Getting the hang of the XP1

[texchappy]

Had a blast shooting my new Fuji X Pro 1 and I think I'm finally getting pretty consistent keepers out of it. I like this one but please tell me what you think of it...


DSCF0397 by Texchappy, on Flickr

 

[daves]

Nice colours, difficult to tell the sharpness at this size, could do with being a bit higher exposed or, probably better yet, a little Lightroom work done on his face as the backlight is strong and he's quite a bit more dimly lit. As a portrait, though, I'm not so sure. I think it's a bit strange. He doesn't look terribly comfortable. It's an interesting tension although I'm not sure it was what you were aiming for. What's the story behind this picture? Also, is that a bit of a car I can see peeking out behind the flag? Although the bokeh is pretty strong it doesn't obscure that there appear to be things in the frame that you'd probably prefer weren't. I'd personally have gone for more flag as backdrop and tried to use that to block other things if it were possible

 

[texchappy]

Thanks for the input. Probably is a car; this was shot on my front porch and the flag is flying from a pole mounted at an angle from one of the porch columns. The expression is the one he wanted (don't ask me why). Had the 60mm cranked all the way up so getting the flag at just the right place in the wind was the only chance I had. As far as exposing the left side of the face; I'm trying to figure out how I could have done that better. Ideas?

 

[willie_901]

Viveza 2 would let you selectively alter the exposure of the left side of his face. This could also be done with LR, PSE and of course PS. Viveza is just much easier to use and faster.

A raw image would provide more information which would increase your ability to make exposure adjustments.

I find the X-Pro 1 raw files to be very flexible when it comes to highlight recovery. So next time try increasing the exposure and recover the highlights selectively. In fact for this photo I would have selectively reduced the exposure of the background and then selectively lifted the exposure of the underexposed regions.

 

[texchappy]

I did download the trial of LR4.1 and found that I could do a lot with it. Going to start shooting raw again that I have a way of getting it in and adjusted easily. I'll save up for the Nik software as it seems to give a lot of flexibility.

Thanks,
Tony

 

[Jamie Pillers]

Thanks for the input. Probably is a car; this was shot on my front porch and the flag is flying from a pole mounted at an angle from one of the porch columns. The expression is the one he wanted (don't ask me why). Had the 60mm cranked all the way up so getting the flag at just the right place in the wind was the only chance I had. As far as exposing the left side of the face; I'm trying to figure out how I could have done that better. Ideas?

Thanks for posting the XP1 images; much appreciated. Regarding exposure adjustments, I use Aperture 3 on my Mac and it includes exposure adjustment 'brushes' that allow you to selectively change exposure (or other adjustments like contrast, sharpness, etc.) in areas of your choice.

 

[Kent]

That Fuji is an amazing camera. Capable of producing fantastic images!
The only draw-back is the rather sluggish AF and the "fly-by-wire" feeling of MF.

 

[clicker]

I totally agree with Kent. The Fuji Pro like all cameras has it's strong and weak points, but overall a very fine camera that is capable of producing extremely sharp images.

 

[texchappy]

Played in lightroom a bit and came up with this...

DSCF0397.jpg by Texchappy, on Flickr

PP is definitely not my strong suit; been avoiding doing much at all for the last decade since I got my first digital to be honest.

 

[jonasv]

Hi Texchappy, the LR work may be a bit too strong for my taste, although his face certainly does 'pop' out of the picture more.

With all the technical/software comments above, I'd just like to say the light is the most important thing for such portraits. Shooting against the light and then correcting afterwards will never work as well as having the light work for you in the first place. A porch is an ideal place because you have a lot of light coming from outside, but due to the reflections, still enough fill from the other side. But then you'd have to use another angle.

Just my .02 - I enjoyed looking at the photo. But with all the technical possibilities it's sometimes good to remember the basics!

 

[daves]

Lightroom is way nicer and more natural in classic darkroom terms than Viveza. You can also apply effects a lot more precisely and do more to an image from one platform, rather than jumping around between different programs and plugins. The Lightroom-adjusted shot is now way too saturated on the side of the face that you've dodged (lightened). When you play with images like this you need to compensate for the work you're doing on it in terms of saturation, clarity etc. Basically the best advice is to look at the way the light falls and make your effect natural as possible. Don't make something totally bright if it isn't, just use these tools to punch up what's there and remember that a little goes a very long way. Really backlit portraits are difficult to get right unless you really play with blowing out backlight or use lighting. For me, as this is a posed shot, not spontaneous, I'd have sat him somewhere else entirely, or changed his orientation in that scene. That way you can use that light that's there effectively, rather than fight against it in camera and post. And as for the car and stuff, one of the best bits of photographic advice I was ever given was to compose from the back of the image. Look at what's behind first, then you'll improve what's at the front. The great thing is that this works always, and gives you interestingly layered action shots and clean portraits.

 

[texchappy]

Thanks for all the input again guys. Taking it all in and trying to get in my brain. Struggled with pictures on that porch since I started taking a lot of photos again a month or so again.

 

[texchappy]

Here's the original OOC.


DSCF0397 by Texchappy, on Flickr

Actually didn't do any dodge or burn in the second version above, just playing with various sliders.

 

[willie_901]

Tex,

Just keep experimenting and practicing. People didn't learn how to make great prints in the wet darkroom overnight either.

 

[texchappy]

I'm going to concentrate on (1) getting it right with the lighting in the first place and (2) working with RAW to give myself more room to work with.

 

[faris]

Hi Tony..

Enjoyed looking at the portrait. An amateur's pov..if I shoot in a dark room,
should all things be equally bright; or even visible? I start my work from that perspective. Work on what is the most important thing to you in the image. Let others fall where they may.

That is my initial attempt on any work. Not much advice but that's just my way of working. I usually blow out the highlights, and my dark shadows are left dark. I did not see anything there!

Best regards.

 

[texchappy]

Thanks for the kind words Faris. I'm beginning to think I do better with film...


051_20 by Texchappy, on Flickr
from my almost 40 year old F2 and 105/2.5


009_9A by Texchappy, on Flickr
and from my very first few shots from an even older Zorki with my iPhone as the light meter with a free app.

 

[faris]

Tony, just enjoy what you do. You handled film; digital ain't rocket science..
just made to appear as such😀

Best.

 

[gavinlg]

The original you posted is the best - don't listen to everyone saying it's too dark. The most important thing is it looks natural. Raise the exposure too much on the face and it looks unnatural. Colors and stuff look good.

 

[daves]

The original you posted is the best - don't listen to everyone saying it's too dark. The most important thing is it looks natural. Raise the exposure too much on the face and it looks unnatural. Colors and stuff look good.

If the original shot was taken in a different environment with that amount of light on the face it would still be a bit dark, but it would be better. Don't get me wrong, I love shadow in portraits. You can use them really effectively with a bit of practice and luck. Here's one of mine that's actually way darker in the shadow areas than the original image.

That was shot with environmental light only in a not entirely different situation (large indoor space with a load of stuff going on behind, and actually quite a lot of strong light that I couldn't use - it's not the best one of the set but those are being published shortly so I don't want to put them on the internet). It's pretty dark in places, but it works, largely because the subject is isolated and there aren't any competing elements in the image.

The reason the face looks too dark in TexChappy's shot is that the light isn't managed as well as it could be. There's a really strong backlight that 1) draws your eye away from the subject and 2) makes you think "Why didn't he put him somewhere brighter, if there was all that sun available?" Also, what light there is is very flat. There's no pop even to the brighter part of the face, probably, again, down to the backlight. These things are all useful to think about when you're shooting portraits - which is one of the hardest things in photography to do well, the easiest to do badly and also one of the easiest things to improve rapidly, if you ask me.

The camera is certainly doing its job and from what I can see here is well up to the job of taking nice, sharp pictures with lovely tones. But taking good pictures has absolutely nothing to do with what camera you're using, how good it is, whether it uses film or digital or anything else. It has to do with the way you look at things and how you work with/make use of your environment.

Texchappy, don't think in terms of being better with film or worse with digital. Just treat digital like film ie view your Raw file as a digital equivalent of a negative that you can work with to make the print you want, but try to get the image as close to perfect as you can in camera in the first place. Most of all enjoy shooting and do it a lot. A good digital camera is great for that: it allows you to shoot as many "rolls" as you like and to experiment to your heart's content with no film costs or developing time. That means you can experiment and play around with ideas, which will really benefit your work in the long run.