Categories

General

• Welcome/Introductions
• Computers and Technology
• Off-Topic Chat

Photography

• News/Updates
• Critique My Image
• Camera Equipment
• Post-Production/Photo-Editing (Photoshop)
• Tips/Tutorials
• Interesting Images/Galleries

Am3 Community

• News/Updates
• Discuss a Blog Post
• Ideas/Feature Requests
• Local Meetings and Network
• Themes and Challenges
• FAQ & Support

1. •  
     CommentAuthorowlmountain
   • CommentTimeAug 21st 2009 edited

    
   I want to stay with the portrait genre for a bit yet, perhaps because it's such a personal and subjective thing... there's always something new to learn, no matter what your skill level is.
   
   Here, from the portfolio of the artist Karthik Sunil
   
   Please, tell me this:
   
   1. What can you say about the photography rules and techniques
   (composition, lighting, rule of thirds, story telling, etc., etc....) used in the image ?
   
   2. What can you learn from this image ?
   
   Maybe you can invent your own question you want to answer or share with others?
   
   Click to see large view
2. • CommentAuthormagda
   • CommentTimeAug 23rd 2009

    
   Beautiful model! I like the tight crop, the DOF and her looking away... What's lacking to me is the light. I would play with the contrast to add a bit more character and interest. I don't know if sepia is the right tone for this portrait. Would love to see it in colour. ;) Her beautiful eyes and nice complexion would probably benefit from being shown in their natural tones. Other than that it’s a good portrait. Keep up the good work!
3. •  
     CommentAuthorowlmountain
   • CommentTimeAug 23rd 2009 edited

    
   So here you have it Karthik, some excellent observations and right to the point from Magda. And even though Magda is to the portrait genre what undine is to the water, I'll try to stick in my 5 cents...
   
   I agree wholeheartedly with Magda - beautiful model, no argument from me here, but as far as liking the tight crop.... well it's a bit too tight for me. The top edge cutting off the left brow ruins the symmetry of her eyes.
   I don't know whether it was a staged or candid shot (although I'd put my money on the latter, judging by the long lens and high ISO), her pose and her facial expression and that mysterious look.... it's priceless. So this part of the portrait is great, it is really intriguing, I love it !
   
   But as far as technical aspect, I see two problems.
   
   The first one is light, as Magda observed, or more precisely, not enough of it. I think the image was underexposed and then you attempted to rescue it by squeezing more exposure or brightness out of it trying to bring some details into the shadows ??... If there is not enough light information in those areas in the first place, this very often leads to a flat and "mudy" result with a visible lack of contrast. And more so if your image is jpeg rather than RAW. I think, in real life, her hair is jet black with that beautiful sheen and spark, but here it's dark grey without any luster.
   
   And the second is overall lack of sharpness, most likely due to camera movement magnified by such a long reach (450mm). One good rule of thumb shooting the telephoto lens is to set the shutter speed to at least the reciprocal of your focal length you're shooting at the moment (in your case it should've been at least 1/450 or 1/500).
   
   Here's a great example from your portfolio, where everything is perfect: Click to see large view
   The exposure is right on with beautiful blacks and details in shadows and highlights and it's tack sharp. Compare those two images and you'll see what I mean.
   
   But regardless of the technical things that I've mentioned here, I still think this is one beautiful portrait that has this "something" in it that captures our attention and hopefully helped us learn some new things.