12.5% of original size
f/1.8, ISO 100, 1/50 sec.
PS-CS5 - Minimal Post-Processing (Vignette, Offset, Gamma Correction)
Niko:
12.5% of original size
f/1.8, ISO 100, 1/60 sec.
PS-CS5 - Post-Processing for selective color adjustment and and minor corrections only
Bruno:
12.5% of original size
f/1.8, ISO 100, 1/50 sec.
PS-CS5 - Minor adjustments only.
The Depth of Field (DoF) is a bit too shallow for these 3. Although it works well enough for the first two, the third one lacks a ton of detail. I probably should have settled for somewhere around f/2.5 to f/3.2 - it's shallow enough to blur the background (and it would let enough light in to work around 100-400 ISO without severely compromising the shutter speed) but wide enough for most of the subject's body to be more detailed. So, all of that to say that I'm not exactly happy with the results but they're decent enough to present and I wanted to share my learning experience with you guys.
For some reason, a lot of people are obsessed with taking photographs with the widest aperture possible but I have to say, it's not always the best option. A good portrait does not have to have the strongest blur and shallowest DoF to be good - as clearly seen in these pictures. Sometimes (a lot of times) it's actually better to have a narrow aperture value - even with portraits (eg. fashion, fine art photography); sometimes, the background details can actually complement the subject rather than stealing the attention from it.
For more on DoF:
http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html
Details on the f/stop:
http://www.uscoles.com/fstop.htm
Basics:
Click the link in my siggy
Spoiler!
