C&C street portrait

[Lightning12]

Hi there.. it's been 1 month since i bought my Fuji XE1 with kit lens. I am complete newbie..so be kind please

The shot has been processed with Capture One ...i downloaded the trial version today and i don't find it user-friendly at all (for a newbie) but i understand that it's a powerful tool after you get used to it.

any advice and critic is appreciated..!

 

[ryan2007]

Hi there.. it's been 1 month since i bought my Fuji XE1 with kit lens. I am complete newbie..so be kind please

The shot has been processed with Capture One ...i downloaded the trial version today and i don't find it user-friendly at all (for a newbie) but i understand that it's a powerful tool after you get used to it.

any advice and critic is appreciated..!

I would leave more head room. If you take a shot like this that is print worthy if you make an enlargement the head will be cut off the larger the size and the way this is framed.

As far as B&W check out the Topaz Labs plug ins. B&W is one and you do need a host program like photoshop. I think PS elements still works, I use a full version of PS mostly.

If you want to shoot B&W in camera I like these settings for people as a starting point.

Green filter

highlight +1

Saturation -1

sharpness +1

I like to follow the Fuji film simulation for B&W as if it was film. Green for people, Red for landscapes not flesh tones. Yellow is a middle of the road. You can use the same method as if you were shooting film with B&W film and had to use filters, Orange, Red, Green, Yellow and variations of that. Just google search it and it may help.

I only shoot JPEG's and i recently posted some images I shot both ways.

 

[Charles2]

Nice shot overall. Previous comment about unfortunate framing at top is correct -- with a zoom lens, it is easy to get too close to the subject. In post processing you could darken, or darken a little more than than you did, the bright area at the upper left.

A very minor point: check where your focus point was. Was it the eyes or the white hair?

 

[vajrasattva]

Hey this guy is interesting and I can see exactly why you made the shot. Another +1 for the head room. If I was taking his Pi true I would have added more in the left side of the frame (if open space) as I want to know what was holding his attention. But one of the interesting with photography is we all have very different ideas and viewpoints. That make it all the more interesting.

keep enjoying your gear and making greate images. Oh by the way, I wanted to try Capture One but struggled to even get images loaded. Gave up.

 

[Lightning12]

Thanks for the advices!! The picture i posted was already cropped in C1

Here is the original picture:

 

[guitarjeff]

For me I would rather he not have zoomed out. I forget his name but on Youtube there is a famous face-shot pro guy using medium format and he pretty much always cuts off the top of the head because he would rather get close in and intimate with the character of the face, and I prefer that. I have no problem just imagining what the rest of the top of his head looks like, and I wuldn't want to sacrifice the intimate face being close in to actually see it.

Now, I realize this isn't a straight on facial shot, but for me the decision is still with the more important intimacy in the lines on his face and the expression. Just my opinion, and that's what makes photography an art in my book.

I just looked on YT to see if I cold fine this video again, but man oh man are there a ton of headshot vids. Just scrolling through the vids you can see many examples of headshots where the top of the head is left for the imagination making the face, expression, skin lines and character the most intimate it can be. That video made a big impact on me and I wsh I could find it again. He started out with a dslr, one of the medium format companies GAVE HIM a medium format body and he fell in love with it. He is also known for his ability to catch people in natural smiles and laghter and such. Oh, and he went on and on about some new tripod he had gotten and how he loved it. Hoe someone knows who I am talking about, I would love to watch that vid again.

Love your pic, great character in his face. I would love to play around in Silver Effects pro with that shot, but once I get started toying with that and Color EP I can't leave well enough alone and start going crazy with them, they are just fun to toy with maybe to a fault.

 

[iamthenewguy]

I forget his name but on Youtube there is a famous face-shot pro guy using medium format and he pretty much always cuts off the top of the head because he would rather get close in and intimate with the character of the face, and I prefer that. I have no problem just imagining what the rest of the top of his head looks like, and I wuldn't want to sacrifice the intimate face being close in to actually see it.

Peter Hurley. Here's a pretty good video from him on YouTube if you are into portraiture.

 

[guitarjeff]

Wow, that's him. Thanks so much. I saw him and didn't recognize him but as soon as he started talking I knew it was him. And even more cool is that he is an X100S user, a Fuji X shooter, very cool.

He seems like such a nice guy, like he would be fun to work with and learn from. This is not the video I had seen before because that was before the X100s had come out, but he still hit on many of the same things. I know that he made a huge impression on me and I still try to do the things I heard him talking about then. I have to go check out his site and just order a dvd maybe.

Thanks again.

 

[MacroFuji]

The update crop with more head room is better. Now he is centre for frame. I would prefer to see more space to the left i.e. where he is looking. If there, increase the room on the left and crop in a bit on the right.

 

[Lightning12]

Thanks for all the useful advices .. I cropped the picture in that way because I wanted the attention on the subject's face .

 

[iamthenewguy]

Thanks for all the useful advices .. I cropped the picture in that way because I wanted the attention on the subject's face .

I like the cropped version.

 

[Marco Cinnirella]

Hey this guy is interesting and I can see exactly why you made the shot. Another +1 for the head room. If I was taking his Pi true I would have added more in the left side of the frame (if open space) as I want to know what was holding his attention. But one of the interesting with photography is we all have very different ideas and viewpoints. That make it all the more interesting.

keep enjoying your gear and making greate images. Oh by the way, I wanted to try Capture One but struggled to even get images loaded. Gave up.