Reply To: My favorite local fauxtog | You Are Not a Photographer

June 11, 2013 at 4:04 pm #10719

Participant

I’m personally not a fan of the 50mm 1.8, I’d rather recommend the 85mm f1.8. It gives a more flattering compression to people, build quality is far superior, it has a USM motor (silent and you can grab the focus ring even when in AF mode) and with the longer focal length you get better subject isolation. The 85mm is more expensive admittedly but it can usually be had for a few hundred $ on the used market. It will be a bit front heavy with your rebel body but not too bad.

As for your photos, looking at the Melissa series. You’ve made her feel happy and confident, that is obvious from the photos. They have come out well, what lets you down is your framing of the photos. Here is a quick guide for better framing http://www.gieson.com/school/photos/. There are other problems, some of the shots aren’t sharp, make sure you look at the photos at 100% magnification. They don’t have to be completely sharp unless you plan on printing them at bigger than 8×12″ but when it is obvious from the facebook shots that they aren’t sharp they should go in the recycling bin sadly. Shots like this has great lighting https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=583123481718519&set=a.583123458385188.1073741856.561775373853330&type=1&theater whereas shots like this doesn’t https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=583123831718484&set=a.583123458385188.1073741856.561775373853330&type=1&theater . Consider how the light falls on the subject’s face, the first shot her face is lit properly, you can see her eyes clearly. In the second shot it is the opposite, her face is shadowed and you can’t make out here eyes clearly. In fact, next point, the eyes when shooting portraits is the single most important bit of the photo. They are what should be sharp, they are what should follow the rule of thirds. Reason is that our brains are hard wired with recognise faces, in fact there is a small bit of the brain that lights up when looking at a face and eyes is the natural focal point.

You have a few over exposed shots, do you look at the histogram? Do you use raw? You should look at the histogram to make sure the highlights aren’t blown out. Here is a little tutorial to understand the histogram, you get it by pressing the info button while looking at a picture http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/histograms1.htm . Using raw you’d be able to rescue one or two of the over exposed shots and you would be able to change saturation in a more natural way.

I honestly think you have a good eye for it, the big things that let you down are A) you aren’t selective enough in the shots you post B) Your editing, teal vignettes and selective colour etc isn’t good C) Out of focus shots and D) your lack of an external flash. I saw you had one in one of your posts, read the lighting 101 and preferably 102 on http://www.strobist.com . With a minimal investment since you have the flash already you’d be able to light your shots better when natural light isn’t on your side. Everything listed you can pick up on ebay for $100: Lightstand $25, umbrella holder $15, white shoot through umbrella $15, pair Yongnou radio triggers RF-603 $40, batteries for triggers $5. This would have let you lit up Melissa’s face in that photo when she is resting on her elbows.

As for using manual focus on a rebel body, don’t do it. The focus screen isn’t made for it and the tiny viewfinder makes it excessively hard to achieve good focus. If you want to do manual focus get a full frame 5D mkII or a 6D and get the focus screen designed for manual focus.

Good luck and keep at it!