# portrait of my girlfriend - college assignment



## howdynick (Oct 28, 2010)

comments and critique? 
I wanna hear it all!


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## rocdoc (Oct 28, 2010)

I like the atmosphere with the softness and the grain, but I guess it will be very much a matter of personal taste, depending on who looks. The background is a bit distracting though.
I like it overall, nice job.


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## j-dogg (Oct 28, 2010)

35mm? you using ADOX?


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## howdynick (Oct 28, 2010)

oh yeah I meant to add what I took it with..
35mm canon ae-1 
and thank you thank you,

does anyone know the best way to get rid of grain after scanning?
...I should probably search before I ask...


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## CNCO (Oct 28, 2010)

too much going on in the background, use a shallower depth of field or a different background


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## Derrel (Oct 28, 2010)

howdynick said:


> oh yeah I meant to add what I took it with..
> 35mm canon ae-1
> and thank you thank you,
> 
> ...



Try applying a small amount of Gaussian Blur to the image to mute the grain, then apply unsharp masking to bring back sharpness.


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## IgsEMT (Oct 28, 2010)

My only c/o about this is her position of the right hand. Its too masculine and angular. Angular is good but to a degree and here angles are too sharp. Have her turn it a drop towards you/camera and not press so hard on the cheek (barely touching). I'd probably shoot this vertically also.
*Good for you for shooting film!!!*:thumbup:


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## howdynick (Oct 28, 2010)

@Darrel: ooh I'm gonna try that, thank you
@CNCO / rocdoc: Yeah I had a problem with the background too and it wouldn't have been my first choice, I never intended to develop this photo, took it more for fun and it ended up being a happy accident and one of the better ones on the roll
@IgsEMT: I never even thought about her hand like that but wow, now that you mentioned it, it kinda really annoys me haha

thank you everyone for your input


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## burgo (Oct 28, 2010)

my thoughts, not very sharp but the grainyness kinda works. I would have layered a copy that was sharper and bought her eyes out more.  I think I would crop it on her right side. The hand on the chin doesn't quite work for me because it is over exposed.  Not a bad image and a pretty girlfriend you have. Those are my thoughts. Just an opinion. Feel free to discard it if you disagree.


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## IgsEMT (Oct 28, 2010)

> @IgsEMT: I never even thought about her hand like that but wow, now that you mentioned it, it kinda really annoys me haha


There's a book out there, an old one of course from the good old traditional photography days, and I don't remember its name - lots of help i know - it teaches you how to pose arms, fingers, hands, etc etc - total amazing. I need to burrow it from a friend - knowing me I'll 4get to get to this forum, can you send me a PM or email to IgsEMT@aim.com as a reminder to look it up and get back to you (_if u want to_)


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## aadhils (Oct 29, 2010)

In the future; increasing the distance of the subject from the background makes the background more out of focus so the subject stands out more.


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## ayeelkay (Oct 29, 2010)

CNCO said:


> too much going on in the background, use a shallower depth of field or a different background


Agreed. Also looks a little grainy but that's just my opinion. Other than that I think it's a great portrait.


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## Studio7Four (Oct 29, 2010)

I love everything about this shot!  In general I tend to prefer to see the subject off center, but here her location really works for me.  I also like the background.  It's blurred enough that she stands out from it but you still have context - it's a great scene, not just a picture of a pretty girl.  _Maybe_ it's a tad overexposed, _maybe_ it's a bit grainy, but not too badly in either case and I feel it adds to the feel of the shot.  And honestly, if nobody had said anything about her hand position I wouldn't have thought twice about it (and I still don't find it that bad).


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