First ever model shoot

DrGed

DrGed

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Ged
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On Sunday I photographed, for the first time ever, someone who is neither a friend nor family member.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nemag/sets/72157633757669240/

I was a lot more nervous than the model, who has done a lot of shoots, and felt rather awkward at times.

Anyway, I've put the best ones on Flickr if anyone wants to look.
 
Nice enough- If I may be so bold as to offer some Critique

Perhaps a wider aperture would add to these shots, by blurring the BG and making the model stand out :shrug:

Just a thought

here's an example of what I'm suggesting


Heather Louise Hughes 2012 by Les Moxon Photography, on Flickr


Les :thumbs:
 
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Hi Ged, not bad for 1st attempts but as Les suggested you should really open your lenses up to there widest aperture to reduce Depth of Field. Not particularly easy with the 18-55 kit lens you used on some of the shots. You shot them all at f8 by the looks of things, which you may have read is probably the lenses sweet spot for sharpness but you would be better to try and throw the background as much OOF as possible and sacrifice a 'little' sharpness. An OOF background will, to a degree, give the illusion of sharpness on the model anyway.

Unfortunately the 18-55 kit with its modest wide end of f3.5-5.6 isn't ideal for this. However you have also used the 55-250 lens. The longer the focal length you use exponentially makes the DoF shallower as you zoom in as well so try using the 55-250 more and just step further back from the subject if possible. Longer focal lengths (around the 80-100 mark on your 55-250) are more flattering on the human face anyway so its a win win scenario and it will really get that background blur you want.

Have a look here and mess around with focal length/fstop/distance combinations and it will help you understand better than I could.

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html
 
Thanks! I appreciate the feedback.

Having read the comments think I might have been better shooting at f5.6 : this would also have meant that my shutter speed would've been higher.

Also, the online depth of field calculator looks really useful.

Thanks again.:)
 
Or................. buy a 50mm f1.8 a superb Portrait lens wide aperture of f1.8, means you can keep a fast shutter speed and knock out the Back ground too

Not expensive, in fact very cheap second hand

worth a look

I shot the portrait above with a Sigma 24-70mm f2.8


Les :thumbs:
 
+1 for the 50mm f1.8, a real bargain and very sharp. In the meantime use that 55-250 for your portrait work and not the 18-55. You will be amazed at the difference.
I had the 55-250 for a while as a walkabout day to day lens, primarily because of the weight but I have to tell you it produced some remarkable results. I think that it, along with the nifty fifty are probably Canons best 'bang for your buck' lenses and no 'tog on a budgets', gadget bag should be without them.
 
Hi, I may do not comment on other work as their are real pros in this forum and the lag of my English . But I do have a small advise, try to avoid the direct sun light when taking photos for adults. The sun light is so harsh on the model, so it's better to take it in shadows or use a diffuser to minimize the sun light on the model. Thin try to have a reflector or a fill light to balance the exposure between the model and the background. I do agree with the other a shallow depth field to isolate the model from the background will add to the photo.

Again, sorry for my bad English but I hope you find my comment is useful.

Best regards,
 
This sounds silly but next time make sure she doesn't have a phone in her pocket - draws the eye every time :)
 
Thanks, Kazmania.

Your comments are useful, especially about direct sunlight. This was the big lesson I learned from this shoot. Strong direct sunlight makes life difficult for photographers... ...well, inexperienced ones like me!

Thanks, Joshua!

I've learned recently that something can go unnoticed on a photo and after someone points it out it becomes the most obvious thing in the world and often quite annoying. More attention to detail required! :)
 
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