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Photos My First Photography Experience with Hoomans

Discussion in 'Photography, Art & Design' started by TheBlackSwordsMan, 2 Jun 2013.

  1. TheBlackSwordsMan

    TheBlackSwordsMan Over the Hills and Far Away

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    I was asked by a friend to take pictures during a Housewarming party, I not used to protrait nor indoor pictures : / A pal of mine lent me his Metz 50AF, I hope I did correct ? I wasn't paid but they rewarded me with Belgian beer :D

    [​IMG]

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  2. Unicorn

    Unicorn Uniform November India

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    I like them :) Very casual which I like and in my (amateur) oinion, nice lighting in all three. Is #3 cropped to exclude the person on the right or is that the original shot?
     
  3. TheBlackSwordsMan

    TheBlackSwordsMan Over the Hills and Far Away

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    I resized the #1 & #2 at 16x9 and I didn't touched the #3 except for the lens correction.

    #1 50mm F/1.8 - Shutter Speed 1/13 - ISO 100.
    #2 50mm F/1.8 - Shutter Speed 1/13 - ISO 100.
    #3 50mm F/1.8 - Shutter Speed 1/60 - ISO 100.

    It was an interesting experience, I learned new things about my camera and new settings.
    Now I need to purchase a flash !
     
  4. stonedsurd

    stonedsurd Is a cackling Yuletide Belgian

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    I assume you've posted them here because you want opinions/advice, and not just for love and hugs.

    - I would probably have stopped down a little (f/2.5-2.8) for depth of field/sharpness and shot a faster shutter to freeze motion better. The flash has done a good job in any case, but there's really no substitute for a quicker exposure.

    - Close ups are kinda boring unless they really say something. A tight shot of someone smiling is somewhat pointless because there's nothing else in frame to give the viewer an idea of what's going on besides "oh, she's smiling". Next time, try for slightly wider shots, showing one or two people, or something solo with a little more going on.
     
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  5. TheBlackSwordsMan

    TheBlackSwordsMan Over the Hills and Far Away

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    Thanks for the advices : )

    Well now that you mention it, yeah I want love and hugs : /
     
  6. Sexton

    Sexton Minimodder

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    Not bad at all, they're all slightly out of focus but I think that's because of the slow shutter speed on all 3 - I try to use around 1/100 or quicker without a tripod, which you could have done if you bumped up the ISO. On a 350D you probably don't want to go past ISO400 or the noise will get noticeable. Just experiment! That's the beauty of photography.

    Good start though :)
     
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  7. TheBlackSwordsMan

    TheBlackSwordsMan Over the Hills and Far Away

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    I take that in note sir : )

    See with what they rewarded me :D
    If you are wondering why the B-58 model, that's for Stonesurd ; )

    [​IMG]
     
  8. sotu1

    sotu1 Ex-Modder

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    Don't fully agree with this, I think you can get some amazing shots just of people smiling, that are made better when tightly cropped.

    My piece of advice: when shooting hoomans, generally shoot/crop in portrait. A lot of wasted space otherwise
     
  9. stonedsurd

    stonedsurd Is a cackling Yuletide Belgian

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    :hehe: :thumb:
    You can get good shots, sure, but they don't really say much.

    For example, this (50mm, f/1.4) was shot at a party, but it could just as well have been shot on the street or anywhere, really. The photo alone says nothing, and is kinda boring.

    [​IMG]
    Cousin by angad84, on Flickr

    This was shot wide (22mm, f/2.8) and the subject is doing something interesting. You can tell there are people around, which gives some context to what's happening. Still not a spectacular shot though.

    [​IMG]
    Keepin' it Gangsta by angad84, on Flickr

    This was shot at a birthday party for the little girl in the photo, this time framed tight (55mm, f/7.1) on an interaction between two subjects, but still showing decorations and other people in the background, adding context. Without being told, you could guess it's a party and the focus of the image is far more interesting than just a smiling father or grinning daughter.

    [​IMG]
    Nyra Kissing Daddy by angad84, on Flickr


    This is all my opinion, of course, and one could certainly disagree. As I've said, I'm pretty awful at shooting people, candid or otherwise.
     
  10. TheBlackSwordsMan

    TheBlackSwordsMan Over the Hills and Far Away

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    What flash you use for indoor pictures ? I'll eventually have to give back the Metz 50AF XD
     
    Last edited: 3 Jun 2013
  11. stonedsurd

    stonedsurd Is a cackling Yuletide Belgian

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    I don't use a flash. I just push ISO when needed.
     
  12. wyx087

    wyx087 Homeworld 3 is happening!!

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    Nice shots, I like the emotion you got from your "models". I'd personally preferred less tight crop portraits, like a upper body shot in your 3rd picture. But overall very nice even lighting.


    430ExII is the standard Canon flash, a bit expensive for what it is though. It lacks ability to be triggered by other flashes. You could look into Yongnuo flashguns, they are cheaper, and can be triggered off camera by your on-camera flash when you do want to experiment with off-camera flash photography. Look at YN-560 II for very cheap powerful manual flash or YN-468 II for automatic TTL flash, less powerful but still cheap.

    For low light photography, it's better to push up the ISO. Use the Plastic Fantastic 50, ISO 3200 or 6400 for some nice candle lit pictures :)

    I only found flash useful as fill flash in sunlight. As such, I now keep 270ExII in my bag at all times, which is a portable small flashgun, perfect for fill flash and doesn't take up a lot of weight. Perfect portrait at any angle to the sun.
     
  13. stonedsurd

    stonedsurd Is a cackling Yuletide Belgian

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    FWIW, he's using a 350D, which means anything above ISO 800 will look like snow*

    * varies by viewer
     
  14. sotu1

    sotu1 Ex-Modder

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    @stonedsurd

    This is what I was thinking...I don't feel the empty space either side really adds to the photo.

    [​IMG]

    With regards to your photos, the third picture is intrinsically a more interesting photo anyway, due to the interaction of the people and the colours. Potentially that could have been cropped to something like this:

    [​IMG]

    This is just an option and I think either your original or the cropped version tell different stories.

    Here's an example of a picture I took at the weekend, just of a kid smiling, which got cropped (and I think looks better for it)

    original:
    [​IMG]

    cropped:
    [​IMG]

    Not all pics work the same, it's an art after all!
     
  15. stonedsurd

    stonedsurd Is a cackling Yuletide Belgian

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    He's shooting for a party though. If you can't tell it's a party by looking at the pictures, it's a bit of a lost cause, isn't it?
     
  16. sotu1

    sotu1 Ex-Modder

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    I guess it depends whether you're trying to shoot to show off the party or using it as an opportunity to take photos.
     
  17. stonedsurd

    stonedsurd Is a cackling Yuletide Belgian

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    Correct. But given that he opened the thread with these words...

    I assumed the former.
     
  18. Cheap Mod Wannabe

    Cheap Mod Wannabe What's a Dremel?

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    Nothing wrong with the photos.
    The only thing that sticks out to me, is the White Balance that's quite a bit off. But that's an easy fix.

    @sotu1: Could not disagree with your cropping more. The only one that works for me out of the four shots that you cropped is the one of the girl kissing the old man. And that's just because the composition is interesting enough.

    I know where you're coming from though; "get closer. focus on your subject. Bigger is better" are common rules on improving your photography, with people especially.

    But composition is ABSOLUTELY more important. Cropping someone and ending up with a centered boring photo is definitely not a way to go.

    Like that photo of an asian kid. The original has some interesting cross formed out of the kid and the fence. The fence leads to the kids face and together with the tilt of the camera adds quite a lot of motion to the photo. The green juxtaposes the red of the shirt; while fun that still keeps the red stand out way more from the background. Fun, playful photo that would be gold if the kid had some reflection or light in his eyes.

    The cropped photo: Oh someone's bad portrait of a child... great. Oh now I see dried up snot as well as grass in his hair. With no details in the eyes; then my eyes end up looking at his mickey shirt. Eyes and brain bored of the cropped shot way faster.

    Now the rule of closer/bigger is still mostly true. But composition is just way way more important.

    @TheBlackSwordsMan: Also nice job on not flashing the subjects too much. A lot of ambient light makes it feel more cozy and natural. Good job. Play with your WB settings next time.
     
  19. sotu1

    sotu1 Ex-Modder

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    Ok, seems people don't agree with my cropping, fair enough! My cropping decision is more to do with having a portrait orientation vs a landscape orientation. I just don't agree with the empty space either side of the original poster's photos.

    Re: the kid in the red mickey shirt, he was on a trampoline, so impossible to get him to sit still at all to manage the composition! So yeah, snot and grass all over the place. (I'd photoshop that out, normally)
     
  20. sotu1

    sotu1 Ex-Modder

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    I see what you're saying, but the first 2 photos of the kids don't show anything about a party going on.
     

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