Richard

My first portrait with my Sony Alpha 6000

I took it down to Arnold and District Camera Club tonight to try and do some portrait shots with the kit lens that came with the camera.

I asked Richard if he would model for me.

I took quite a few shots of Richard and this is the first one I edited.

Shot on aperture priority at f5.6, ISO 400, 1/160th of a second

Richard is a big sports fan, supporting Nottingham Forest and a season ticket holder at Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club.

An enthusiastic photographer, Richard shoots with a Canon DSLR and often visits the studio of club member Verity to do some portrait shots under studio lights.

Richard is one of the first members to arrive at camera club and helps with the setup of the room and I am led to believe he makes a good cup of tea at the interval (believe it or not I have never had a tea or coffee at camera club because I think 9pm is too late for coffee)

Richard works at Tesco's on the Trolleys, so I always look out for him when visiting

I would appreciate your comments on how this portrait compares to some of my 100 strangers shots, which have all been done on my Canon 450D and 60D DSLR's

Oh and Richard also keeps tropical fish :)

Thanks Richard for the photo :)

[A]

To me, this looks a bit sharper than the 100 strangers ones, and the colours are better
Great portrait :)

[Allison Williams]

Great pose and composition. I went back to your Flickr account and l studied those. BTW, an amazing collection. You should be very proud of your work. I think I will need to see more using the Sony before I commit. I think the lighting is great and the skin tones very natural. Keep using it before we commit.

[Hazel]

It does seem a very well focused portrait. (You know I am a fan of the 1.8 50mm portrait lens with the a6000.) Great fun to have a new camera and experiment!

[Phil Howcroft]

@quietpurplehaze thanks haze I used the focus option where you can manually move the focus spot and placed it on the nearest eye (right hand side of frame) .
I am aware of the 50mm and it is on my list but out of my budget at the moment. Besides I need to master my A6000 technique and craft first 😀

[Phil Howcroft]

@allie912 thanks allison for your very kind words re my collection of strangers. Yes I am proud of it. You are right that the natural light last night was great for portraits , so I was shooting in ideal conditions. I don't know if at f5.6 there is a tad softness to the image. Maybe I am being my own worst critic 😀

[Phil Howcroft]

@blueace thanks annie. The conditions and lighting at 8pm on a summers evening were very good for portraits so maybe I need to challenge the camera in difficult lighting. Thanks for your observations 😀

[Hazel]

@phil_howcroft

I've never managed to use dmf with autofocus as the shutter is too sensitive for me - need some instruction!

[Phil Howcroft]

@quietpurplehaze i used focus area flexible spot haze . Focus mode was AF-A

[Beryl Lloyd]

Such a clear detailed focus , - he looks so tired -- must be all the heat we are having -- such a natural relaxed pose ! fav

[Dione Giorgio]

Richard seems to be a very versatile person with all the hobbies he has. I like this shot but I have a feeling that your DSLR shots have that something of a bit better quality. I am not an expert and I may be wrong, though.

[Alison Hewitt Bailey]

I like how you've place your friend in the frame, and his expression suggests a communication between you and him - which engages the viewer as well.
The only thing I note is a falling-off of sharpness on the right hand side of his face which I don't normally see in your other portraits taken with the person's head at this angle. Whether or not you can attribute that to the qualities of the camera or my perception, I don't know. :-)
I've pm'd you on fb, btw.

[Hazel]

@phil_howcroft

Yes, understand now - I though you meant something else - direct manual focus and eye autofocus are two facilities on the a6000 which I have never got to grips with. You might be able to tell/show me!

[Kerri]

Great portrait

[Ivan]

Classic informal portrait...fav

[Judith Johnson]

It's a great shot Phil and I like his colouring against the brick wall.

[Judith Greenwood]

I agree with @blueace - very sharp and lovely tones. I'm going to google your new camera

[Phil Howcroft]

@judithg Judith , I bought it from John Lewis , Sony are dong £50-00 cashback .... Haze and Allison both shoot with the Sony Alpha 6000 , so I am sure thay can give you a good critique on the camera. One week in it is looking good, although I have missed the focus on a couple of streeties today !!! @quietpurplehaze @allie912

[Phil Howcroft]

@busylady thanks Judith :)

@ivan many thanks Ivan :)

@kerristephens thank you kerri for your support :)

@dulciknit Thanks Alison , I don;t know if I am looking for things that aren't there, but you may be right about the little sofness. My 100 strangers are shot with a 50mm portrait lens, so maybe it is not a fair comparison. I think I may need to invest in Sony's 50mm f1.8 E mount lens !!!

@sangwann Dione, you may be right :)

@beryl many thank beryl for your kind words

[Poppy]

I can't really say if its better or worse, as I am no connoisseur of cameras (just look at me, I use an iPhone). But I wanted to comment about the composition, and that I love the brick backdrop. You would think it wouldn't work because it's nearly the same, tonally, as his flesh. But it does work. I think the converging lines of the mortar draw the eye to his face, but have the grace to fade into the background behind him. Placing him off-center strengthens this use of movement. Well done!

[Granagringa]

I think these portraits look really vibrant (I'm commenting backwards in time, so have seen you later ones before this.) I am also getting ready to buy the A6000 ...so nice to see what it can do. Although I'm not sure how easy the transition from view finder to live view is going to be....