2012-08-17 - People Competition
"Jen Smiles"
Category: Non-Studio
Contest Score: 24/27 - Third Place
Print medium: Matte paper
Print Size: ??
Location: In the shade on a sunny day
Story behind the photo: Needed a model for my first people competition, and asked a good friend!
Camera gear:
- Canon Digital Rebel XTi
- Canon 50mm f/1.8
- Handheld
- Natural lighting
Photo Specs:
Raw Image > saved as Tif
Focal Length: 50mm
Exposure: +1
Aperture: f/2.0
Shutter Speeds: 1/500
ISO: 100
Software used:
- Photoshop
Lessons learned:
- Friends make great models when trying to learn.
- If it's a sunny day, take photos in the shadows... Direct light on portions of the face will blow out details.
- Some sort of highlight in the eyes from a light source will prevent the look of "Dead eyes".
"Hey Big Fella"
Category: Studio
Contest Score: 20/27 - Didn't place
Print medium: Matte Paper
Print Size: 11x17
Location: Jen's basement
Story behind the photo: Jen had a really cool sign that once said "Barber", her husband cut the sign in half to only read as "Bar"! Along with that, she had a mannequin's head and some army fatigues from her husbands visit to Afghanistan, so I put the two together to make a weird scene... I love the absurd, and that was my aim for this portion of the shoot...
Camera gear:
- Canon Digital Rebel XTi
- Tamron 18-200mm telephoto lens
- Tripod
- Softbox for lighting
Photo Specs:
Raw Image > Converted to JPEG for print
Focal Length: 35mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter Speed: 2 seconds
ISO: 100
Software used:
- Photoshop
Lessons learned:
- It helps to know optimal camera settings, which I didn't at the time of the shoot. Things would have been easier with a higher ISO given the low light conditions of the basement.
- You can use a light inside a softbox as a make-shift diffused light source. Studio lights are better, but sometimes you have to make due...
- I should have used Camera Raw to even out the colors between the fake man and my model.
Final Thoughts:
Learn your camera by taking tons of shots... you'll only get better by knowing your gear! One thing to aid in that is to search Youtube or Linda.com for tutorials specific to your camera gear.
