Beautiful

[CanonChrissy]

I don't do portraits but I took this at my friends wedding on Friday. Critique welcome please.

[jeremy rundle]

I would have liked

 

Shallower dof, the background is too busy

Portrait not landscape mode

[annie]

Lovely, I like the way you have caught her looking away from the camera and slightly upwards, very natural. 

[CanonChrissy]

I was scared to use manual mode in case I missed the moment (hence me not being a wedding photographer haha). I could have used Aperture Mode though, now I think abou it, had I been a  more focused photographer rather than being a focused guest. I do understand also why portrait would work better. Might try a sneaky crop from the original RAW file to see if I can pull a portrait crop off.

 

Thanks

[jeremy rundle]

Does the camera have a "portrait" mode

[Leon]

Does the camera have a "portrait" mode

portrait mode on mine pop's the flash up, that may of killed the moment?

 

comments above are valid..

[CanonChrissy]

I tried blurring the background but Im not that good in PS. If anyone wants to play with it, they are welcome.

[jeremy rundle]

Just crop a little off the left to her sholder

[ChrisLumix]

 

Gaussian Blur was too aggressive so I applied 'More Blur' about 15 times!, cropped, and adjusted the contrast slightly. It's more square than your original, but I don't think that matters a hill of beans to be honest.

 

(Crop - I removed everything to the right, which was extraneous really, and left enough space to the left for the person she's looking at / interacting with to "inhabit".

[CanonChrissy]

Yes that looks better. maybe a little tutorial from you? Pity I can't reshoot though!

[ChrisLumix]

Yes that looks better. maybe a little tutorial from you? Pity I can't reshoot though!

 

Ok. I did the following things:

 

1. In Photoshop Elements I duplicated the layer.

2. On the duplicate I used 'Magic Extractor' to extract the bride from her background.

3. On the original layer I just kept using the filter 'More Blur' over and over until I thought it looked about right.

4. I then cropped the whole thing as explained, and flattened the image.

5. Finally, I moved the left and right edges of the histogram (deepening blacks and lightening whites) to increase the contrast.

 

That was it! About 10 minutes work.

 

(Anyone told your friend she looks like Dusty Springfield?)

[CanonChrissy]

Not that I know of, is it not just the hair? I have googled Dusty on google images and some of her photos I can see a resemblence.

 

I dont use elements so do you know what the eqiuivelent of the magic extractor tool is in PS?

[fuzzyedges]

I thought dusty as well Chris

[Phil]

I agree the bg is a little busy but the main subject is sharp enough to keep your eye where it should be. Losing the unnecessary space to the right, Chris' edit works well.

 

What's the chance of seeing the colour version? Maybe selecting the the subject and muting the bg slightly might work?

[Guest]

A Very nice candid portrait Chrissy.

 

Does the camera have a "portrait" mode

 

As the exif says it was shot at f5.6 @ 55mm and I'm guessing it was took with the kit 18-55mm if so then Chrissy was at maximum aperture any way and no more shallow DOF was available regardless so it is a moot point. and she did well with what she had.

 

Lens blur added and a few adjustments Chrissy for your consideration. And by the way she is better looking than Dusty Springfield.

 

[colinb]

I was scared to use manual mode in case I missed the moment (hence me not being a wedding photographer haha). I could have used Aperture Mode though, now I think abou it, had I been a  more focused photographer rather than being a focused guest.

 

I have just returned from my nephews wedding over in Malaga, shooting 300+ pictures over 3 days mostly in aperture but many on auto as I am there as a guest and wished to enjoy the wedding not pretend to be the wedding tog so I understand what you are saying. But a very nice picture never the less and I like the use of BW.

[CanonChrissy]

Thanks all. Will post the original later this evening. Im trying to remember what lens I used for this one. I only took 3, one I didn't use at all. Will wwork it out tonight and give more details.

 

I really appreciatey evryones interest and the advice. Im considering a Photoshop course at college as Im not that good. I can do basic stuff but dont understand about layer masks and stuff.

 

My friend (Laura) is beautiful (inside & out) and totally unaware of how she makes heads turn. I would love her to model for me (I have some great photo ideas I want to try with a model - not in a studio though) - but she's too shy in front of a camera. She's currently honeymooning in Singapore & Bali

[ChrisLumix]

Not that I know of, is it not just the hair? I have googled Dusty on google images and some of her photos I can see a resemblence.

 

I dont use elements so do you know what the eqiuivelent of the magic extractor tool is in PS?

 

You're right, she's better looking than DustyS, but there was just something about the hair, the mascara and the shape of the face that caught me.

 

I'm afraid my version of Elements (6) is way more up to date than Photoshop CS2 which doesn't have the Magic Extractor. In Photoshop I would have used the magnetic lasso - correcting the selection afterwards - but there are always the masking tools, which you would learn about on the Photoshop course. However you may have a more up to date version of Photoshop which DOES have the Magic Extractor? If it does, you will see it in one of the main menus. 

[fuzzyedges]

You're right, she's better looking than DustyS, but there was just something about the hair, the mascara and the shape of the face that caught me.

 

 

Find an image of Dusty looking to the right (she prefered the left) and from the sixties and there is a definate resemblance