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Teena Bacon
{K:35} 12/24/2003
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Hi people!
Thanks for all the help. Here's an update; I just got myself a 2nd hand Minolta 500si in excellent condition, and it has already taken some excellent test pictures! Now I need help in uploading pictures to the site. I have scanned one, it looked great, then I resized it to fit the site, still looked great, uploaded it and it looked blurry! What did I do wrong? Any ideas? I used an Artec scanner and MGI Photosuite 3 to alter the size. What is the best way to resize, to crop or to reduce file size? Merry Xmas, Happy Hannukah or Happy Holidays, whatever you prefer!
(Message repeated in help section of forum)
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Hermen Pen
{K:9168} 12/24/2003
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It seems as the autofocus of your camera was fooled by the strong contrast in the background pattern... This is a common shortcoming of the autofocus mechanism, it tries to focus in such a way that contrast is maximum, however this is not always the focus you intended. I am sure you will achieve much better results with your good old Practica!
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Teena Bacon
{K:35} 12/19/2003
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Traci thanks so much, I'll be ordering that book straight away!
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Traci A. Quinn
{K:-83} 12/18/2003
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Teena Have you ever seen the Book Make up your mind By Francios Nars?? makeup artist- photographer his entire book is straight on before after images, I am also a make up artist.... That book shows great ideas. Good luck =)
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Teena Bacon
{K:35} 12/18/2003
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from all of your comments I think the camera I used is definitely no good for this work! It is a cheap digital giving me no control over most aspects. I now feel that I will be able to take much better pictures with my SLR (manual old Praktica MTL3) due to your help and guidance. Thank you everyone!
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chris meyer
{K:597} 12/18/2003
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Use a longer lens. A wide-angle lens distorts the face in an unpleasant way.
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Bill Ford
{K:101} 12/17/2003
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teena
remember the angles aare very inportant as for the back drop bring a sheet in from home that way you can have t nice flat backdrop. looks like you may need to moce the lights around a little as well so that the subject doesn't so brihgt in the forehead area. maybe try moving light back about a feet or so will helpl here.
Good luck
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michaelle .
{K:3807} 12/17/2003
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I would have to say that Chris said it all... print out his response and use it as a checklist... it will help dramatically!
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Chris Moore
{K:5591} 12/17/2003
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Hi Teena,
The image definitely seems focused on the backdrop rather than on the model. The background seems pretty sharp which is why the pattern on it and the wrinkles are so clear. Focus on the model's eyes - use manual focus if you think the camera is getting it wrong. Use a tripod if you have access to one, as your light levels may be fairly low and you don't want the camera to shake.
If you cannot remove the background, you can put it out of focus which will also remove the pattern from it as it will blur out. You will need to use a wide open aperture, something like f/2.8 depending on what your camera supports. You can set this by going into manual exposure mode, or by using aperture priority (probably marked Av) if you want the automatic metering. Unless you really know what you're doing, make the eyes sharp as these will be the initial connection between the viewer and the image.
A final option for the backdrop is to take your own and just pin it over the existing one with a couple of drawing pins.
It looks asif you may be using a fairly wide angle lens. Your telephoto setting may give a more flattering result as the perspective will be more pleasant.
If you want to emphasise femininity and delicacy, it can help to photograph looking very sightly down at the subject, so have the camera slightly above her eye level. Others have suggested a change in head position already.
Without spending money on photographic equipment, you can use pure white bed linen infront of the light as a diffuser (the bigger the source of the light in relation to the model, the more soft and flattering it will be), and you can use white polystyrene sheets or any white board as a reflector. (These are used to bounce some light back into areas of shadow in order to soften (but not generally totally remove) shadows.
Try to relax the model and create more of an "atmosphere" with her... this shot seems very much "stand there and look straightforward". Get her more relaxed and more animated, and watch for a moment when there's a visual connection between you, then take this.
Also bear in mind that you can move the camera position around as well as move the model's face. You can also of course shoot "partial face" shots, where you don't photograph the entire face, but perhaps only a small part of the face like the lips. This might be very suitable for showing off makeup. Take the time to look at the entire picture before you shoot - does the overall image look interesting and attractive? Do the important bits have impact?
Look at some examples, and try to reproduce some of the ideas and techniques they use. Look at adverts in women's magazines for shots that have great looking makeup, look in the portrait category here for flattering facial portraits etc. The more great photos you see the more you'll appreciate when you see a good shot through your lens.
Lastly, really look hard at the light you are getting. To avoid a face being a flat white disk, you need 3 dimensional shape, and you create this using light and shadow. We're talking subtle shadows here though, not massive angular black shadows thrown by the nose! Any part of the face you put in shadow will appear slimmer and more delicate, those you light brightly will seem more obvious. If you turn the model's head sideways and shine lots of light on the cheek facing the camera, she will look asif she has quite wide cheeks. If on the other hand, you light from the other side of her face (the side the camera sees less of), so that the cheek facing you is more shadowed, then her face will seem more slender and the result will flatter. I'm guessing from your knowledge of makeup this light and shadow thing will make some sense to you... all you need to do is look carefully at the result of the light you are putting on the model and analyse it in a similar way to how you would assess her makeup. (perhaps, as I know nothing about makeup!)
I hope you'll take some more and post them here again - you can see how willing everyone here is to help with advice!
HTH
Chris
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Teena Bacon
{K:35} 12/17/2003
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Thanks to all for your comments! I will try them all out. Unfortunately most pictures that I have taken with this camera do not seem to be well focused, that's why I'm going to try my SLR instead. And I would love to iron that backdrop but beleive it or not the college won't let us take it down to do it! I'm gonna take some sort of backdrop of my own & place it over the college one. The college aren't very helpful when it comes to our photos, they are supposed to supply a camera, but the battery keeps running out and they won't allow us use of the charger! Silly or what! That's why I think it best to take over myself.
Once again thanks for your help, you've all been great! (Other comments still very welcome!)
From Teena
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Peter Witkop
{K:3189} 12/16/2003
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Teena,
I think focus on the face being sharp will go a long way in giving you what you're looking for. With the focus soft, all the fine details of your makeup work are getting lost. Also having the person turn to a 2/3 head position as Barbara suggested will make it a little nicer, mug shots never really seem to look very pleasing. I would also use a more telephoto lens myself as well.
Peter
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Mark Peterson
{K:3452} 12/16/2003
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I would like to add...have your model move away from the backdrop about 2 feet (at least). You can soften the lighting by using a diffuser in front of the light source.
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Barbara Burton
{K:240} 12/16/2003
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Hi Teena,
Here's a few tips if you want them.
1. Have the model tilt her head to a 2/3's face pose a drop her chin slightly.
2. Focus.
3. Either iron your back drop of decrease your depth of field so the wrinkles don't show.
4. Move the light so it's above but to the side and then use a reflector to fill in the light from the bottom and opposite side. You can use one of those windsheild reflectors if you don't have a regular one.
I hope that helps.
Good luck!
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Kurt Pas
{K:2267} 12/16/2003
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Hi Teena,
I have not much experiance in digital or potrait.
On the first look, the model is out of focus.
For your color problem (you mentioned in the forum), try to set the white balance of the camera or play with the setting in the software.
If you gona use your film SLR try differt films. I know kodak and fuji have special portrait films. Maybe they give a better impression of your work.
I hope this is any help for you.
Have fun with your education.
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Teena Bacon
{K:35} 12/16/2003
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I forgot to add, please bear in mind when we do the make-up we have to photograph there and then with the backdrops, lighting, etc that the college supplies as we then have to take the make-up off to start again! Also, we now do the hair so the subject looks better than in the mugshot shown!
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