Saturday, March 14, 2009

Gumption

In my past attempts at asking permission to take a stranger's photograph I have been denied. It's happened several times and discouraged me from asking.
I'm not quite sure what got in to me today, other than 2 margaritas, but I asked two young ladies if I could take their photo. Both were very nice and agreed to. Here's what I got:

St. Patrick's Day ambition

i done it!

I'm so glad that I did this because it got me some more courage, and I noticed something.

In the first photo of the girl with the green wig, the lighting isn't the best, the sun was to her side, half of her face is slightly blown out. In the second photo she was in the shade and the lighting on her face is even.

It's something that I have read a thousand times: when taking portraits outdoors, take your subject into the shade. Now I get it.

To top it off, I almost didn't ask the girl with the puppy because she was in the shade. I'm so glad that I talked myself into it.
And yes, I do realize that the puppy is not very in focus, but I'm still proud of the image since I had the courage to ask a stranger to take their photograph. It's a big step for me, and if I continue to have this confidence it's going to gain me more experience and knowledge with portraits.

2 comments:

Cindy said...

When we were on vacation in Portland, I saw so many interesting people. I would occasionally sneak a picture, but I wish I had had the gumption to ask for better pictures.

Yeah! I left a comment on your blog!

Nataraj Hauser said...

It is a tough thing to do. However, one of the things it will teach you is to be more approachable, more confident around strangers and adept at putting them at ease. This will help dramatically if you are trying studio work. Good luck. Be gently bold!