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Hi All,

2 questions for you:

1. When you are taking portraits do you prefer the subject to look directly into the camera or slighty away? I took some today and the most natural ones were front on but with the subject looking slighty over my shoulder.

2. What colour space do you all use? I have the default set (Mode 1A (SRGB)). I have found myself using changing most of my images to Mode 2 (Adobe RGB, for portraits anyway) as I feel this gives a better skin tone.

Looking forward to some responses.

W00DY

Hi Woody...

1. I much prefer potraits where the subject is NOT looking straight down the barrel... even better if they are not noticing the camera at all... but that can be hard to achieve most of the time.

2. Think I'm using adobe at the minute... haven't done much evaluation to identify any meaningful differences though... theory would have it the adobe space will give you a wider colour spectrum to work with.

cheers,

Michael.

Hi Woody - with portraits I tend to work out the subject first. If they have great eyes I tend to have their body turned slightly away from the camera with their eyes looking straight at the camera but shot from a slightly elevated angle.

If the person is reposed then I tend to shoot from a low angle. Of course, the lighting is also important.

I always shoot Adobe RGB and RAW these days.

Cheers

Chris

Woody
Diect eye contact can be very powerful and engage the viewer in a confronting or intimate way...depending upon the look. I would try some with direct eye contact and some without. Make your final choice at the culling stage. Tell em to look into the lens and see if they can see their own reflection.

Matt. K wrote:Woody
Diect eye contact can be very powerful and engage the viewer in a confronting or intimate way...depending upon the look. I would try some with direct eye contact and some without. Make your final choice at the culling stage. Tell em to look into the lens and see if they can see their own reflection.

That's an interesting technique.

Thanks for the comments all it is good to get some ideas. I think I will change to Adobe (mode 2) permanently for a while (I guess I can always change it back to default in PP.

Cheers,

W00DY

This one contradicts a little of what I said before:



Cheers

Chris

1. very open ended question... depends on the type of shot you/they are wanting... i prefer overall a shot where people are not looking at the camera... the natural 'unposed' shots which tell a bit of a story..

2. adobe

cheers

Nice portrait Chris

As long as it's not the eyes consistently to the right of the camera portrait style that's endemic to many American shooters (I don't know why, but it seems many American households have portraits of their children with fake smiles and fake backdrops looking to the right of the camera). To me, it's a bland look and even manages to make the child seem retarded.

While I shoot in mode IIIa mostly, but I've reverted back to mode Ia for people and portraits (with enhanced saturation) - as I find mode IIIa too colourful for skin - brings out a lot of pink. This could be due to the combined effects of the previously mentioned, in addition to my preferences of Auto -2 WB and a skylight 1B filter on the lens. Even Chris' portrait above seems a touch too pink for my liking.

1. I think these are two distinctly different portrait styles, and the one you select on any given occasion would depend on what you are trying to achieve.

Looking directly into the camera makes for a stronger connection, or can be more confrontational, etc

Looking away is more thoughtful, or the photograph is more observational.

2. I am using mode 2 'cos Thom said so.

I rarely shoot portraits (due to lack of willing subjects) but i'll add my two cents worth.

1. The eyes are very important to human social behaviour. Looking into someones eyes creates a more open and honest look than looking over your shoulder. Someone looking over you shoulder looks distracted and keen to move one, whereas looking into your eyes can feel more friendly and personal.

So when you are looking at a photo of someone your eyes are subconciously directed to their eyes. (try this with a picture) and if they are looking away from you, there is less likelihood that you will find the photo to be personal and directed towards you, therefore you will be less inclined to like the photo.

Of course that's just my opinion..........

2. edit: I forgot to add that i shoot in Adobe as i PP in photoshop, which is an adobe product, for the sake of simplicity.