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#1
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Help! Attractive girlfriend looks awful in photos - tips needed!!
Thellers wrote:
Does anyone have any tips? Should I try to stick to lighting my girlfriend from the front? Are there 'standard' techniques for this kind of thing? Any general advice / tips would be really appreciated, because it really hurts to not have any nice photos of my girlfriend! As you indicate, avoid top light. To shorten a long nose, photograph from a slightly lower viewpoint (or have subject tilt head back slightly) and/or direct light from below lens. Generally, soft, non-directional light will give you good results. Non-directional = on or near camera. Soft = big. This is an easy type of lighting and requires little skill. It is safe but boring. Since you haven't a lot of photographic background, your on camera flash will probably be best. If you want to try other things, look for something like a wall being hit by a sunbeam, put it at your back and let it illuminate GF. Same can be done with a concrete walk or drive...let it illuminate GF who is preferably otherwise in shade. -- dadiOH _____________________________ dadiOH's dandies v3.0... ....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico ____________________________ |
#3
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Help! Attractive girlfriend looks awful in photos - tips needed!!
As you've learned the hard way: photographing people is not easy.
Some tips: === Pay attention to the light & what's is doing to your subject. The best times to photograph people is very early or very late in the day, when the sun is low. Further, direct sunlight is often harsh -- I prefer to work on overcast days. === Try making pictures indoors. The best thing would be to put your girlfriend near a window -- got any windows that face north? Let her be lit by the window & position yourself along the wall. === Or if you are outdoors, look for a light colored wall, and position your girlfriend so that she is lit by lighting bouncing off of the wall. === This is my personal preference: I like seeing pictures of people who are engaged in conversation with the photographer; conversely I dislike pictures of people who are just sitting there while they are being photographed. Talk with your model, get them to talk with you, catch an animated expression on their face. === It's a good idea to get your subject to do something. Put something in their hands. Best of luck. looknsee http://www.looknseephoto.com On 19 Jul 2004 01:23:46 -0700, (Thellers) wrote: Hi, First, let me apologise for the fact that this question is very 'amateur' in nature. I don't know an awful lot about photography, but am willing to find out more. This problem does, however, relate to photography, so I think this is the best place to ask. I need some advice on photographing my girlfriend. She just returned from a 2-week holiday to Greece and came back with a large number of photos. Neither she nor any of her friends are experienced photographers. Neither am I, although I probably know a touch more than they do and have a slightly better camera (still only a Digital Ixus 430 - a good camera but by no means 'professional' in standard). She is a pretty girl: short, curvy with dark blond hair and a nice smile. However, the problem - and it really is starting to cause me some serious personal distress - is that my she almost always tends to look awful in photographs. She has quite deep-set eyes and curvy cheeks, and her nose is quite long and thin. I think, then, that the problem is in photos that are naturally lit (i.e. from above) she tends to get very unattractive shadows around her eyes, under her nose and under her cheeks. These exaggerate her facial features and make her look fat and ugly. I can honestly say she looks almost unrecognisable in photos... they REALLY don't do her any justice! A couple of other horrid photos were taken by a friend who was in a squatted position, looking up at my girlfriend in a group. This made her look bottom-heavy and really overweight. This is obviously one angle to avoid. The one pleasing photo I found was taken from the front, lit by flash, and has my girlfriend leaning forward over a (seated) friend's shoulder. This setup gets rid of the ugly shadows and actually looks like how my girlfriend looks 'in real life', if that makes sense. It is this that has made me think that the answer lies with lighting and angles. Does anyone have any tips? Should I try to stick to lighting my girlfriend from the front? Are there 'standard' techniques for this kind of thing? Any general advice / tips would be really appreciated, because it really hurts to not have any nice photos of my girlfriend! |
#4
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Help! Attractive girlfriend looks awful in photos - tips needed!!
"Thellers" wrote in message om... Hi, First, let me apologise for the fact that this question is very 'amateur' in nature. I don't know an awful lot about photography, but am willing to find out more. This problem does, however, relate to photography, so I think this is the best place to ask. I need some advice on photographing my girlfriend. She just returned from a 2-week holiday to Greece and came back with a large number of photos. Neither she nor any of her friends are experienced photographers. Neither am I, although I probably know a touch more than they do and have a slightly better camera (still only a Digital Ixus 430 - a good camera but by no means 'professional' in standard). She is a pretty girl: short, curvy with dark blond hair and a nice smile. However, the problem - and it really is starting to cause me some serious personal distress - is that my she almost always tends to look awful in photographs. She has quite deep-set eyes and curvy cheeks, and her nose is quite long and thin. I think, then, that the problem is in photos that are naturally lit (i.e. from above) she tends to get very unattractive shadows around her eyes, under her nose and under her cheeks. These exaggerate her facial features and make her look fat and ugly. I can honestly say she looks almost unrecognisable in photos... they REALLY don't do her any justice! A couple of other horrid photos were taken by a friend who was in a squatted position, looking up at my girlfriend in a group. This made her look bottom-heavy and really overweight. This is obviously one angle to avoid. The one pleasing photo I found was taken from the front, lit by flash, and has my girlfriend leaning forward over a (seated) friend's shoulder. This setup gets rid of the ugly shadows and actually looks like how my girlfriend looks 'in real life', if that makes sense. It is this that has made me think that the answer lies with lighting and angles. Does anyone have any tips? Should I try to stick to lighting my girlfriend from the front? Are there 'standard' techniques for this kind of thing? Any general advice / tips would be really appreciated, because it really hurts to not have any nice photos of my girlfriend! My 'standard' technique for holiday photos in to have the sun behind the subject and use flash. Bit tricky getting the balance right tho. http://www.backfire.co.uk/yaritza/ywS.jpg Don't forget, the camera always make people look fatter, that's why top models are skinny. H. |
#5
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Help! Attractive girlfriend looks awful in photos - tips needed!!
"Thellers" wrote in message om... Hi, First, let me apologise for the fact that this question is very 'amateur' in nature. I don't know an awful lot about photography, but am willing to find out more. This problem does, however, relate to photography, so I think this is the best place to ask. I need some advice on photographing my girlfriend. She just returned from a 2-week holiday to Greece and came back with a large number of photos. Neither she nor any of her friends are experienced photographers. Neither am I, although I probably know a touch more than they do and have a slightly better camera (still only a Digital Ixus 430 - a good camera but by no means 'professional' in standard). She is a pretty girl: short, curvy with dark blond hair and a nice smile. However, the problem - and it really is starting to cause me some serious personal distress - is that my she almost always tends to look awful in photographs. She has quite deep-set eyes and curvy cheeks, and her nose is quite long and thin. I think, then, that the problem is in photos that are naturally lit (i.e. from above) she tends to get very unattractive shadows around her eyes, under her nose and under her cheeks. These exaggerate her facial features and make her look fat and ugly. I can honestly say she looks almost unrecognisable in photos... they REALLY don't do her any justice! A couple of other horrid photos were taken by a friend who was in a squatted position, looking up at my girlfriend in a group. This made her look bottom-heavy and really overweight. This is obviously one angle to avoid. The one pleasing photo I found was taken from the front, lit by flash, and has my girlfriend leaning forward over a (seated) friend's shoulder. This setup gets rid of the ugly shadows and actually looks like how my girlfriend looks 'in real life', if that makes sense. It is this that has made me think that the answer lies with lighting and angles. Does anyone have any tips? Should I try to stick to lighting my girlfriend from the front? Are there 'standard' techniques for this kind of thing? Any general advice / tips would be really appreciated, because it really hurts to not have any nice photos of my girlfriend! My 'standard' technique for holiday photos in to have the sun behind the subject and use flash. Bit tricky getting the balance right tho. http://www.backfire.co.uk/yaritza/ywS.jpg Don't forget, the camera always make people look fatter, that's why top models are skinny. H. |
#6
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Help! Attractive girlfriend looks awful in photos - tips needed!!
" howard" wrote in message ... "Thellers" wrote in message om... Hi, First, let me apologise for the fact that this question is very 'amateur' in nature. I don't know an awful lot about photography, but am willing to find out more. This problem does, however, relate to photography, so I think this is the best place to ask. I need some advice on photographing my girlfriend. She just returned from a 2-week holiday to Greece and came back with a large number of photos. Neither she nor any of her friends are experienced photographers. Neither am I, although I probably know a touch more than they do and have a slightly better camera (still only a Digital Ixus 430 - a good camera but by no means 'professional' in standard). She is a pretty girl: short, curvy with dark blond hair and a nice smile. However, the problem - and it really is starting to cause me some serious personal distress - is that my she almost always tends to look awful in photographs. She has quite deep-set eyes and curvy cheeks, and her nose is quite long and thin. I think, then, that the problem is in photos that are naturally lit (i.e. from above) she tends to get very unattractive shadows around her eyes, under her nose and under her cheeks. These exaggerate her facial features and make her look fat and ugly. I can honestly say she looks almost unrecognisable in photos... they REALLY don't do her any justice! A couple of other horrid photos were taken by a friend who was in a squatted position, looking up at my girlfriend in a group. This made her look bottom-heavy and really overweight. This is obviously one angle to avoid. The one pleasing photo I found was taken from the front, lit by flash, and has my girlfriend leaning forward over a (seated) friend's shoulder. This setup gets rid of the ugly shadows and actually looks like how my girlfriend looks 'in real life', if that makes sense. It is this that has made me think that the answer lies with lighting and angles. Does anyone have any tips? Should I try to stick to lighting my girlfriend from the front? Are there 'standard' techniques for this kind of thing? Any general advice / tips would be really appreciated, because it really hurts to not have any nice photos of my girlfriend! My 'standard' technique for holiday photos in to have the sun behind the subject and use flash. Bit tricky getting the balance right tho. http://www.backfire.co.uk/yaritza/ywS.jpg Don't forget, the camera always make people look fatter, that's why top models are skinny. H. ridiculous joel. |
#7
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Help! Attractive girlfriend looks awful in photos - tips needed!!
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#8
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Help! Attractive girlfriend looks awful in photos - tips needed!!
"kungfufrijters" wrote in message . .. " howard" wrote in message ... "Thellers" wrote in message om... Hi, First, let me apologise for the fact that this question is very 'amateur' in nature. I don't know an awful lot about photography, but am willing to find out more. This problem does, however, relate to photography, so I think this is the best place to ask. I need some advice on photographing my girlfriend. She just returned from a 2-week holiday to Greece and came back with a large number of photos. Neither she nor any of her friends are experienced photographers. Neither am I, although I probably know a touch more than they do and have a slightly better camera (still only a Digital Ixus 430 - a good camera but by no means 'professional' in standard). She is a pretty girl: short, curvy with dark blond hair and a nice smile. However, the problem - and it really is starting to cause me some serious personal distress - is that my she almost always tends to look awful in photographs. She has quite deep-set eyes and curvy cheeks, and her nose is quite long and thin. I think, then, that the problem is in photos that are naturally lit (i.e. from above) she tends to get very unattractive shadows around her eyes, under her nose and under her cheeks. These exaggerate her facial features and make her look fat and ugly. I can honestly say she looks almost unrecognisable in photos... they REALLY don't do her any justice! A couple of other horrid photos were taken by a friend who was in a squatted position, looking up at my girlfriend in a group. This made her look bottom-heavy and really overweight. This is obviously one angle to avoid. The one pleasing photo I found was taken from the front, lit by flash, and has my girlfriend leaning forward over a (seated) friend's shoulder. This setup gets rid of the ugly shadows and actually looks like how my girlfriend looks 'in real life', if that makes sense. It is this that has made me think that the answer lies with lighting and angles. Does anyone have any tips? Should I try to stick to lighting my girlfriend from the front? Are there 'standard' techniques for this kind of thing? Any general advice / tips would be really appreciated, because it really hurts to not have any nice photos of my girlfriend! My 'standard' technique for holiday photos in to have the sun behind the subject and use flash. Bit tricky getting the balance right tho. http://www.backfire.co.uk/yaritza/ywS.jpg Don't forget, the camera always make people look fatter, that's why top models are skinny. H. ridiculous What is ? |
#9
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Help! Attractive girlfriend looks awful in photos - tips needed!!
In article , Marc 182 wrote:
If you've got the time and interest to pose photos you can do all sorts of things with reflectors, white cardboard or foam core, bouncing sunlight from the side or even below. Also seek out open shade or wait for a cloud to cover the sun. Another thing Marc left out in his excelent post is to use a long i.e. telephoto lens. A wide angle or normal lens accenuates the deep featuers, a long lens "compressess" them. Please post a link to examples when you have some success. Geoff. -- Geoffrey S. Mendelson, C.T.O. GW&T Ltd., Jerusalem Israel IL Voice: 972-544-608-069 IL Fax: 972-2-648-1443 U.S. Voice: 1-215-821-1838 |
#10
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Help! Attractive girlfriend looks awful in photos - tips needed!!
howard wrote:
"dadiOH" wrote in message ... howard wrote: What is ? What you wrote. This...... Don't forget, the camera always make people look fatter, that's why top models are skinny. Right....is it ridiculous because I wrote it, or ridiculous because it's true ? Ahhh, I know , I should have said 'professional models', any better No, because most of the really skinny models are mannequins - they never see a camera except casually from a runway. They are skinny - as I understand it - because the clothing displays better. -- dadiOH _____________________________ dadiOH's dandies v3.0... ....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico ____________________________ |
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