Can you please give me some editing advice on how to make my portraits "pop" more?
Below is an example of a shot I really like, but it looks so dull and flat.
I know that my camera plays a part in it, being an advanced P&S, and buying a DSLR is out of my price range right now.
Thanks in advance for your input!
I am no expert in this topic by any means, but here is my two cents. When it comes to portraits, I have always heard/been told, to bring your subjects a tad away from your background, meaning, have them sit/stand about 6 feet in front of your background, and use a larger aperture, f2.8 or more to blur out the background more, and bring more focus to your subject. If that is not an option, and you are talking more about the color saturation in this photo in particular, then in photoshop you could easily make a 'levels' adjustment to darken or lighten the overall photo, and you could adjust your saturation levels a tad to make your color 'pop' a bit more. Not sure if this helps or not, but maybe its a starting place. Again, no expert here, but if you have any more questions, I will do my best.
@wjw1741 I actually thought immediately that the background was taking over the photo and that the wall matched the hair color. Background is really important. Also not sure of the lens you have and used, but aim for 50 mm and use your feet for getting the right framing and not your zoom on your camera. If you lock in at 50 you can move forward or backward to get the best position.
I agree wholeheartedly with backing up the background. This looks to be in natural light- try to get more variety in the light. It's nice to see it coming through long grasses or tree branches etc. And if that's not possible then for this particular image I would have moved the subjects forward and turned them slightly. Get more of them in the frame and have them not look at the camera (looking at the camera is fine, but here there's a touristy snapshot look to it).
FOr editing advice we'd need to know a little more about what your file is saved as (jpeg?) and what programs you have access to. I love graduated filters, but I only know how to use them in adobe camera raw, which may be useless information to you ;p
They are too close to their background in this photo. And also the background is too...blah, for lack of a better word. I'd try finding something with a bit more contrast next time. If your subjects are going to be wearing neutral colors, try throwing them in front of something more colorful. Maybe a graffitti wall or a lovely back drop of trees?
As far as editing this one photo I think a nice high contrast black and white would be perfect!
@misssamanthap You'll have to upload it to your photos (maybe an earlier date than when you started), then go to the right of the page and copy the share code. Then paste it into this thread.
With out having to writ a book here are some key points.
Watch your background
As already mentioned stand your subject at least 6 feet off the background and open you lens up.
create directional light and remember to creat interesting light you have to create interesting shadows.
Have your subject turn on a angle and get then to angle their heads so they are not strait up and down.
Now to make this image pop I would of done the following, and I know you don't have the equipment but you can still do it by moving the subject around so the get hit with natural light.
I would of blurred the background
Put a light on the side if their faces at around 45 degrees
Put a light on the back do thei heads in the opposite direction the the first light.
Now if you get it right in camera there is less post to do, but there is always post to do. :)
@renelou I did a quick edit myself... not to overdone, must stay realistic - P&S wise. Next time (I have a p&s with max f/3.1 myself) try to move the subject further away from the background and try not to zoom in as you will loose that 3.1... Just move a bit closer yourself, you could even set your camera to Macro (p&s-ers without money for a DSLR must be creative lol) that's my experience best chance to get a decent DOF :-D
But here's my edit:
I've added the "How to" with the pic
Here is my take on it. Cropped in very close. Adjusted black point and white point to get colors to pop a bit more. Softened the woman's face a little bit (hard to say if it was too much as the pic is a bit soft overall), Sharpened the eyes. Slightly warmed the pic as it is just a tad blue.
Seeing as everyone else has had a shot I thought I'd give it a wee shot too if that's ok/
As for advice, don't have the subject right up against the background and get yourself as far away as you can and zoom in. Also watch your focus, this one looks to me that the background is what you're focused on, not the subject.
Hope it helps!
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I agree wholeheartedly with backing up the background. This looks to be in natural light- try to get more variety in the light. It's nice to see it coming through long grasses or tree branches etc. And if that's not possible then for this particular image I would have moved the subjects forward and turned them slightly. Get more of them in the frame and have them not look at the camera (looking at the camera is fine, but here there's a touristy snapshot look to it).
FOr editing advice we'd need to know a little more about what your file is saved as (jpeg?) and what programs you have access to. I love graduated filters, but I only know how to use them in adobe camera raw, which may be useless information to you ;p
As far as editing this one photo I think a nice high contrast black and white would be perfect!
let me know if it helps or their are any questions. ok?
With out having to writ a book here are some key points.
Watch your background
As already mentioned stand your subject at least 6 feet off the background and open you lens up.
create directional light and remember to creat interesting light you have to create interesting shadows.
Have your subject turn on a angle and get then to angle their heads so they are not strait up and down.
Now to make this image pop I would of done the following, and I know you don't have the equipment but you can still do it by moving the subject around so the get hit with natural light.
I would of blurred the background
Put a light on the side if their faces at around 45 degrees
Put a light on the back do thei heads in the opposite direction the the first light.
Now if you get it right in camera there is less post to do, but there is always post to do. :)
But here's my edit:
I've added the "How to" with the pic
@wjw1741 @brumbe @echoia @misssamanthap @mjkthorpe @agima @elke @nlaurie
There's my take on it :)
As for advice, don't have the subject right up against the background and get yourself as far away as you can and zoom in. Also watch your focus, this one looks to me that the background is what you're focused on, not the subject.
Hope it helps!