Making people look good...

gazjones

gazjones

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Gary
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Hi all,

Thought I'd be able to ask a bit of advice - I spend a lot of time when taking photos waiting for there to be no people. Internally I'm shouting "MOVE!". I wondered if anyone had any tips or examples of images where people actually look alright being in there rather than waiting for them to move. It would be good to work them into the shots so I don't spend ten minutes waiting for an empty scene then giving up and moving on.

Thanks

Gaz
 
What kind of scenes are you shooting? You could always use a long shutter speed to blur people out rathe than waiting, or shoot several images and combine them later to erase people.
 
The most recent was in York Gardens. I wanted to get a large opening but as someone left the scene, someone entered it. I wouldn't have considered the longer exposure, perhaps this is an option I should try. Thanks
 
You could try a tripod and a neutral density filter - they are not cheap, but it depends on what you are doing and how often. They can be pain, but with a 10 stop filter you can easily get a very long exposure indeed even in bright light - I've taken some shots at a very large public sculpture like this - the ghostly people look really good and the ones with no people due to a massive exposure are not quite as good. It depends on the subject of course.

Also, a very long exposure flattens water which can give a nice effect.

Taking a few shots and using the bits without people is a good idea too - again, use a tripod if you can so that each shot is the same - its much easier then.
 
Jetstream Rider said:
You could try a tripod and a neutral density filter - they are not cheap, but it depends on what you are doing and how often. They can be pain, but with a 10 stop filter you can easily get a very long exposure indeed even in bright light - I've taken some shots at a very large public sculpture like this - the ghostly people look really good and the ones with no people due to a massive exposure are not quite as good. It depends on the subject of course.

Also, a very long exposure flattens water which can give a nice effect.

Taking a few shots and using the bits without people is a good idea too - again, use a tripod if you can so that each shot is the same - its much easier then.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, I'm awaiting a large man bringing me a new tripod in December so will give it a try. Thanks again

Gaz
 
What type of images are you trying to take? just a little confused as it's in the People and Portraits section :shrug: might get more response in the landscapy bit
 
In some scenes you can certainly use the people to add interest to the scene, or to add scale or a vast number of other reasons to have people in the shot...for other times there is the long exposures or editing as mentioned above
 
Or....................go to the location early or late when there are no people about - I've shot town scenes at 5am in the summer, when its devoid of pedestrians, we all suffer for our art

Les :D
 
Lez325 said:
Or....................go to the location early or late when there are no people about - I've shot town scenes at 5am in the summer, when its devoid of pedestrians, we all suffer for our art

Les :D
Click to expand...

Yes, of course that's the other option. Plus morning light is often rather lovely!
 
Hi Gaz,

Take a look at this couple of shots for inspiration too :

This one was our photo of the week in wk39 - yes, it's posed but the principle of including a figure here adds so much more to what would otherwise be a perfectly nice but much less interesting landscape.
And this is one of my favourite photographs from the forums in a long time. Again the main figure is posed, but even if he hadn't been there note how much the long exposure and blurred figures in the background add to the image.
 
Thanks everyone for the replies, got some ideas. I'd like to include them in the photography but in a way that works - which is why I posted in here for tips on making this happen without it looking like just an every day image.

Thanks Sarah, they look like something I can use as inspiration. I'll be giving it a whirl this weekend

Watch this space...

Gary
 
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