Portraits are NOT my strong suit. Any tips would be appreciated. Especially for children portraits. This little one did not want to smile or really have anything to do with her picture being taken. Thanks!
I am not at all good at portraits, I would say that you don't need a smile here. She has a lovely expression and the DOF is good. Perhaps you needed a bit more light on her face though? (I could be wrong)
To me this is a lovely portrait of a little girl - just because she isn't smiling! Her eyes are full of thoughts.
(Very good against the black background.)
But you did get her to give you good eye contact - and the colors are lovely - as someone mentioned, the only suggestion I might have would be to try to reduce the shadow a little on her face to lighten it up. Personally, I like that expression she's giving you - it's natural and full of curiosity.
Lovely colors and her expression is sweet, a little thoughtful. On a portrait like this, I use some tools through my editing software. They do things like brighten eyes and smooth skin. If you like, I can give you more info.
@noko411 Yes please! @milaniet I thought the same, that her face was a little shadowed so to fix...use a flash? @helenhall A lot of times I'm trying to capture them without their attention being on me...my speed light will certainly make my cameras presence known!
I'm not much of an expert on portraits either, but you did catch a nice 3/4 turn of the head here. A reflector (held by your trusty assistant of course) would have been perfect for bringing out the light and accenting her face. Overall I think it's a great capture!
@dianen Lol, we're using the same antiquated program! That's perfect. I hope it's not a no-no on here, but visit http://www.thecoffeeshopblog.com/
She creates "actions" to automate certain processing, but she also writes tutorials along with the actions to help you understand the tools she is using to adjust to your own taste. I've learned so much from her tutorials. All of her stuff is free, too. She even has directions on installing the actions to PSE. For portraits, take a look at "Perfect Portrait 3" and my personal favorite, "2 Minute Miracle Plus". Let me know, if you have any questions.
(Very good against the black background.)
She creates "actions" to automate certain processing, but she also writes tutorials along with the actions to help you understand the tools she is using to adjust to your own taste. I've learned so much from her tutorials. All of her stuff is free, too. She even has directions on installing the actions to PSE. For portraits, take a look at "Perfect Portrait 3" and my personal favorite, "2 Minute Miracle Plus". Let me know, if you have any questions.