Manual Focus Lenses Forum

peterqd · Expire: 2014-01-04

I was a little disappointed there weren't any comments on my son's picture I posted in the Portrait Contest thread. When I visited him in Australia earlier this year we talked about taking portrait shots, about catching expressions, about lighting and backgrounds etc He's taken many shots since then but this is the best one so far I think. It would be nice to have a little C&C so I can tell him what the experts think. Thanks

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

Agree, it's really good, feeling natural. Note how the mother's face's reflected light fills the shadow on the child's cheek.
If it's raw, I would add half stop exposure, to make the image brighter (and match the happy looks)

Minolfan · Joined: 30 Dec 2008 Posts: 3451 Location: Netherlands

Beautiful, happy looking people!
Nice framed.
It might be better if the picture was a little bit less dark/contrasty, I think too.

patrickh · Expire: 2011-11-18

Agree on the increase in PP exposure

patrickh

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

Little visual help, lightened , sharpened and noise removed.

Well captured moment, very nice family picture for sure, my suggestion to use smaller aperture next time to get enough deep DOF, to get sharp image on both of them a little wider frame to not cut baby hands and legs will make it to perfect.

#1

Katastrofo · Expire: 2013-11-19

He caught great expressions in both, well done! Cool

David · Expire: 2013-01-25

Framing and capture are great. Focus seems a little soft, like my Mamiya/Sekor 55mm 1.8 when used wide open. Is he using a the lens wide open here? Also, the shadows on the faces are a bit strong. And it seems to have been shot at a fairly high ISO, like higher than 3,000.

If this is a posed image, a reflector below and to the right (from the models' perspective) could help eliminate some of the shadows on the faces. I don't own a reflector, but I've used aluminum foil! The advantage being it has a shiny and a diffusing side. Right now it looks like the only light source is an ambient light coming in through the window.

Anyway, A flash scaled back a stop with a diffuser or soft box could work in lieu of a relector. I think the best result would be to not lose the look of the single light source, so a reflector would soften the shadows without making it look like there's too much light. However, a flash would increase the near-zone light and compensating for it would drop the background almost entirely into shadow. This would remove the single-source lighting feel, but maybe draw more attention to the subjects, and hide all traces of the couch in the background.

Also, on ISO, if he's shooting at a high ISO (the image does have that Pentax high ISO look), then that will detriment his finished product unless his goal is the high-noise look. Part of the softness of the focus may also be due to the ISO being high.

So I guess my C&C is that the framing and set up are great, but he would benefit from an additional light source, slightly more light, and an the lowest ISO setting his camera can go to.

pich900 · Expire: 2012-12-27

you have catch a very nice and natural expression on the face from the baby and the mother as well, even if the picture is may be not technically perfect, I guess it's enough to make it a great portrait's image......

peterqd · Expire: 2014-01-04

Thank you all for your thoughts, I'll pass them on and I'm sure he'll be very pleased.

He took the picture with his Pentax K-x and 18-55 AF kit lens. The essential EXIF data is:
ExposureTime - 1/80 seconds
FNumber - 4.50
ExposureProgram - Portrait mode
ISOSpeedRatings - 3200
FocalLength - 42.50 mm
White Balance - Auto
Quality - RAW

skida · Thu Nov 15, 2012 1:30 am

I am impressed with the photo and the high ISO performance of the Pentax. I think the correct exposure lies about half way between the original and Attila's edit, which looks a bit too bright on my screen.

fermy · Joined: 17 Feb 2012 Posts: 1974

As others, I don't think composition and expression needs any work, nice natural portrait. My only advice would be to shoot in better light. The exposure is too dark and you have to shoot at ISO 3200. I often have the same problem, mother and child in the darkest corner of the room, so I have to shoot wide open and hope for the best. If one can stop down to f2.8-f4 at base ISO, the margin for focus increases, the lens pops more and you can concentrate more on composition and capturing the moment instead of focusing. It's a win all around. I'd suggest getting a studio light with softbox and RC capability, one can get a Chinese one for not very much.