Karmazyniello and Montecarlo,

I've really been enjoying your photos, so thanks for taking the time to offer some C&C here.

On the B/W, Vic is right, I think: forget the b/w conversion altogether on this one. The light there is fine as it is, and was the main reason I thought it would be a good place to take the photos. Obviously, doing a proper mono conversion is on my (long!) list of things to learn.

Karmazyniello, when you say upright, do you mean as in the photo should be portrait (rather than landscape) in orientation? - because your image (which I like!) is also a landscape in orientation. ...

If you were shooting the same guy in the same setting, how would you compose it? I'm a pupil at your feet!

Thanks for the feedback so far, Beakynet and Vic. Is it worth the effort to do a proper B/W conversion at all?

Wonderful! The light draws our attention to her gaze. Your photo a credit to the sculptor.

At my "local" yesterday afternoon. C & C on pose, composition, etc, great appreciated!

All with M 50 1.4, the first two at f4, the third at about f2. Shot in RAW, converted in Silkypix, and a quick mono conversion in iPhoto for the last one. Available light from shuttered window, handheld.









Cheers!

Thanks to you both for the feedback!

Don, I had a wedding photographer tell me recently that she works in just the opposite way - starting with the largest group of people, so that the "wanderers" don't have to be repeatedly rounded up. But I like your approach of having a candid waiting area - I bet many of your gems have come from this time.

Brian, the links are indeed helpful - thanks!

One thing that I'm trying to do is to think about the characteristic gestures, expressions, environments, etc, of people I hope to photograph. Then when the opportunity presents itself, I am asking them to do something that they are already familiar/comfortable with, and hopefully end up with an image that really represents who they are.

Any further tips on informal and available light portraits?

Great band photos, but what catches my eye is the second photo of the guy on the mobile. Composition is brilliant: juxtaposing modern and traditional ways of life (cell phone in context of "old world" houses), the group and the individual, two different ways of communicating and being community, and the movement of the mobile-user away from community into the right of the frame - the future. The questions it raises, for me: where are we headed? and what are we leaving behind?

Thank you for the image - and the questions it raises!

Perhaps this sounds familiar to many of you: as you become known as an enthusiastic amateur photog in your circle of friends, you are occasionally approached to take informal portraits. Or perhaps, like me, you have a few "real characters" in your life, and you'd like to take some informal shots that capture something of them.

Most of the time, I find myself working with:
- available light (rather than a studio set up or flashguns)
- one, or two lenses at most
- available patience, if you know what I mean

So, my question: can you suggest some general poses, angles, or other tips, that you can recommend, so that the short window of opportunity isn't frittered away?

Gorgeous colors and details, John! I like how the stem almost fades at the bottom.

Is it just my bleary eyes tonight, or is there some kind of silhouette at the tips of some of the petals (about 3 and 4, and 8 and 9 o'clock, if the flower were a clockface)?

Cheers!

Martin, I must have been composing my first response at the same time as you!

I obviously don't understand colour management yet, but am willing to learn and do the work.

From what I can gather from regular posters on the forum, many of us are using something like SP and PSE rather than CS2/3 - but hopefully we're not at a complete loss!

Martin and Matt,

Thanks to both of you for taking the time to give such full responses. I suspect that colour management is an issue for lots of us on the forum.

Matt, I'm going to have to read and re-read your post a little more carefully (you've got a great way of explaining these technical issues!) after work tonight to see how much of it I "get".

Any ideas about how to go about this with PS Elements 6?

And other than working in Adobe RGB, are there any implications for working in Silkypix?

Thanks!