# Where can I have my pictures criticized?



## Perio (Jun 14, 2014)

Hello guys! I'm an amateur and was recently shooting my girlfriend. I'm looking for some good constructive criticism to know whether or not I'm completely hopeless  What options do I have? Any good websites where I upload some pictures? Thanks!


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## dgatwood (Jun 14, 2014)

Perio said:


> Hello guys! I an amateur and was recently shooting my girlfriend. I'm looking for some good constructive criticism to know whether or not I'm completely hopeless  What options do I have? Any good websites where I upload some pictures? Thanks!



Post them here, and we'll be happy to make snide remarks.


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## Perio (Jun 14, 2014)

dgatwood said:


> Perio said:
> 
> 
> > Hello guys! I an amateur and was recently shooting my girlfriend. I'm looking for some good constructive criticism to know whether or not I'm completely hopeless  What options do I have? Any good websites where I upload some pictures? Thanks!
> ...



All right, snide remarks is what I need  All images were taken with Canon 6d + 85 1.2ii (first image), 70-200 2.8ii (second image) and 200 2.0 (third image). All wide open. I removed some blemishes and added sharpness in Photoshop, and then used Imagenomic Portraiture to smoothen the skin. For images #1 and 2, I was using the white dome from from Gary Fong's Wedding Event Flash Modifying Kit. For image #3, I was using Amber dome to make the skin tone a little warmer. Look forward to getting your feedback, even if you think all images suck


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## dgatwood (Jun 14, 2014)

I'm curious what the light source was on the third one. The subject looks almost like she's lit by candlelight or something, which logically feels a bit out of place outdoors during the day.


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## Perio (Jun 14, 2014)

dgatwood said:


> I'm curious what the light source was on the third one. The subject looks almost like she's lit by candlelight or something, which logically feels a bit out of place outdoors during the day.



It was 600EX-RT and Gary Fong's collapsible lightsphere with the amber dome, which I just purchased. Usually this amber dome is supposed to give you a warm skin tone during the sunset/sunrise but I decided to see how it works when a subject is in the shade of trees. On these pictures you can compare how my gf looks with and without this amber dome.


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## Don Haines (Jun 14, 2014)

Perio said:


> It was 600EX-RT and Gary Fong's collapsible lightsphere with the amber dome, which I just purchased. Usually this amber dome is supposed to give you a warm skin tone during the sunset/sunrise but I decided to see how it works when a subject is in the shade of trees. On these pictures you can compare how my gf looks with and without this amber dome.


The facial expression in the second picture is wonderful! Don't get so lost in equipment and technique that you loose the subtleties of expression and pose.... they are what turns an OK picture into a great picture.


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## Perio (Jun 14, 2014)

Don Haines said:


> Perio said:
> 
> 
> > It was 600EX-RT and Gary Fong's collapsible lightsphere with the amber dome, which I just purchased. Usually this amber dome is supposed to give you a warm skin tone during the sunset/sunrise but I decided to see how it works when a subject is in the shade of trees. On these pictures you can compare how my gf looks with and without this amber dome.
> ...



Thank you, Don Haines! I appreciate your comment, my friend


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## YuengLinger (Jun 14, 2014)

Off to a good start.

Do you, Perio, have a photo club within travel distance? Getting to know other photographers and help each other with critiques and techniques is a great way to improve. Don't be shy!


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## Perio (Jun 14, 2014)

YuengLinger said:


> Off to a good start.
> 
> Do you, Perio, have a photo club within travel distance? Getting to know other photographers and help each other with critiques and techniques is a great way to improve. Don't be shy!



YuengLinger, most likely I do, but I shoot very very rarely (few times a year) because of the lack of time. Maybe I should stop making these excuses and do what you suggested me do. Otherwise, that's a shame to have all that equipment and not be able to get good pictures.


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## dgatwood (Jun 14, 2014)

Perio said:


> dgatwood said:
> 
> 
> > I'm curious what the light source was on the third one. The subject looks almost like she's lit by candlelight or something, which logically feels a bit out of place outdoors during the day.
> ...



That's cool. For daylight shooting in that environment, I think it might be better toned down a bit—either by reducing the flash power or moving it farther away, but I do like the way it brings out the flesh tones compared with what would otherwise be a very green reflected natural light. Maybe a quarter to half power. Worth experimenting with it anyway.

On #2, I liked the setting and the way her attire fits in with it, but I just keep feeling the intense urge to zoom out and rotate the camera so that she's vertical. 

Picture #3 felt a little on the loose side. Interestingly, #5 has almost precisely the same composition, but doesn't feel loose—probably because the tree in the image gives you a reason for the extra space, whereas the light leaves don't have the same effect.

I think #4 is my favorite overall. The (presumably) natural backlighting/side lighting really helps bring out the boundary between her hair and the background a lot better than in the otherwise similarly lit #3. I'd love to see that same shot with a tiny bit of additional artificial backlight added from below on the right side, and about half as much artificial fill from the front.

And of course, the mostly green natural lighting in #5 makes her look a bit like Kermit the Frog without color correction.  So I tend to agree that it definitely needs some artificial fill. Either that or do a *lot* of green channel reduction in Lightroom. 

Oh, and nice work.


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## zim (Jun 14, 2014)

Nice photos, my thoughts for what they’re worth

1.	You have a very pretty girlfriend
2.	She knows how hold herself in front of a camera
3.	1 & 2 are way more important than any piece of kit
4.	IMG_4531.jpg/IMG_4646.jpg lose the watch
5.	Really don’t think the amber dome in that context, anyone for ghost stories (harsh)
6.	Particularly like the first and third photos (amber dome aside)
7.	Don’t join a camera club it will ruin every spark of creativity you have
8.	Hope you post again I think you have a good eye


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## YuengLinger (Jun 14, 2014)

Somebody had a bad experience with a camera club.


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## dgatwood (Jun 14, 2014)

YuengLinger said:


> Somebody had a bad experience with a camera club.



I thought everyone had a bad experience with a camera club.


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## RAKAMRAK (Jun 14, 2014)

The sodium vapour type lighting aside, I like the expressions in the third and fourth photo. Her flipping in the last photo is funny, although I trust it was unintentional - just the camera captured the wrong moment.

Loose the watch in the third photo. 

The second photo does not look interesting to me.


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## Don Haines (Jun 14, 2014)

dgatwood said:


> YuengLinger said:
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> > Somebody had a bad experience with a camera club.
> ...



A camera club is a blunt instrument used to beat new members into submission and rid them of spontaneity and especially to beat any humour out of them.


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## old-pr-pix (Jun 14, 2014)

Good work, you are brave to ask this forum for comment! Despite the kidding it usually brings, I like the Gary Fong Lightsphere as well. However, here it is a little too much. As said above, try cutting back on the power. It looks like perhaps your flash was aimed directly at your subject shooting through the amber dome. That gives natural sunlight highlights from behind and a strange yellow light in front. I think you want just a warm glow in front. 

You could try inverting the amber dome so it sticks down into the Lightsphere and then point your flash up so only light bouncing off the dome and out the side hits the subject. Or, use a 1/4 or 1/2 CTO filter on the flash bounced off the catch-light panel, not direct to the subject.

I'd like to see the shots cropped in a little tighter -- get rid of some of the distracting foliage in background.

On my system the pixs look slightly oversharpened, may just be sizing for download though.

Hope some of this helps. Keep experimenting. BTW: does GF like the shots? That's a key consideration.


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## Northstar (Jun 15, 2014)

I like #1 and #2....#2 is pretty good as is, but #1 needs some post editing... i cropped a bit as a couple others suggested, and I just played with it a little to give it something extra.

I really don't like the amber stuff...those images don't look good.

pretty girlfriend...i hope her inner beauty matches her outer beauty!

good luck. 

Original....and then my edit.


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## TexasBadger (Jun 15, 2014)

The most obvious things that are disconcerting are the lighting and the white balance. Rather than using a Fong modifier on a flash, try a circular reflector. The other item is the white balance. I would recommend calibrating your monitor so that you can make white balance adjustments that make sense.


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## jeffabbyben (Jun 15, 2014)

Fredmiranda is another place to get some critiques.


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## Perio (Jun 15, 2014)

Thanks to all of you, guys! You're awesome! I do realize that I know very little about lightning, so I definitely need to spend time to read/watch videos about that. Display calibration is a great idea too, and I'll probably get X-RITE ColorMunki Display and passport for proper colors and white balance. 

Regarding the Gary Fong's kit, it also includes the grey dome, and Gary says it's more accurate to use it instead of just grey flat surface. Not sure how accurate this is. 

Actually, I got 85 1.2ii as an equipment loan from Canon, and this is indeed a wonderful lens. Maybe I'll get it sometime. And I LOVE Canon for offering its customers great customer support and equipment loans. 

Anyway, thanks for your time and effort! It was very useful  My gf looks very happy while reading your comments


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## Jim Saunders (Jun 15, 2014)

To answer your original question, google Jared Polin or Fro Knows Photo; his reviews are interesting even if you don't agree with everything he says. 

Jim


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## Perio (Jun 15, 2014)

Jim Saunders said:


> To answer your original question, google Jared Polin or Fro Knows Photo; his reviews are interesting even if you don't agree with everything he says.
> 
> Jim



Thanks Jim, will do. Are there also any books on lightning that you would suggest me read?


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## Jim Saunders (Jun 15, 2014)

Perio said:


> Jim Saunders said:
> 
> 
> > To answer your original question, google Jared Polin or Fro Knows Photo; his reviews are interesting even if you don't agree with everything he says.
> ...



Electrical storm lightning, or lighting? For the latter I'd suggest Bruce Dorn on Youtube; if you can get past the glasses he has some good ideas that you can use without spending a mint. For the former, get yourself a thunderstorm, a tripod and a Nero Trigger.

Jim


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## Perio (Jun 15, 2014)

Jim Saunders said:


> Perio said:
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LOL. I meant lighting


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## YuengLinger (Jun 15, 2014)

Don Haines said:


> dgatwood said:
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You sound like victims of domestic abuse. Don't worry, darlings, they aren't all bad. Just the ones attracted to you. 

And if all it takes is the opinions and suggestions of other photographers to sap you of creativity, you never had it in the first place.


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## notapro (Jun 15, 2014)

Perio said:


> [ . . . and I'll probably get X-RITE ColorMunki Display and passport for proper colors and white balance [ . . . . ]



Perio,

You might consider also, for around $50 more (e.g., at B&H), the X-Rite i1Display Pro. See this link for more information:

http://blog.xritephoto.com/2012/11/colormunki-display-or-i1display-pro/


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## Perio (Jun 15, 2014)

notapro said:


> Perio said:
> 
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> > [ . . . and I'll probably get X-RITE ColorMunki Display and passport for proper colors and white balance [ . . . . ]
> ...



Funny thing, I was looking at both of these display calibrations tools and tried to find out what the major differences between them are. Correct me if I'm wrong but so far it seems the X-Rite i1Display Pro calibrates the display much faster than the X-RITE ColorMunki Display, but that's pretty much the biggest difference. Is that true or I'm missing something? 

Another device I see many photogs use is a flash meter. Do you used it and if so, which one? 

Thanks!


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## Don Haines (Jun 15, 2014)

YuengLinger said:


> Don Haines said:
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> > dgatwood said:
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When in an abusive relationship, leave!


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## benperrin (Jun 16, 2014)

I think if these are the first pictures you've asked to be critiqued then you've done very well. Most amateurs usually end up having way more issues than this. I think your composition and posing are fine. The main issue I see is white balance. I think number 2 is the only acceptable one here in terms of white balance. Number 1 is too cold but this is easily corrected. The others have some bad colour choices happening. 

Go to kuler.adobe.com and what you want to look for is either analogous or complementary colour schemes. I'm not saying that you have to always use these but it's good to at least understand the basics.

Also bring a grey card with you to the next shoot and use that as a starting point to get your white balance right. 

Honestly though, you're off to a great start and I think you have many many more great photos ahead of you. So don't give up. I hope that helps.

Cheers,
Ben


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## IMG_0001 (Jun 16, 2014)

Perio said:


> notapro said:
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Hi there,

I just want to say that a few months ago I was shopping for a color calibration tool and the manager of the department suggested that I go for a datacolor spyder4Elite instead of the colormunki because he was informed that pentone would be dicontuing their line of screen calibrator and service could be hard to receive if anything went wrong. I have not verified the claim, but as the place did not sell datacolor, I think it was a credible information. It might be worth verifying. Bear in mind I'm in Canada so things may differ elsewhere.


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## Northstar (Jun 16, 2014)

Perio....you said you don't have much time, but one area to learn more about is post processing. There's so much room to improve photos. And even if you don't nail the shot, if you're good at editing you can save many images, and even turn some average shots into good shots.

I just tweaked your shot a bit to improve it's overall look to my eye. 

I'd point out that this is a quick edit, and also that i'm no expert at editing.

good luck.

original and then the edit.


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## Perio (Jun 16, 2014)

Northstar said:


> Perio....you said you don't have much time, but one area to learn more about is post processing. There's so much room to improve photos. And even if you don't nail the shot, if you're good at editing you can save many images, and even turn some average shots into good shots.
> 
> I just tweaked your shot a bit to improve it's overall look to my eye.
> 
> ...



Thanks a lot, Northstar! I think for now I'm more concerned about technical aspects of photography and making sure I have stuff necessary for taking good pictures. But what I can't buy (at least now) is the new brain with good understanding of photography  So, I will definitely invest some of my time into learning the lighting and post processing. As I've said before, I guess I should stop making excuses about lack of time and just start learning  Especially since there are so many great Canon friends around


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## Perio (Jun 16, 2014)

IMG_0001 said:


> Perio said:
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All right, thanks for info. I'll try to double check that. BH reviews on Datacolor Spyder4Elite look very good too.


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## Perio (Jun 16, 2014)

benperrin said:


> I think if these are the first pictures you've asked to be critiqued then you've done very well. Most amateurs usually end up having way more issues than this. I think your composition and posing are fine. The main issue I see is white balance. I think number 2 is the only acceptable one here in terms of white balance. Number 1 is too cold but this is easily corrected. The others have some bad colour choices happening.
> 
> Go to kuler.adobe.com and what you want to look for is either analogous or complementary colour schemes. I'm not saying that you have to always use these but it's good to at least understand the basics.
> 
> ...



Thanks for your suggestions, Ben! I think one of my issues is that everyone has his own taste in terms of skin tones, saturation, etc. And I personally don't know whether it's better to make the image slightly warmer/colder, etc. Maybe it sounds silly but that's how I often feel. But practice makes perfect, so I hope I'll develop my own taste


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## wickidwombat (Jun 16, 2014)

Northstar said:


> Perio....you said you don't have much time, but one area to learn more about is post processing. There's so much room to improve photos. And even if you don't nail the shot, if you're good at editing you can save many images, and even turn some average shots into good shots.
> 
> I just tweaked your shot a bit to improve it's overall look to my eye.
> 
> ...



this particular shot the lighting is the biggest problem the light is too low and gives the horror look which doesn't match the model.

remember light falls so for natural looking lighting ensure the key light is above the subjects face not below


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## Perio (Jun 16, 2014)

wickidwombat said:


> Northstar said:
> 
> 
> > Perio....you said you don't have much time, but one area to learn more about is post processing. There's so much room to improve photos. And even if you don't nail the shot, if you're good at editing you can save many images, and even turn some average shots into good shots.
> ...



You're correct, wickidwombat. Since it was only me and my girlfriend, and since I had no stand for the flash, I simply put it on the ground. So, it indeed was much lower than the face level. Great, thanks for your comment about the lighting "thumbs up"


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## benperrin (Jun 16, 2014)

Perio said:


> Thanks for your suggestions, Ben! I think one of my issues is that everyone has his own taste in terms of skin tones, saturation, etc. And I personally don't know whether it's better to make the image slightly warmer/colder, etc. Maybe it sounds silly but that's how I often feel. But practice makes perfect, so I hope I'll develop my own taste



Yes, it is very important to develop your own style and shoot based on your own taste. Unfortunately it sometimes takes longer than we would like to get to that place but if you keep going you'll get there sooner or later. Keep it up!


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## ewg963 (Jun 16, 2014)

Perio said:


> Jim Saunders said:
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> 
> > To answer your original question, google Jared Polin or Fro Knows Photo; his reviews are interesting even if you don't agree with everything he says.
> ...


Tony Northrup: How To Create Stunning Photography and he also has to a channel on YouTube. Fro knows photo is also is a good source of info as someone has mentioned


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## Besisika (Jun 16, 2014)

Northstar said:


> Perio....you said you don't have much time, but one area to learn more about is post processing. There's so much room to improve photos. And even if you don't nail the shot, if you're good at editing you can save many images, and even turn some average shots into good shots.
> 
> I just tweaked your shot a bit to improve it's overall look to my eye.
> 
> ...


Someone said once that post production is the best teacher; I disagree but ... . 
I totally agree with Northstar, find the time. 
Even if you don't want to become a retoucher, understand the art of postprocessing. Once you understand it, you would shoot better and wiser, because you know what to avoid and what to look for. Like Northstar, I am far from being a good retoucher, I understand just the basics.

If I were you, I would pay attention to two things next time:
1 - White balance. 
You have three light sources.
Your white balance should come from the natural light (it creates the ambient and so the mood of the photo, it creates as well the fill and as such manages the color of the shadow). The second source is flash which created bluer color. Finally spills from the Gary Phong created different shades of green casts. If you notices in what Northstar did, he tried to clean the green in the tint, but that increases the magenta on your main light - the flash.

How to fix it next time? Less is more. 
If I were you, I would use only natural light and a reflector. Orient your subject properly to give the lighing you want and then add a fill. They would have the same color. Avoid a sun comming through the leaves to hit the face of the subject.
If you want to use a flash, use something more controllable, like a softbox with honeycomb. No need to create spills all over the places. They just create reflections off the green leaves. 

2 - Eyes are attracted by bright color, especially if it is in focus. Note that the arm is brighter and bigger than the face (because it is closer to the flash). Use adjustment brush in ACR to make the arm darker and the face brighter. When shooting, position the flash closer to the face and further to other exposed parts of the body (or just use long sleeves), otherwise be ready to fix it in post.
Bravo to the wife!


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## Besisika (Jun 16, 2014)

Besisika said:


> 2 - Eyes are attracted by bright color, especially if it is in focus. Note that the arm is brighter and bigger than the face (because it is closer to the flash). Use adjustment brush in ACR to make the arm darker and the face brighter.


I found a photo, where I used adjustment brush to switch focus to the subject's face. This was shot two week-ends ago during a friend's wedding at 11 AM. 
As I said, I am not good in post, but I know what I want when sending it to a retoucher.


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## Perio (Jun 16, 2014)

Guys, would you suggest me keep the Fong's lightsphere or get something like this to use with on-camera 600 ex-rt? 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/741844-REG/Lastolite_LL_LS2420S_Ezybox_Speed_Lite.html


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## Besisika (Jun 16, 2014)

Perio said:


> Guys, would you suggest me keep the Fong's lightsphere or get something like this to use with on-camera 600 ex-rt?
> 
> http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/741844-REG/Lastolite_LL_LS2420S_Ezybox_Speed_Lite.html


I use something like this
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/60x90cm-24-x35-Umbrella-Softbox-Brolly-Reflector-with-Grid-For-Speedlite-/121229556326?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c39d83a66#ht_3007wt_1177
and
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Photo-Flash-Adapter-Hot-Shoe-Swivel-Light-Stand-Mount-Umbrella-Holder-Bracket-B-/221439135593?pt=Camera_Flash_Accessories&hash=item338ecd0f69#ht_4958wt_868
or this, if you need more flashes
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/DSLRKIT-Dual-Triple-Flash-Bracket-Umbrella-Holder-Light-Stand-shoe-1-4-Screw-/331204152960?pt=Camera_Flash_Accessories&hash=item4d1d4e4e80


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## wickidwombat (Jun 18, 2014)

Perio said:


> wickidwombat said:
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here is a good tip buy yourself a cheap gorrilla pod off ebay and keep it with your flash in this situation all you would have to have done was gorrilla pod the flash to trees branch!

also You might be over sharpening your post processing a bit be especially carefull of this on girls faces they get sensitive about every little wrinkle blemish etc. selectively paint in sharpening on the eyes hair etc if you want but leave the skin alone. same goes for clarity don't add clarity to skin period infact reduce it a bit


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## Perio (Jun 19, 2014)

wickidwombat said:


> Perio said:
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All right, thanks for your suggestions wickidwombat! Yes, I agree on oversharpening. I think that's because the original images did not look as sharp as I wanted them to look. I've noticed that my 200 2.0 is not that sharp when the subject is more than 10-15 feet away, but if he is within 5-10 feet, it's great (not sure why, though). 

And the skin looks over sharpened also because I didn't know how to sharp just eyes and not the whole image (now I guess I learned how to do that, thank God). I just received my color passport, and I'm going to subscribe for Kelby online video courses, which includes postprocessing, lighting, reflectors, flash modifiers, etc. Thanks again!


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## wickidwombat (Jun 19, 2014)

Perio said:


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damn you have a 200 2. lucky you! i dream of getting that i would suggest if its not razor sharp at every distance something is amiss viggo had some problems with his take it in to canon and get it checked out

i strongly suggest buying the kelby training lightroom book its a great reference and has nice tutorials you can work through
http://www.amazon.com/Photoshop-Lightroom-Digital-Photographers-Voices/dp/0321934318/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403172047&sr=8-1&keywords=kelby+lightroom


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## Perio (Jun 19, 2014)

wickidwombat said:


> Perio said:
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Well, if you come to Connecticut some time in the future, just drop me a line and you can use it while you're here


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## mackguyver (Jun 19, 2014)

Perio, I'm late to the party, but I'll add a few things. First of all, you're off to a great start with your work and you're getting a lot of things right. I would work with your girlfriend a bit on her expressions - I'm sure she has a nice smile for example - but the biggest comment I would have is on your lighting. The first thing I would do is buy a decent white card and have her hold it for an exposure each time you change lighting. That way you can get the correct WB and warm or cool it from there. Also, be careful with gold/amber lighting. Use it sparingly and then only to recreate natural sunlight in cool shade. Here's an example - not a great one but it's the only one I could find on my webserver - and as you can see that I used a gold reflector to bounce some warm light on the model. It looks like she's lit by the setting sun, but's it's just a reflector in open shade. You'll also notice that like natural light, it has direction and there are highlights and shadows. which give the model's face some depth (as in your 1st shot). Ideally I would have had some soft light from another angle for a bit of fill, but this was a unplanned shoot and I only had a single reflector and no one to hold it. If the light is too soft (your 2nd shot) or from directly in front, as with a lightsphere in the 3rd shot, when it's outdoors, the light and model will appear flat. Flat lighting is second only to harsh lighting in terms of what you usually want to avoid for models. If you are able to shoot in good light (mornings/evenings) I would recommend working with just natural light and reflectors at first to get a feel for lighting and then moving to off camera flash. Here's another post (link) with another example photo and description of how I used a simple backlighting/reflector set up to create it.


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## Perio (Jun 21, 2014)

mackguyver said:


> Perio, I'm late to the party, but I'll add a few things. First of all, you're off to a great start with your work and you're getting a lot of things right. I would work with your girlfriend a bit on her expressions - I'm sure she has a nice smile for example - but the biggest comment I would have is on your lighting. The first thing I would do is buy a decent white card and have her hold it for an exposure each time you change lighting. That way you can get the correct WB and warm or cool it from there. Also, be careful with gold/amber lighting. Use it sparingly and then only to recreate natural sunlight in cool shade. Here's an example - not a great one but it's the only one I could find on my webserver - and as you can see that I used a gold reflector to bounce some warm light on the model. It looks like she's lit by the setting sun, but's it's just a reflector in open shade. You'll also notice that like natural light, it has direction and there are highlights and shadows. which give the model's face some depth (as in your 1st shot). Ideally I would have had some soft light from another angle for a bit of fill, but this was a unplanned shoot and I only had a single reflector and no one to hold it. If the light is too soft (your 2nd shot) or from directly in front, as with a lightsphere in the 3rd shot, when it's outdoors, the light and model will appear flat. Flat lighting is second only to harsh lighting in terms of what you usually want to avoid for models. If you are able to shoot in good light (mornings/evenings) I would recommend working with just natural light and reflectors at first to get a feel for lighting and then moving to off camera flash. Here's another post (link) with another example photo and description of how I used a simple backlighting/reflector set up to create it.



Hi mackguyver, this is a lovely picture. I was trying to get something similar, but as some other forum members pointed out, that warm skin tone was too noticeable. I agree with you that lighting is probably one of my biggest issues, and I'll be working on that. If you guys don't mind, maybe some time later I'll post some other images, so I could get further criticism. Thanks again for your suggestions, mackguyver!


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## mackguyver (Jun 21, 2014)

Perio said:


> Hi mackguyver, this is a lovely picture. I was trying to get something similar, but as some other forum members pointed out, that warm skin tone was too noticeable. I agree with you that lighting is probably one of my biggest issues, and I'll be working on that. If you guys don't mind, maybe some time later I'll post some other images, so I could get further criticism. Thanks again for your suggestions, mackguyver!


I'm glad I could provide a little help and I'll see if I can dig up some of my old photos. Unfortunately I don't shoot a lot of portraits these days, but I'm happy to help out if I can. You'll find that this is a pretty good place to receive advice with the majority of people being pretty positive and helpful, so please post more photos from time-to-time.


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## X100 (Jun 29, 2014)

I like them all. Improvements I would suggest have been given before. Love the warmth the dome gives but agree with previous post to wind back the lux to look more natural. Camera clubs are great once you find one with folk you are comfortable with. Bad experiences from camera clubs? Hmm I have had them with mine but take the rough with the smooth. I love the diversity of the Camera club I go to which are as diverse in age as they are in specialities and occupations.


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