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I'm getting started in portrait photography and using a portable studio kit. Would this be the best thread to critique the photos I have recently taken? I am very much a beginner though so you may be getting some very poor snaps.
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Nov 26, 2023 17:03
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| # ¿ May 2, 2024 17:21 |
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Here are a few of the portrait photos I took. First thing that should be known is that currently my equipment is cheap, in some cases really cheap. I would love to be able to get better equipment but this is what I have for now. I can possibly get some additional bits that you may deem necessary. Currently I am using a Canon 60D, Canon 18-55 Lens, Metz 48 AF-1 flash, White fabric backdrop but also have black and green, 3 soft boxes with variable warmth and brightness lights. I also tether my camera to my laptop to try and get a good idea of how good the pictures are when I am taking them.      These are from a LARP and are from players that have given me permission to share their images. I am trying to get an idea of lighting, composition, framing, cropping, you know... not too much at all really /s These photos are not edited, other than being cropped. I do have a totally legitimate copy of Adobe Lightroom which I acquired which I will look to make adjustments. I am going to be practicing more with just random friends of mine over the next couple of months as they would like me to get as good a picture as I can. I will probably look to get more critique as I take these photos. If you think there is a piece of equipment that I could really really do with, please let me know. Christmas is coming so I have got an opportunity to ask for a christmas present.
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Nov 26, 2023 17:26
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One other thing I should also mention is that these setups will often be in cramped locations. This is how I set things up at the event.  advice on lighting setup would also be appriciated.
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Nov 26, 2023 17:29
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Thank you. My next session with my friends I want to try some Black backdrop shoes with a single light, see what kind of an effect I can get there. Post processing is a whole other area I've not even begun with yet. I'm shooting Raw to give myself as many options as I can. I'm hoping that if I can take a great shot to begin with, that post processing will be minimal but still give that tiny bit of pizzazz.
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Nov 26, 2023 18:07
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Thank you for all of this advice. This was my very first attempt at doing this every, so I am definitely expecting these to be extremely rough. For this first attempt I was trying to just get something at least heading towards decent. I want to get in some more sessions where I can practice with the lighting a little more. I have since gotten some remote triggered speedlights which I think should help for some of the lighting issues on the fly. I'll post some images of the next session when they occurs so you can tell me if things have improved.
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Dec 29, 2023 11:04
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So last night was new years. We went to a party, there were people dressed up. I had my camera with me and other than the equipment in my camera bag (Camera, lenses, Flash, remote) I thought it might be an idea to see what I could do with regards to composition with the minimal equipment I had.   I tried to get lighting as best as I could with what i had available. Using a Christmas tree to add a little texture to the background. I suppose the question here, is whether these are an improvement over the pictures from before? These are again the unmodified photos, I suspect that I will mess around with Lightroom a little more once I can get the basic composition better.
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Jan 1, 2024 13:52
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Thank you for all of that. Exposure amount is definitely something I'm also working on. I'm never sure exactly how much is the right amount. Every new picture I take, a bit more information is found. You mentioned about whether upping the exposure may help, it looks like the camera did get a lot of information. I would like to know what works well. If I were to provide the RAW file, would someone be able to show me a good example of exposure levels?
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Jan 1, 2024 19:59
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Let me give that a go based on what you have just said. I've been trying to view instructional videos for lightroom, trying to get the best advice I can. I find so often when it comes to things like exposure you get them saying "I like to increase the exposure to about 15" or similar but not really explaining why they are doing it out how it changes the feeling of the image. So I guess another question would be, are there good tutorials out there that give good explanations of the various things that can be altered, what they fundamentally do and why?
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Jan 1, 2024 20:16
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Helen Highwater posted:They are very underexposed. the tree in the background isn't abstract enough to provide random glowy bokeh, but also isn't defined enough to be easily readable. It's a distraction and I'd fix it by just editing it out. I did another quick edit based on what you said above.  Is this closer to what you are thinking? I have put the RAW file here if anyone is willing to show me how they would edit the photo. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SOY7EvYjMtAW1cU_gSIklpJXc0doRK2f/view?usp=sharing Once again this is me being an utter utter beginner so please forgive me if these are all fairly basic questions.
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Jan 3, 2024 12:07
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Viginti Septem posted:Your raw is actually much brighter than I was expecting. Simply as an alternative to what was posted here already, you could accentuate the tree and background instead of killing them off. Thank you for the comments. When it came to lighting, I knew I was going to struggle as the room I was in was not in any way suited for this kind of thing. This was very much a spur of the moment, this is what I have on me, type photo. Much as you mentioned I was also surprised by how much the camera picked up and how much the image could be brightened. It certainly gives me a lot of leeway for alterations. Composition wise, its an odd one. We played a LARP at new year and this was one of their characters. Their character was a bit off kilter, a bit disjointed which is why I was going for the things not looking quite right and off balance. It's an interesting trade off to decent framing while trying to get the spirit of the character. I have another question, but I think it is better placed in the other thread.
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Jan 3, 2024 18:16
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| # ¿ May 2, 2024 17:21 |
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I had an opportunity to try some more portrait photos. I'm mostly trying out studio type photos at the moment. I think this is looking better than previous attempts. I am intrigued to get your thoughts. 
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Jan 23, 2024 15:24
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