Reply To: I am terrified of you people! Here goes nothing.

[DavidVRJ]

Some tips: here’s the most recent facebook default of the girl in my last post https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/548513_10150732620322181_1546281514_n.jpg

Why does she look so much better in my photo if shes wearing light makeup and it isn’t edited? well:

-I used portrait picture style and bumped up the sharpness and contrast to make it look edited already

-I used a long focal length (the zoom of the camera) so that everything is proportionate; if you shoot from up close, the nose will look bigger than it should, and the ears will look smaller. For babies, I would highly recommend the 100mm macro; it doesnt even have to be the L version. 85mm is better for more of a body shot for people, but remember, the more distance you have from your subject, the more flattering they look.

-keeping the camera around the middle of the photo is typically very flattering. In my photo, I kept the camera around the mouth and nose, although I always play around with it and get creative. With more overweight people, shooting headshots, it is typically more flattering to go a little above the middle point to decrease double chin, but dont exaggerate it, I’m not telling you to tower over your subject lol

-I pay attention to as many little details as possible before I take the shot (or try to). this saves time editing stray hairs or it can save what could have been a great shot, but got ruined because a bra strap was hanging out or something. I trash these kinds of photos, no matter how nice everything else is, because you’re only as good as your worst photo and if you’re gonna be keeping the screwups, you’re not gonna be very good, are you?

-I have the subject stick their forehead toward the lens to get a better jawline. play around with this a little, but generally this means you want the subject to stick out their neck a little to get rid of the double chin and get a more pronounced jawline.

-take a good look at the photos you like and think about why you like them, while also looking at every little thing you might not like about it. I spend HOURS looking at photos I like, or think I like. This is why I feel I improve so quickly. I work on perfecting myself by avoiding everything I didn’t like about my past photos. I took this photo monday, and the chick loves it, but I don’t like it at all anymore http://www.davidvrj.com/Category/Headshots/i-3R2G9KZ/0/L/Clipboard01ehhh-L.jpg . Compare it to the photo I took a few hours ago, and you should see a huge difference. If you look at your photos more often and compare them to similar photos by better photographers, and realize why you like their photos and think about how they composed their shots compared to how you composed yours, and you’ll get much better, quickly.

I think these few examples show why the chick looks so much better in my pic, though there are definitely more reasons, like my extreme energy and giving continuous, assertive directions to my subjects throughout all my shoots. If you show enthusiasm and passion during all your shoots, that’ll show in the subject’s face. It makes them forget a camera’s in their face and avoids giving you a bland, deer-in-the-headlights look. Maybe I’ll say more later if you’re interested.

 

Ok, last tip, squinting=confidence. Wide open eyes= confusion, and fear! have your subjects pretend theyre trying to read small letters inside your lens, and presto