When I met Rob he was at the top of a ladder repairing the guttering on the church extension, so I was careful not to startle him!
It did seem a bit like taking advantage but Rob was OK being asked for a photo. I took a couple while he was still up the ladder and a few more when he was on firm ground. Rob tells me that he spends most of his time working: he has his own carpentry business. When he has leisure time he likes listening to live music, mostly in coffee shops.
For this shot I asked Rob to stand in front of some trees in the churchyard and a learning point for me is that I feel I've got a bit too much bright-sky-bokeh in the background. (I had an attempt to clone it out but it didn't work too well!)
I recon you had a soft spot for Rob and this is a lovely capture. Going by the pencil behind the ear he must be a carpenter. I'm giving Rob a FAV for the smile.
Yes I like this one Hazel......a very good portrait of Rob & I'm sure he will like this. I can see what you mean about the light but I only really noticed it because you mentioned it....I don't know how you remedy that....don't worry about it!
Good portrait. Very natural , I like the pencil behind the ear. ( Maybe you should decrease your aperture , looking at your exif f/1.8, if you are not at ease with the light. But since I don't know about your light conditions , this is just a suggestion. Since I'm only an amateur this is what I'd try.
Thanks Karin and that's something I can consider although I do like the dof with that wide aperture. I think I should have chosen the background more carefully.
@quietpurplehaze That seems a good plan, I often end up with shots I don't like because I forget about the fact that the camera sees different things than the eye does and hence my background is not very balanced. Doing portraits this seems to be a very important thing to consider, but you ask strangers to take their photo and this often implies that the shot s taken just at the place you meet them, so its hard to arrange backgrounds. I like your series very much and your portraits are very natural and authentic
Ferry, my camera is almost permanently on my preferred setting on the portrait lens now!!!! Didn't see the detail in the background until I loaded it to the computer - lesson for next time!
The little things make the shot Hazel, the pencil behind the ear tells us he is a workman. You got some nice catch lights in the eye, I think catch lights are important in portraits (although not mandatory by any means). In fact some photographers in camera clubs have been known to try and edit them in (cheating) !! As for the white blob, we can sometimes be too critical, you are in the 'field' photographing rather than the studio, so you cannot quite control your backgrounds. You could tone the blob down, rather than clone it out . I think the feel of a street portrait is much better than the clinical feeling that studio shots give
Phil, thanks for feedback - learning all the time. I nearly cloned out the pencil but Ray said not to! Found some info about shooting under trees/light etc on the Flickr project afterwards.
September 24th, 2015
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Thanks Karin and that's something I can consider although I do like the dof with that wide aperture. I think I should have chosen the background more carefully.
Ferry, my camera is almost permanently on my preferred setting on the portrait lens now!!!! Didn't see the detail in the background until I loaded it to the computer - lesson for next time!
Phil, thanks for feedback - learning all the time. I nearly cloned out the pencil but Ray said not to! Found some info about shooting under trees/light etc on the Flickr project afterwards.