Yes more Practice shots-

[dstone81]

So my challenge for myself this month is composition and exposure. Last months was DoF and focus. I took my daughter out the other day and did some practice shots and want to know what ya’ll think. (I know I know I cut off the top of her head in these. I need to get better at not doing that while keeping the rule of thirds in mind.) With that aside do ya’ll think I nailed the focus (because that has been part of my issues in the past) Or do you think I need to work on the focus more.  I shot most of these in maual mode. I admit though a couple were in portrait mode because I wanted to compare some things.


This one is one of my faves but however her face looks a bit too red.

I like this one but it still needs work in the editing department.

 

[dstone81]

Gah I cropped her hands off weird. I need to fix that in editing.  Duh I know better.

[cameraclicker]

I like the top three.  The bottom one does not appear to have in focus eyes, but I don’t have the glasses I should be wearing for this so I could be wrong.  Also, I think I’m going to get out my calibration gear and do this monitor again.  I have two different monitors plugged into this PC and they are showing different background whites, one looks slightly pink, and the other looks slightly green.  On the slightly green monitor, the colour images look about right. On the other she looks too red, but if I use her teeth as a white reference, then white balance adjusts her colour to look good.  I’ll try to have another look when I get a monitor I know is calibrated.

I’ll skip the hands since you already know.

Peter Hurley regularly cuts off the tops of his client’s heads, so you can too if you want.  I am just noticing the ad at the top of the page is for AsianBeauties.com and shows five girls all of whom have the top of their head/hair cropped off.  You are in good company.

If you shoot these again, try moving her further from the background and opening up the lens to blur the iron work.  See which way looks better.  Try shooting when the light is not causing her to squint, or have her close her eyes for a moment or two then try to get in two or three quick shots just when she opens them.

Except for the hands, the B&W ones are best.  Keep shooting.

[dstone81]

Thanks Clicker. When I shot these it was mid day. We were at a museum (converted from an old mansion.) and she was sitting on the front stoop looking at a lizard. I want to take her back and shoot during the golden hour and see what difference it makes. And I will be sure to have her step away from the door a couple of steps and open the lens more.. The top two were shot in manual mode. The last one I also shot in manual mode with manual focus. I think that is where I messed that one up. I think if I had used auto focus  it would have been better. And you are right it is a bit out of focus on the last pic. (Like you I have glasses specificly for editing and I can see the OOF when I wear them). I am definately seeing improvement though from where I started to now. Ya’ll’s critiques are really helping me. 🙂

I want to find someone besides my own kids to take pics of to practice on.  Just so I can truely hone my skills without my mommy goggles getting in the way.

[dstone81]

This is an edit of the first pic.

 

[cameraclicker]

I’m at a different machine, and I just ran the profiling program that adjusts the monitor.  The third one still looks a little pink.  Not hugely, but a little.  That may be normal.  I look a little red in many photos too.  The fourth still looks a little out of focus.  When all the lenses were manual focus, the focusing screens had split prisms to help you focus.  Now the focusing screens are all just sheets of translucent plastic with focus spots overlaid.  When focus is achieved, the spot at that point flashes or displays, depending on the body.  It is easier to just use auto-focus for most photos.  Macro is the main exception.  Using a teleconverter is another exception because they shrink the aperture to the point auto-focus will not work.

Do you have a grey card?  Sometimes I find it helpful to shoot a grey card for use as a reference.  You can use it to set a custom white balance in the camera or just use it to adjust the final image in your editor.

[dstone81]

No I don’t have one. But I can probably get one.  Thanks for that tip. I never even thought about doing that.

All of the pics I posted were straight out of camera. I am still trying to figure out how to edit using paintshop. I just feel so overwhelmed with it. Someone told me to try lightroom for editing or photoshop. Said that it might be easier to use. I have tried watching tutorials online on the post processing and it just seems to go over my head. I have a cousin who uses lightroom and photoshop all the time. I think the next time I go back to my home town I might have him show me a few things.  I tend to grasp things better when I do them hands on with someone verbally taking me step by step as I am doing it.

I remeber reading about that on the older lenses and how they were designed. I get frustrated with my camera sometimes when I am trying to manually focus and it enlarges the focal point and then goes back a few seconds later before I have it in focus. I do agree with you though that it is better to use auto focus instead of manual for most shots and using manual for macro.

[dstone81]

P.s. If you haven’t noticed yet…I have a thing for B&W. I think it has a lot to do with my color blindness issues. I have a hard time telling sutle shades of colors apart.

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