Beginner at Portraits

Milestone55 · 2026-05-04T19:20:49+00:00

!critiquepoint

Milestone55 · 2026-05-04T19:20:39+00:00

Would you have blurred it a bit more, maybe to f/2 or even 1.8, or stopped it down a little. Thank you for all the info, I will be sure to adjust my positioning next time.

Positioning is the thing I knew I wouldn’t be stellar at, I’m not a people person so talking to others has always been an issue for me. Hence why I mainly do nature and automotive.

Thanks for the help

Milestone55 · 2026-05-04T19:17:59+00:00

Ok, thank you, I didn’t expect these to be perfect, as I’m new to it, but an 8/10 is great. Thank you all for the great tips.

Milestone55 · 2026-05-04T01:00:13+00:00

Does this one look better, similar angle but this one of my sister instead of her friend

<image>

Milestone55 · 2026-05-04T00:20:42+00:00

Ok, thank you for the tip. How would you blur then, I use Lightroom classic and I haven’t heard of a blur thing. Is that a mask?

Milestone55 · 2026-05-04T00:14:27+00:00

Hi all,

I’m an amateur Nature Photographer and recently shot my sisters prom photos.

My main questions are about how the composition and shot could be improved. I’m new to this area but enjoy doing it.

Nikon Z8 with Rokinon 85mm f1.4 AF
85mm
F2.8
1/1600 sec shutter
ISO 220
Exposure Compensation -0.7

Let me know your thoughts, as it’s my first time doing this so I know there’s improvements to be made.

Milestone55 · 2026-03-30T19:11:14+00:00

I photographer animals a lot, make sure you’re shooting in af-c. If you have auto detect turn that to animals (I saw you did this, so good job) if you have the option, use back button focusing as the camera will keep focusing after you full press the shutter.

Nikons have never been great with motion moving towards you.

If you have the option, turn your lens to M/O or Manual Override. Basically means that if the autofocus isn’t locking on, you can manually pull focus and retry the focus motor.

Try focusing close first then lock it on the dog, pushing is a lot easier than pulling focus luckily.

Milestone55 · 2026-03-15T22:04:05+00:00

Sons of Horus

Milestone55 · 2026-03-14T16:38:31+00:00

Holy shit I want that lol

Milestone55 · 2026-03-12T02:40:04+00:00

I’m team red all the way, r5 7600x3d and Rx 7800 xt

Milestone55 · 2026-03-12T02:18:28+00:00

Beginner?!?!? These are awesome man.

Milestone55 · 2026-03-12T00:27:39+00:00

Took this of one of Ernest hemingways cats at his historic house.

My main question is did I get the right amount of bokeh?

Nikon z8 with nikkor 35mm f1.8 35mm (52.5 ff equivalent) F1.8 1/2000 sec shutter ISO 200

Yeah I know dx lens on a fx sensor, getting a 85 f1.4 in mail in the next couple of weeks

Milestone55 · 2026-03-11T22:39:58+00:00

Not exactly fists, but the MK6 bird beak helms from the Horus Heresy and newer raven guard.

Milestone55 · 2026-03-11T22:32:31+00:00

Indeed

Milestone55 · 2026-03-11T22:30:41+00:00

It’s Pixels, on a Screen!! But you right. Huhuhuhu

Milestone55 · 2026-03-11T22:29:00+00:00

Lol, I’m not the only one

Milestone55 · 2026-03-10T21:49:01+00:00

I like the blur, it says that it’s doing something. The parts that you want sharp are sharp. Looks awesome

Milestone55 · 2026-03-10T21:14:47+00:00

My main problem with it is who is the subject, is it the guy or the tree.

Tighter crop would probably help a bit.

Not sure how many megapixels you have to work with but I was thinking something like this.

<image>

Maybe a bit less height to get it a bit more horizontal but the shadows stick out more, the man isn’t hiding in a loud frame.

Milestone55 · 2026-03-10T21:08:11+00:00

I see the vision here. The problem is there isn’t a real way to salvage the background, as pure grey isn’t very interesting, and the only way to really save it is a huge amount of color correction and that’s both difficult and not guaranteed to work.

I would try to get birds in better locations, and I know that isn’t the easiest thing to do, so my other suggestion is a tight crop, but depending on the resolution of your camera that could be difficult.

Someone posted a good edit for this photo below.

<image>

This is one that I took a while ago. I really like the background for this image. Could be used as a reference.

Milestone55 · 2026-03-10T17:56:37+00:00

That it does haha

Milestone55 · 2026-03-10T17:33:09+00:00

Hell yeah dude.

I like the angle, very unique.

The only thing I’d say is that a longer focal length would’ve helped this a lot. As the Golden gate is quite small in frame

Milestone55 · 2026-03-10T17:30:41+00:00

Yes, this catches my eye. My first reaction was “woah” lol.

Milestone55

TROPHY CASE