jaysnave Loc: Central Ohio

Hi all,

I recently discovered this section when Captain mentioned over in the people section that things were quiet here. I checked it out and found some of the masters here like Ed, Captain (Cliff), and BK (Bob)! I enjoyed reading the recent challenge from GrandmaG with Christmas lighting and Ed's excellent advise. I could have used it a couple of weeks ago as I did an in home holiday family shoot. My solution was to use a typical portrait exposure for the subject(s) and drop exposure in post on the lights. I look forward to shutter dragging next time.

Anyway, I thought I would post this pic and ask the group advise on the tilt. I could easily straighten the image and this tilt was not intentional (laying on the floor), but I kind of like it. It adds some dynamics to the picture. What do you think?

(Download)

berchman Loc: South Central PA

It doesn't work for me because it looks as though the kid is in danger of sliding down to his right.

jaysnave Loc: Central Ohio

Fair enough. Not sure if it works for me either. The proper term is Dutch Angle and has been used in various photographic styles. A family photographer in this area uses it quite often and her clients seem to like it. Sometimes in photography it is difficult to predict the impact to our senses from an image. It used to be against the rules to cut the top off of a subjects head. At least we made fun of Grandma for it. Now it is ok if done correctly because it draws attention to the face.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Tilting an image,i n camera or in post processing is often a nice effect. If done carefully and subtly a tilt can ad a dynamic line or a bit of animation to a portrait image.

The trick is to not inclide a noticeable horizontal or vertical reference in the image that would create the impression that there is a diagonal horizon, a vertical line or structure that is tilting over or that someone is sliding in or out of the frame. The incline of the tilt needs to be slight.

So- I did one of my quick and dirty edits on your image. I added some background area and tilted the image, not to straighten it out but to slightly tilt the subject in the opposite direction. There is no vertical reference in the tree and a sleight diagonal movement in the tree should not distract or become obvious. The method works best with scrambled, out of focus, mottled or random "bokeh" backgrounds.

Nice kid and dog shot- Makes for a great Christmas card. Best of the season.

jaysnave Loc: Central Ohio

Ed, great analysis as usual. That down and dirty edit of yours is amazing. What tool did you use to tilt Justin's head and body like that? Puppet warp? Select him on another layer and tilt?

Thank you for the compliment. I credit the capture of the dog's eyes to my AD600 Pro we were talking about over in the wedding section. Almost zero recycle time.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Thanks Jay!

I just cloned the background to create more space and rotated the image slightly. A bit burning in i to create a vignette. I am not in my office today so I am working off my Android phone. There's an app called Snapseed- fun to use on the road when I have no access to PhotoShop.

Thanks again for vising this section. Seems there is not very much interest around here in portraiture. Well- at least it's peaceful- we don't get many trolls!

DickC Loc: NE Washington state

I like this better!!

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

Well, shoot. I lost my wonderful, and well thought out reply. Kidding, it wasn't any better than what I'm about to try again.

Of course, Ed covered it well and I do agree that the edit is better, but what I wanted to say is that the look in the eyes of the dog just make this photo for me, and no matter how it is cropped, straightened, etc. It is a winner in my book. If anything, I might even dodge him a bit to draw more attention to him. Just my 2 cents. Often the technical aspects can take second place to the "story", and this dog's look really tells the story with "his" boy.

jaysnave Loc: Central Ohio

You have a good eye my friend. We get lost in the technicals/photography guidelines and get distracted from what really makes a good image. I was doing this family shoot when the dog and kid just kind of ended up in the same place. It became obvious that this was going to be a "moment" so adjusted my light, got low and started firing away. Not sure what caused the look from Gus (dog) but got lucky and caught it!

FYI, my dropping to the ground and writhing around is what caused the "tilt" in the first place.

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

I'm sure if I dropped to the floor, the awful noises coming out of me (watch it... I mean grunting, not "deeper" sounds) would probably have gotten a response as well.

LOL

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Dogs know who loves them!

Here's more dodging.👍😉

(Download)

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

Oh Yeah, that's the ticket!