More portrait/model shots...

[24Peter]

All taken with my XT and Canon 85 1.8 or 135 SF. See the whole gallery here: http://imageevent.com/24peter/pierrecantu

http://photos.imageevent.com/24peter/pierrecantu/large/IMG_7416.JPG

http://photos.imageevent.com/24peter/pierrecantu/large/IMG_7195.JPG

http://photos.imageevent.com/24peter/pierrecantu/large/IMG_7267.JPG

http://photos.imageevent.com/24peter/pierrecantu/large/IMG_7287.JPG

http://photos.imageevent.com/24peter/pierrecantu/large/IMG_7368.JPG

http://photos.imageevent.com/24peter/pierrecantu/large/IMG_7430.JPG

[Vich]

All taken with my XT and Canon 85 1.8 or 135 SF. See the whole gallery here: http://imageevent.com/24peter/pierrecantu

Thanks for sharing. Great angles and poses.

[aparmley]

Another real strong set Peter - The only thing I can comment on is the hot spots on the face in 1 and 5 - but thats nit picking - your churning out some great environmental portraits.

[24Peter]

Thanks guys.

The only thing I can comment on is the hot spots on the face in 1 and 5

It was tough to get good shots that evening. We shot pretty late in the day b/t 4-6PM. The sun hadn't gone completely down but we get what is known as the "marine layer" here in Southern California sometimes. It's a bank of low clouds - not really fog but not regular clouds either. In any event, it really cut back my light and the camera struggled with exposure and more importantly, noise. I was still trying to use the flash as fill so most of the exposures were pretty low light and very noisy. In the few shots where the sun did break through, I got those hot spots. I think this was b/c he was wearing a dark suit/shirt which really messes with the camera's autoexposure. If you look at the EXIF data on the gallery you'll see for the shots with the dark suit & shirt I had set the exposure compensation to -2/3 and still got some hot spots b/c of the difference in EV of his face and clothing.

[aparmley]

In the few shots where the sun did break through, I got those hot spots. I think this was b/c he was wearing a dark suit/shirt which really messes with the camera's autoexposure.

I hear that. I struggled with this when shooting my friends wedding, Nice black tux, bright white shirt and tie paired with the brides white dress, most of the shots the dress was borderline blown out, but his shirt and tie were gone they appeared as one, couldn't make the tie out in most of them! LOL - It makes for very tricky metering. Good job though.

[cdifoto]

Hmmm..not sure how I missed this one...


Nice shots again Pete. I agree on the hotspots being the only real quibble...but that guy didn't exactly cooperate on his choice of warddrobe. On the plus side he wasn't a penguin...at least he had some sort of color to his skin! :eek:

Have you ever tried manual mode in those situations by metering for the skin, then metering for the black suit, then using a shutter speed about half way in the middle or slightly faster to favor the skin just a little?

Example: if the suit wants 1/50th, and the skin wants 1/200th, use 1/125th or so.

Just a thought.

[24Peter]

Thanks aparmely and CDI for your positive and supportive feedback. You're good guys. :)
The metering issue is tricky. Truth is, we were so pressed for time I was glad just to get some shots in focus! I'm testing out the 5D this weekend to see if (besides the whole full frame sensor thing) it has any better dynamic range. To me, more than megapixels, resolution, speed, etc, that is the holy grail of digital photography - handling contrasts in light and dark parts of the same image better than we currently have. Fuji, for instance, has been approaching this problem by having pixels of different light sensitivities on the same chip. Until companies can really improve dynamic range, IMO digital will stay second best to what can be achieved with film. (Of course digital has many advantages over film, but dynamic range isn't one of them.)

[cwphoto]

Pete, is it just me or is there just a little bit of softness in some of these images?

[cdifoto]

Pete, is it just me or is there just a little bit of softness in some of these images?

He mentioned that he was using his 135 SF (Soft Focus) lens....so that might be the case if SF was turned on.

[24Peter]

Pete, is it just me or is there just a little bit of softness in some of these images?
They're not soft in terms of focus (even though I use the 135SF I don't like the soft focus setting). They're soft due to a high amount of noise. They were much lower light shots than they appear and there was a ton of digital noise (another reason I'm interested in the 5D). These were definitely the noiseiest (sp) photos I've taken with my XT due to the low light. So, processing them in the computer reduced the noise but there was also a problem with sharpness as a result. Sharpening them didn't help - in fact it made the problem worse in some cases.