Candid shots for C&C

[Mike-PDX]

OK, so Ejones asked for portrait postings.

Shots of people are something I tend to avoid because I'm just not comfortable doing them. The closest I come to shooting portraits would be candid shots. So here are four I took of some school children performing a dance in Costa Rica. I would welcome some serious C&C and ideas about how I could improve.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike-pdx/8625085777/]

[/url]
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike-pdx/8625085777/]San Carlos-4[/url] by http://www.flickr.com/people/mike-pdx/]Mike-PDX[/url], on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike-pdx/8626193012/]

[/url]
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike-pdx/8626193012/]San Carlos-5[/url] by http://www.flickr.com/people/mike-pdx/]Mike-PDX[/url], on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike-pdx/8625087037/]

[/url]
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike-pdx/8625087037/]San Carlos-6[/url] by http://www.flickr.com/people/mike-pdx/]Mike-PDX[/url], on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike-pdx/8626195518/]

[/url]
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike-pdx/8626195518/]San Carlos-9[/url] by http://www.flickr.com/people/mike-pdx/]Mike-PDX[/url], on Flickr

 

[ejones]

#1 & 2 show some nice action. I realize travel candids can be difficult and I suspect you used an auto exposure. The girl in the #1 looks to be having fun. The subjects are a tad under exposed from the metering picking up the light background. Open in photo shop, duplicate the layer, change mode to screen and adjust opacity down some. Then mask out the background to darken it back to the original exposure. You said edits are OK so I've attached the quick rework I just did.

At the time of shooting you should have looked at the background and seeing that it is lighter than what is inside where you are shooting so go manual and open up the exposure.

The last one just needs the same adjustment.

 

[Mike-PDX]

Thanks,
E. I like what you did. I'll give it a try, although it's a little
trickier in Lightroom than in Photoshop. I noticed that these shots look
darker when viewed on a white background like this forum than they do in
Lightroom's gray background.

I cropped these fairly tight to minimize some of the background clutter and
emphasize the kids. Does that seem like the best approach for situations
like this?

 

[photographmemories]

I noticed that these shots look
darker when viewed on a white background like this forum than they do in
Lightroom's gray background.

This reminds me, Is there a way to view pictures in this forum on a black background?

 

[ejones]

The black vs. light background is simply an optical illusion in relationship to the correct exposure - over/under exposed is just that regardless of the color of the background

You can check your exposure by selecting the eye dropper tool. Then move it around over the light areas of the skin and the green value should be in the 250 range but none of the RGB values should be over 253'ish. Anything at 256 is a blown highlight. Of course you do need to take skin tone into consideration so this is a thinking photographers tool/method. I don't have light room but suspect you have a way to view the RGB values and have an eye dropper tool there.

There's a dozen ways to adjust exposure so LR must have a few as well.

Yes, cropping to minimize the clutter and maximize the subject is the way to go. However, if that "clutter" helps tell or is part of the story then consider keeping it. For example a tattoo artist shot in their work place with tons of samples of their work on the walls helps tell the story - in other words the environment is part of the portrait. A bunch of bags, purses, lunches, shoes, people, etc. in the background of kids doing cultural dancing is clutter and needs to be minimized or totally eliminated.

 

[Mike-PDX]

I agree about the optical illusion. These do look good printed as-is, though. Yes there are plenty of tools to adjust exposure in different ways, but selectively darkening the bright background in Lightroom is tricky. That's what I was referring to.