Portrait

[Div]

A portrait of my better half.

C&C always welcome.



-Dave

[aim54x]

Its a great image, but there is one thing that does tarnish it for me; that out of focus foliage that appears to be reaching towards her nostril!

keep the good work coming!

[ozimax]

Excellent photo but yes, I agree with Cameron, a position just an inch or two sideways would have made the image perfect. Good in any case!

Ozi

[gstark]

This is one time when taking a moment, before squeezing the shutter, to cast your eye around the viewfinder and examine what you're about to shoot would really have paid dividends.

[Div]

Thanks guys

I did think the same and wanted to clone them out but that turned out to be beyond my capabilities and my computers =)

It is a shame as i think i captured the moment well but missed the framing =( It was difficult controlling all those grass fronds =)

[zafra52]

I tend to agree with the above...

[surenj]

On the positive side, I really love the tones in this. The greens and orange go so well together. Deep blacks also add quite alot.

Cloning this would be quite a job but probably doable. Several hours though [I think]. The hard part would be to remove the OOF fronds altogether. You could try copying her jawline from the other side?

[wendellt]

its a great portrait with a believable and honest smile
although i think the shadow tones are a bit too much keeping this shot naturally toned would be better

[Mr Darcy]

A couple if ideas for taming waving grass.
Yes Gary, I know you should wait for the moment, but sometimes you or the model just don't have the time or the split second reflexes.
1. Take a burst on high speed. Hopefully one will have the wayward grass behaving itself.
2. Put a weight on the offending fronds. I have often used a peg to good effect here, but a book will work well too. Be careful of colour casts though. Of course you can often use these to good effect.
3. (shudder) Snip.

[gstark]

Put a weight on the offending fronds. I have often used a peg to good effect here, but a book will work well too.

Depending upon the proximity of the fronds, it may be possible for either you or the model to hold them out of the way for a second or three; I've often done that with overhanging tree branches. Conversely, I've also been known to hold a branch so that it intrudes into an upper corner of an image, to offer framing.

But before you can treat the problem you need to notice that it is a problem, hence my suggestion of a quick glance around the viewfinder, or perhaps a little chimping post-exposure.

[Div]

Thanks guys for all the replies! Some great ideas there for the future.

Surenj - Yeah i think it would take a couple of hours work to clone them out. I think it'll be faster to drive back there and take another =)

I tend to agree with Wendellt now that i see this picture on my work monitor. I think i've overdone the shadow tones a bit too much. I'll pull them back a bit.

Mr Darcy - some great ideas there. i'll pocket those for next time. I think a stick also might have been useful to hold them back down low out of frame. But i didn't want it to look like the grass was parted artificially too much. So maybe the high speed burst is the way to go!

gstark - I'm going to start trying to see distracting objects when i'm composing. At the moment i've been so focused on just composing a nice frame that I tend to miss these things. Practice will make perfect though.

Thanks again guys for all the comments it definitely improves my photography and is great for someone just starting out like me.

Regards
Dave