[axl]

Hi guys,
For a long long time now, I've been a dedicated landscape*ist. And only very ocasionaly I was giving a go to other subjects. But I have beautifull model (my fiance) so lately I was trying to do some portraits. So far, this is one of the best shots. Note I don't have external flash, reflector or any other fancy gadgets. This is in a park with natural light shot with DA 18-55 as RAW and some PPing done.
Any ideas or comments?
All will be apreciated, thanx.

PS: I tried to calibrate my screens (for editing I'm using different comp) but I have noticed that on my laptop this looks overexposed...

[Gooshin]

id try to push for more sharpness

what was the aperture/shutter/iso combination?

[Ash]

Given your conditions, quite nice.
The model (your fiancee) connected well with this candid expression.
The photo doesn't have much in the way of clipped highlights, which is great, but with the harsh side light from the sun, the shadowing on the right side of her face loses some detail. Enter the reflector.

The kit lens at 55mm can only open up to f/5.6, which can make composing a nice portrait a little difficult IMO. You didn't try to use your 135/2.8 or 105 macro for a portrait? I was personally blown away at how stunning portraits came out with my 100/2.8 macro.

Seeing as though you have ready access to your 'model', there'll be ample opportunity to shoot some more... Keep at it!

[Ole]

I like the tight crop and the composition overall. Very nice! And it works well in b&w.

[axl]

id try to push for more sharpness

what was the aperture/shutter/iso combination?

I don't really remember to be honest, and I can't check now, but the sharpness (or the lack of it) is outcome of PPing. original shot was sharper, but I aplied layer with gausian blur, and on top another with unsharp mask (made from original background layer) which I then deleted nearly completely with exception of eyes area...

[axl]

Given your conditions, quite nice.
The model (your fiancee) connected well with this candid expression.
The photo doesn't have much in the way of clipped highlights, which is great, but with the harsh side light from the sun, the shadowing on the right side of her face loses some detail. Enter the reflector.

The kit lens at 55mm can only open up to f/5.6, which can make composing a nice portrait a little difficult IMO. You didn't try to use your 135/2.8 or 105 macro for a portrait? I was personally blown away at how stunning portraits came out with my 100/2.8 macro.

Seeing as though you have ready access to your 'model', there'll be ample opportunity to shoot some more... Keep at it!

I did try both of the lenses which you mentioned, but :
Hoya 135 is old manual lens,and too long for me, and I don't trust my eyes for focus. Plus the focusing ring has some resistance (compared to my digital lenses, or even old manual vivitar) so it's harder to use, as it takes for ever to get focus, and by then the moment is gone...
As for 105 macro, it was mounted on the K100D, strap of which you can see in the photo around my fiance's neck. Since she kept it busy, I didn't want to iterrupt (good boyfriend )
But I was trying with it before, and I agree, it's going to be great portrait lens...

[Amped]

In general I like the composition, and the picture in general. That being said, it seems very "hot" on the right side of the image. If we could have a "do over" I would reposition your model slightly so that you catch more of a back light and then expose for her face. If you exposed for the "hot" area in the current position you would have lost detail on the darker side of the photo. You could have also tried to diffuse the incoming light or used a reflector to "fill" in the darker side of the image, and then exposed the image for her face.

Probably not a "technically" correct answer, but thats the best I could explain. Hope that helps.

Best Regards,

Amped!