hi guys! taking of pictures of people posing is not my thing, but i'm been doing a lot of practicing these months. anyway, i have a really hard time with composition. i struggle with it every day. i like these images of kemal, but i feel like that damn tree is so distracting. can i get some advice/feedback on these images, please. and any advice you can give me regarding taking the image right to begin with would be helpful. i study my images and can't figure out what i'm doing wrong. am i standing in the wrong spot? am i not zooming in right? thanks for your insight!!! :)

oops...here's the first image.

i don't like to crop my images. i'm trying really hard to compose my images right in my camera. this one is crappy but i decided to work on it anyway and see what i could do. i guess i should have gotten a bit closer to him or zoomed closer. and i see that once again my focus was off. and my settings were off. Arrrrgggg!

i cropped it, put it thru a noise filter, and worked on the lighting and stuff. i'm wondering if you guys find that tree in the background distracting. you think i should get rid of it?

here's another one. like the first image, this one is uncropped. it's how i composed it in cam. i just dunno. something seems off but i can't figure out what. kemal was just being silly here, making kissing sounds, and that's why his lips are puckered like that. :) i also wasn't sure about the contrast in this one and i can't decide between b/w and sepia.

any better this way? his hair kinda blends with the tree. not sure if it's better like this.

The only thing that bothers me about this image is you cut of Kemals hand! The tree and background (to me) adds interest to the scene as a whole and actually make him pop out more instead of blending in! When practicing, take a series of shots from different angles and perspectives! Keep your subject in the same basic pose, but try zooming in to get up close...say just of his face. Also move back, to get more of the subject and background in frame! Try to get the composition as much "in camera" as possible!

i swear this is the last one! LOL! this one...i was just shooting pictures of him while he was playing with the kitten. like all but that one image, this one is uncropped...how i composed it in cam. cutting his head off like that is intentional. i see other people doing that, especially at Photo-Sig. i don't know and understand the rules behind chopping off someone's head intentionally, but i love so many of the images i've seen and decided to try it. whatcha think? i didn't reduce the noise in this, and although the contrast is off, i kinda like it. perhaps that's just 'cause i'm weird. i have a feeling this is a terrible image compositionally and from every standpoint, but i just love this one! what did i do right and wrong with it? Guys...thanks for bearing with me!!! and thanks so much for all your HONEST feedback. that's what really helps me learn and improve!!! I sure do appreciate all your time and input! :)

Geez Sheila, ya posted some more while I was typing! Ah well, I see you DID take other shots! I still tend to like the first one out of the bunch. I like Kemal pose and expression in this one the best! One thing that IS noticeable to me, is that you used the tree to your advantage on both #2 & #6

crossed with you, Joe. yeah, cutting off his hand like that...not good. Thank you for pointing that out! i thought the tree looked funny in my images. it's been bothering me but i dunno why. yeah, i take a LOT of images! i have several more of him posed by this tree...different angles and perspectives...more than what i show here. thanks so much for your feedback and advice, Joe!!! :)

that's a good point Joe.. sometimes we get so hung up on composing in cam & get so awfully close to the edges, leaving no room to maneuver & finding out afterward we've winged them..

there is absolutely nothing wrong in cropping.. a big portion of my photography class when working with the darkroom enlarger was learning to crop.. & with the bigger mgpx cams it makes it possible in the digital darkroom

1 is alright, hand chop, beer ad..
could crop closer, work with the diagonal as you did in the 3rd
might even be better as the line doesn't go through his head
2 head chop & a bit flat
3rd shot is dynamic in the diagonal but like i said, not so sure of intersecting his head, do like the sepia

opps crossed too :].. the 4th shot just isn't very flattering to his neck imo last edit.. lol.. i do like cropped heads.. like in the last image.. but none too keen on the back of the head in the 2nd image is all

Message edited on: 10/15/2005 11:51

although.. with the 2nd shot.. getting rid of the tree & leaving more space in front of him might be nice.. as well as punching up the contrast :]

thanks, Cindy! you're right what you said...we can get very close to the edges and if it's not done just right...you're screwed! you have a much better printed image though if it's uncropped. i never printed any of my images before. i am now. i see the difference when the image is cropped and uncropped. i am striving to take my images as close to the way i want them in cam. it's very challenging. i find it very difficult to do. 1. ok...i'll try cropping that & post it later. beer ad? LOL! ugh. it was just a freebie t-shirt someone gave him. didn't mean for this to look like a beer ad. perhaps i'll try to clone that out. thanks! :) 2. yeah, you're right. it IS somewhat flat! let me see if i can fix that! don't like the head chop? hmmm...nothing i can do about it though since i composed it like that in cam. 3. i see what you're saying about that. perhaps that's what makes it look "off." 4. you're right. not a flattering view of his neck i guess. thanks for telling me. i dunno how to fix that though. :( question: all these head chops i'm seeing here & at Photo-Sig...is there a good way to go about doing that? i dunno if people are taking the image and cropping it or just doing it like that in the cam. thanks so much for your feedback, Cindy!! gotta go do some laundry before work, but i'll try your suggestions!!! i sure do appreciate it! you and joe have given me a lot to think about! :)

I definitely prefer #1 out of the all bunch! I think the tree in the background really adds to the image. I'm not keen on any of the other shots here. but that #1 is really cool and I don't find that cut off hand distracting at all. A tighter crop at the top of the image might look even better but that's just my 5 pennies.! ;)

We crossed Sheila and to answer that last question, I do chopped people's head in cam most of the time! My portraits are rarely cropped or very little if need be unless I can't get close enough to the subject or zoom close enough. Just my 2 cents! ;)

not really so much a beer ad.. lol.. i wouldn't try cloning it.. i like beer :] & it does work the best ever notice on TV, well you've said before you don't watch TV, but sometimes i just watch the camera angles & there's quite a bit of chopping of people it's interesting to make "stills" in your head to see what works

I don't know much about portrait photography - I do use the TV as a guide to composition as cyn has suggested.

it's a shame that cropping digital images has such an effect on printing but it does all the more reason to be shooting RAW & having a high megapix cam.. leaves more options open.. sigh

Now this is so true Cyn!! Even cropped, the quality remains!!

i only have just a minute before we have to leave for work. just wanted to thank ya'all for your input!!! Pascale, you know how much i love your portraits!!! You do an INCREDIBLE job with them! i wish composition wasn't so difficult for me. well, i find photography in general difficult, but i sure do LOVE it!!! very very challenging though! Cindy, Richard...i rarely watch TV. we do enjoy movies though. i have terrible short-term memory problems. i could see something on TV and then have no idea what i saw. no sure it would do me any good. seeing images in print or here on the web is good when i can look and then go back and look. shooting in RAW with my cam sucks. the time it takes just to take one image...INCREDIBLE! and the space it takes...OMG... perhaps when i get another cam shooting in RAW will be better. dunno. right now i just really need to focus on shooting a better composed image. wish it wasn't so freaking hard for me! well thanks so much guys for all your input and suggestions! I so much appreciate it! Gotta run to work now! i'll think about everything you said guys! catch ya later!!! :) ya'all have a nice one! :)