Portraits are not necessarily new territory for anyone who has used a camera, but taking good portraits is new to me! It is really fun playing around with portrait composition and balancing candid and posed shots. I found that if you pose someone and then they do something on their own to vary the pose, your collaboration creates some of the best photographs. That happened in the Individual – Head and Shoulders portrait as well as the Group Posed Portrait.
Individual-Side Composition
“Favourite Things” – 50mm; f/2.8; 1/4 sec; ISO 400; Tripod
Individual – Head and Shoulders
“Look Up” – 50mm; f/1.8; 1/30 sec; ISO 100
Individual – Full Body Shot
“Belle” – 50mm; f/1.8; 1/25 sec; ISO 100
Group Activity
“Sushi Go” – 34mm; f/10; 1/10 sec; ISO 1600; Tripod
Group Posed
“Who doesn’t want a pug?” – 50mm; f/2.8; 1/13 sec; ISO 400; Tripod
Individual Environmental
“Natural Habitat” – 42mm; f/8; 1/25 sec; ISO 400
Photo Enhancements
There are some pretty neat photo enhancements available to us through Photoshop. The first photo is a blemish removal enhancement. I had to create two image layer copies to edit colour and detail independently. This allowed me to edit out freckles and even skin tones on her face in a more controlled way.
Blemish Enhancement
“Books are Serious” – 50mm; f/1.8; 1/25 sec; ISO 100
Colour matching allowed me to take the cooler image and warm it up in the same way the source photo was. The automatic application of the lighting match was off so I had to adjust the sliders to take some of the light out so the she wasn’t over-exposed.
Colour Match
“Warm coco in the Park” – 50mm; f/2.8; 1/4 sec; ISO 400; Tripod
Changing the colour of an item of clothing is really neat! I never knew I could do this so easily in photoshop. This is a great tool to help an outfit go a little better together or become more interesting. It was fun to find a colour she was already wearing to change the colour of her cardigan.
Colour Change
“New Cardigan” – 50mm; f/1.8; 1/25 sec; ISO 100
Ben Designing 
You did an awesome job, Ben! I love the pictures in the library with the shallow depth of field. The bookshelves create an interesting background. I also love the colors with your wife holding the mug. The composition is well done in all of your images!
Check out my blog at https://naomisweetblog.wordpress.com/2016/10/26/portraits-enhancements/
and Emren’s blog at https://efogleblog.wordpress.com/2016/10/26/portraits-and-enhancements/
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Ben, I thought you did a great job of capturing your pictures. I loved the detail I was able to see in each picture. I loved the side composition one where you can see the lights in the background but she is clear. I also liked the enhancements you were able to put on your pictures to make them look like that’s how you took them. Nice work! Check out this blog: https://efogleblog.wordpress.com/2016/10/26/portraits-and-enhancements/
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Hey Ben, I think you did a great job! These look great. I love the creativity in the shorts! I especially like the second image you did. I think you would like Haley’s pictures! Check them out. https://haleyjayphotography.wordpress.com/2016/10/25/portraits/
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