What's wrong with my portrait?

TerryL · 07-21-2019, 04:31 PM - **1 Like**

Hello,
My oldest Son came home from the USA Airforce Medical School this weekend, and I wanted to take a portrait with my K-1 Mark II and DFA 50mm. l blew it! What's wrong with it? It was over 100 degrees, so we stayed in the shade. Should I have used fill flash? Can somebody fix it if I post a raw file?

stevebrot · 07-21-2019, 04:41 PM - **2 Likes**

Originally posted by TerryL

Hello,
My oldest Son came home from the USA Airforce Medical School this weekend, and I wanted to take a portrait with my K-1 Mark II and DFA 50mm. l blew it! What's wrong with it? It was over 100 degrees, so we stayed in the shade. Should I have used fill flash? Can somebody fix it if I post a raw file?

The image appears to be invisible...at least the JPEG version shared with this post.

Steve

**pepperberry farm** · 07-21-2019, 05:11 PM

sharing either a link to the photo or the photo itself would help....

TerryL · 07-21-2019, 05:30 PM

Oops. I'm trying to, now.

TerryL · 07-21-2019, 05:41 PM

Sorry

**BigMackCam** · 07-21-2019, 05:43 PM - **2 Likes**

Threads merged

Aaron28 · 07-21-2019, 06:03 PM

some fill flash would have been nice....could have easily dropped to 100iso and got the shutter at or under 1/180 with no worries of having a HSS supported flash

my editing skills are lame.....i'd only make it worse.....

**mattt** · 07-21-2019, 06:05 PM

Congrats to the young fellow...

Lots of different things to change what you'd done, not that there is anything WRONG per se in what you've got there:

1) spot meter on skin in the shade. Old school and it works.
2) use centre metered...with the dark shirt it would probably get you there with no exposure comp. might need some test exposures to make sure the exposure is ok.
3) use matrix metered with a (+) exposure compensation. Might need some test exposures to make sure the compensation is adequate.

4) use fill flash

Open shade is a great place to make portraits. You might consider moving your subject so the back ground isn't as difficult to work with.
Practice practice practice.

I'm no pro, but I've made plenty of portraits and I love the view from a fast fifty. ƒ4 is a good aperture to work at at the distance you are at, and the shutter speed is reasonable for handheld portraiture so that is all good.

To be completely honest, its a snapshot and I wouldn't be scared to boost it in post (i'm assuming you're collecting RAW files in at least one card slot).

Youtu.be

A quick edit - its tough to work with such a small jpg... but I think you've got something workable in the file.

Sandy Hancock · 07-21-2019, 06:14 PM

I've seen worse

Here's a quick and dirty edit on the small jpeg. +0.4EV exposure, -25%highlights, +50% shadows. Minor crop and rotate.

pschlute · 07-21-2019, 06:39 PM

Terry you have had plenty of good advice on exposure/fill flash.

Just a couple of observations on framing..........

Try and keep stuff like the edge of the table out of the shot

You have very bright light behind leading to burnt out decking next to shaded decking. Frame to avoid that.

The background has very bright grass which meets darker leafed shrubs/trees. this creates a strong division in your background which cuts across just below the subjects shoulder line. It distracts the viewer from the subject. Either subject standing or you taking a lower stance could avoid this.

There is so much to think about !!

Bromberger · 07-21-2019, 06:43 PM

Originally posted by TerryL

Sorry

What makes you say you blew it? You'll get some technical advice here (like: use fill flash), but i think that doesn't matter. What does it FEEL like to you, and is that feeling something different to what you were hoping for? Maybe it doesn't fit how you see him (since you know him well) - maybe you like him and he's a cheerful person, but this picture is too sinister, so it doesn't match how you see him? I think the dark eyes make it sinister but also interesting.
Either way, this IS a very good portrait - in fact i have not seen many better portraits on PF. I would leave it exactly like it is.

stevebrot · 07-21-2019, 08:20 PM - **1 Like**

I think this is a compelling portrait, one that could have been a little better by applying one stop exposure compensation at the time it was made. Yes, that might be applied in post processing and yes, fill flash might have worked as might judicious use of spot metering, but given that this was probably not a planned shoot and few know how to place exposure with a spot measurement, the simplest approach might be adequate and is easily anticipated by noting the strong back-light.

Steve

Wheatfield · 07-21-2019, 09:08 PM - **1 Like**

Get closer.......

**Alex645** · 07-21-2019, 10:12 PM

Originally posted by TerryL

Hello,
My oldest Son came home from the USA Airforce Medical School this weekend, and I wanted to take a portrait with my K-1 Mark II and DFA 50mm. l blew it! What's wrong with it? It was over 100 degrees, so we stayed in the shade. Should I have used fill flash? Can somebody fix it if I post a raw file?

The main issue is lighting. I call that sort of extreme left and right side lighting the "Nat Geo cover portrait of a physicist". Not a lot you can do in the middle of a hot sunny day outdoors; was there anyplace indoors with air conditioning? Then with the lights off in the room, you could use some window light for a nice 3/4 key light and dark background.

With the DFA 50mm I would have gone for more like f/2 instead of f/4 for more bokeh. But I see in your profile that you also have a DFA 100mm. I would have gone with that for tighter cropping, more bokeh, better compression. Nothing wrong with a full body shot, but as a portrait, you really want to get in head and shoulders.

For post processing I'd convert it to black and white. The green in the background is a major distraction, and also to crop tighter.

Here's a quick and dirty crop, B&W conversion, burn edges, and gaussian blur the background from your posted jpeg:

**clackers** · 07-21-2019, 10:43 PM - **1 Like**

Coupla suggestions for next time, Terry …

1. Up your shutter speed to 1/400s or more if you can when photographing people, to get a sharper image. You were shooting at ISO 160 so you had room to do this.

2. Traditionally, the subject is brighter than the background, so you either choose a different area of the yard where the sun's not falling on it (Mattt suggests open shade, where you would place your son just inside the eave shadow so he's lit by the concrete/lawn in front where you stand with your camera and tripod - no excuse not to use a tripod, here, this isn't a candid - but it's relatively dark behind), or you even things up with flash.

3. The pose is pretty good, can get him to lean even closer while keeping his chin down.

Hope your son enjoyed his leave.

07-21-2019, 04:31 PM - 1 Like	#1
TerryL Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: Virginia, USA Photos: Albums Posts: 850	What's wrong with my portrait? Hello, My oldest Son came home from the USA Airforce Medical School this weekend, and I wanted to take a portrait with my K-1 Mark II and DFA 50mm. l blew it! What's wrong with it? It was over 100 degrees, so we stayed in the shade. Should I have used fill flash? Can somebody fix it if I post a raw file?

07-21-2019, 05:41 PM	#5
TerryL Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: Virginia, USA Photos: Albums Posts: 850 Original Poster	Here it is. Sorry Last edited by TerryL; 10-18-2019 at 06:29 PM.

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07-21-2019, 04:41 PM - 2 Likes	#2
stevebrot Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 42,007	Originally posted by TerryL Hello, My oldest Son came home from the USA Airforce Medical School this weekend, and I wanted to take a portrait with my K-1 Mark II and DFA 50mm. l blew it! What's wrong with it? It was over 100 degrees, so we stayed in the shade. Should I have used fill flash? Can somebody fix it if I post a raw file? The image appears to be invisible...at least the JPEG version shared with this post. Steve

07-21-2019, 05:11 PM	#3
pepperberry farm amateur dirt farmer Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: probably out in a field somewhere... Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 41,797	sharing either a link to the photo or the photo itself would help....

07-21-2019, 05:30 PM	#4
TerryL Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: Virginia, USA Photos: Albums Posts: 850 Original Poster	Oops. I'm trying to, now.

07-21-2019, 05:43 PM - 2 Likes	#6
BigMackCam Digitiser of Film Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: North East of England Posts: 20,705	Threads merged

07-21-2019, 06:03 PM	#7
Aaron28 Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Huntsville, Al Posts: 7,131	some fill flash would have been nice....could have easily dropped to 100iso and got the shutter at or under 1/180 with no worries of having a HSS supported flash my editing skills are lame.....i'd only make it worse.....

07-21-2019, 06:39 PM	#10
pschlute Moderator Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Surrey, UK Photos: Gallery Posts: 8,223	Terry you have had plenty of good advice on exposure/fill flash. Just a couple of observations on framing.......... Try and keep stuff like the edge of the table out of the shot You have very bright light behind leading to burnt out decking next to shaded decking. Frame to avoid that. The background has very bright grass which meets darker leafed shrubs/trees. this creates a strong division in your background which cuts across just below the subjects shoulder line. It distracts the viewer from the subject. Either subject standing or you taking a lower stance could avoid this. There is so much to think about !!

07-21-2019, 06:43 PM	#11
Bromberger Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Stuttgart, Germany Posts: 186	Originally posted by TerryL Sorry What makes you say you blew it? You'll get some technical advice here (like: use fill flash), but i think that doesn't matter. What does it FEEL like to you, and is that feeling something different to what you were hoping for? Maybe it doesn't fit how you see him (since you know him well) - maybe you like him and he's a cheerful person, but this picture is too sinister, so it doesn't match how you see him? I think the dark eyes make it sinister but also interesting. Either way, this IS a very good portrait - in fact i have not seen many better portraits on PF. I would leave it exactly like it is.

07-21-2019, 08:20 PM - 1 Like	#12
stevebrot Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 42,007	I think this is a compelling portrait, one that could have been a little better by applying one stop exposure compensation at the time it was made. Yes, that might be applied in post processing and yes, fill flash might have worked as might judicious use of spot metering, but given that this was probably not a planned shoot and few know how to place exposure with a spot measurement, the simplest approach might be adequate and is easily anticipated by noting the strong back-light. Steve

07-21-2019, 09:08 PM - 1 Like	#13
Wheatfield Moderator Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: The wheatfields of Canada Posts: 15,991	Get closer.......

07-21-2019, 10:43 PM - 1 Like	#15
clackers Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Melbourne Photos: Albums Posts: 16,397	Coupla suggestions for next time, Terry … 1. Up your shutter speed to 1/400s or more if you can when photographing people, to get a sharper image. You were shooting at ISO 160 so you had room to do this. 2. Traditionally, the subject is brighter than the background, so you either choose a different area of the yard where the sun's not falling on it (Mattt suggests open shade, where you would place your son just inside the eave shadow so he's lit by the concrete/lawn in front where you stand with your camera and tripod - no excuse not to use a tripod, here, this isn't a candid - but it's relatively dark behind), or you even things up with flash. 3. The pose is pretty good, can get him to lean even closer while keeping his chin down. Hope your son enjoyed his leave.