Post Your Best Portrait Shots!

[neuroanatomist]

@neuroanatomist, what a lovely candid shot. Love the simplicity of the background

Thanks! There's a bit of clutter back there, but the wide aperture smooths it out pretty effectively.

@ Nero, is that a difficult lens to shoot? I know it's a favorite for portraits but it's longish (not so much on 5D), very shallow when wide, and for kids who don't sit still...do you still get plenty of keepers? How do you get on with this beautiful but possibly challenging lens?

It can be challenging, in large part due to the extremely thin DoF - I usually shoot in the f/1.4 - f/1.8 range. Keeper rate is decent, though. With quick-moving kids, the slow AF is sometimes problematic (I miss the 85mm f/1.8 for that reason). The focal length is great for outdoor portraits on an APS-C camera, although outdoors you often need an ND filter (the shot above had a 3-stop ND on the lens).

[DavidEccleston]

A couple more recent shots of Bella, in various syles, and levels of toothlessness


Missing two teeth - 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS @ 55mm, f/5.6, 1/160s, ISO 200.








Missing one tooth - 50mm f/1.8 @ 50mm, f/3.5, 1/800s, ISO 400.








Bella expressing disappointment, with major DPP adjustments to get an old filmy sort of feel.
24-105mm f/4L, @ 24mm, f/5.6, 1/400s, ISO 400.

[Dr Croubie]

Bella expressing disappointment, with major DPP adjustments to get an old filmy sort of feel.

Expressing disappointment with the fact that you adjusted the photo?


I like the colours and lighting in it...

[DavidEccleston]

No, those are two separate things.


Expressing disappointment because she had injured her foot and we wouldn't let her run around with the dogs. We wanted it to let her foot heal before going off to a cottage for a couple of days.


The major DPP adjustments are a bright-adjust of +1.17, Moving the black-point bar from -9.0 to -2.1ish, manual white balance temperature, a slight de-saturation (-1), and then in the RGB tab a couple curve points accelerating my color levels to 0, at what would have been about 64, just to increase the contrast some more.


Disappointment is the original picture:

[w349]

@William, I can see how that photo would motivate you to take more pictures, no doubt you and DavidEccleston have many precious memories saved forever (the 50mm 1.8 portrait is my favourite, David, they're all lovely but the lighting on that shot is so soft and even).


ham, I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for photos of cats :P I'm not sure what you might do to that in PP, maybe a curves adjustment to lighten his dark fur a bit? The tongue does draw my attention to his gaping mouth, though.

[w349]

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EOS 450D, 17-55 @ 21mm, 1/200sec at f/2.8, ISO 100.

[William]

Thanks w349.


@ David. Despite my love for landscape these sort of pics are my mainstay as I am primarily a dad that likes to document my kids growing up. I think you have done a great job of this in the above pictures. The camera work is spot-on IMO, but I agree that there is something not quit right with the last image editing-wise. It's got a cool cross-processing thing going on but it just doesn't fit with the adorableness of the subject. I think the first image is fantastic, it's so warm and cheerfully intimate. It would be nice to see this carried over into the last image.


Definitely, the out-of-camera image is dull and in need of PP. Maybe a little push with the warmth slider in LR, a smidge of fill light and recovery. Possibly some black, vibrance and clarity to taste. Finished off with a tighter crop to remove the dog. I think her expression is just precious and it made me chuckle when I saw it. Hope you don't mind the critique. []

[William]

@ w349, I love the expression in the BW shot above. Engaging.

[w349]

Thanks William, here's the 100% crop. It's certainly a face of someone who's had a hard life. Taking photographs of homeless people feels like a bit of a moral gray area, but I asked her permission first and she was a willing subject.


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[William]

@ w349, This is a profound question but one that has an answer. At least in my mind it has an answer. I've watched documentaries and interviews of world renowned photographers who have grappled with this issue. At its extreme I listened intently to a War Photographer who has captured people in the most desperate moments of their lives, or more pointedly the end of their lives. Is this disrespectful, is it taking advantage of these unfortunate people?


I personally have concluded that the answer is both yes and no. Two photographers can take a shot of the same image and one can be morally wrong and the other neutral or Just. The difference is the photographers intent, and sometimes a matter of common understanding between the subject and the photographer. For the old woman image you probably had her permission and this is ok. Her status might be relevant to the message of the photo but not relevant to the morality of taking the picture. You have her permission and you respect her wishes if she says no. Morality creeps back in when you decide how you portray her with your use of camera technique and editing. Honesty is the guide, it needs to be an honest photo. It needs to preserve their dignity.


This war photographer that I was referring to recounted an occasion where he followed and photographed a machete wielding crowd who were chasing a man through the streets of an Asian city. They intended to slay him. The photographer intercepted the group as they caught up with the man and tried holding them back while pleading with them to spare the mans life. The photographers life was in serious danger. He still managed to document the event. Was his documentation wrong? He says no because the man's story gets taken to the world. It shines a light on something that needs attention. He may not have been able to spare the individual but he may be able to positively influence the circumstances that cause these events. He was not in it for the money or for recognition but as a humanitarian.


I personally take notice when poverty has a face, when I can see that these are real people. I sometimes find it hard to view some images, especially of children, but these people are telling me their story through the photo and I am listening. A photographer who successfully carries these messages to the world is doing something morally right in my view.


Of course not every person needs our sympathy or help. They may be less fortunate but still content and happy with life, and simply willing to let you photograph them. Just be open and ask.


What are your thoughts?