they are a distraction. Will remove them before attempting such shots in the near future:)
 

Lovely grandfather! I'm loving the subject, but your sharpening is a bit overdone. It could use a better cropping too, IMO.