Critique this portrait

[makario]

Hi Everyone,

Just got a canon 50mm f1.8 lens and took a portrait of my mother in law. I have heard of issues with this lens and was giving it a test run to check it out. My first impression is that the imags are not too sharp when wide open.

The image below has been sharpened and a bit of post processing.

C&C welcome





Cheers
Mak

[Steffen]

It's pretty hard to judge sharpness at this image size, I can't see anything wrong there. However, I find that the DOF is rather on the small side. I'd stop down a little, say to f/2.8, to get both eyes in sharp focus.

Cheers
Steffen.

[Geoff]

I agree with Steffan here. The DOF (in my opinion) is too narrow. A nice pose and a keeper none the less, but I'd like to see more in focus in the face.

[makario]

Thanks for the critique... I agree.. I guess I was so excited to see an aperature less the the usual 4.5 ( this my first fast lens) that I went overboard...

The good news is that she simply loves the photo, and so does my wife... brownie points!!!! need them for my next lens (a macro this time, which would be good for portraits as well)

My MIL get doesnt like being snapped as she feels she looks "fat" in photos... but after she saw this one, I have been granted the privilige of snapping her photo anytime.. hahahaha

[Matt. K]

I am going to disagree with some of the previous posters. Firstly...the DOF is perfect for this image! A portrait does not have to be in focus from front to back and some of the worlds best portraitists use large F stops to get the same result as you have. Your image is in focus where it needs to be and it is out of focus where it needs to be. Secondly...sharpness is not an issue with this fine image. Most digital photographers oversharpen their images and they end up looking fake...and scream "DIGITAL"
Yes, we can sharpen our images digitally and so we do, and overdo. It takes a keen sense of judgement to pull that back so that the sharpness does not become a distractive element in the image. Many modern lenses are too sharp for good portraiture. Your image is a direct and honest likeness of your subject and it is a valuable image because of that. Keep posting good stuff like this.

[makario]

Thanks Matt and everyone for the words of advice. My biggest concern was the front focus/back focus issues that I have heard that this lens suffers from, hence was concerned abt the sharpness. But on reading the previous posters I agree its my choice of aperture. Will need to stop it down next time.

Hope to get more portraits done over the xmas break.

[the foto fanatic]

I too think it is an excellent portrait, and I think that because of the DOF.

Matt has already given reasons why you don't need sharpness front to back in this type of work, and I agree with him.

What you have here is a strong, interesting face with a lovely smile and a twinkle in the eye. Can't ask for much better than that.

In fact, as a further example of why a limited DOF works, I would be worried about a deeper DOF because of the area at the back of the jaw near the ear. I don't think you would need that to be in sharp focus. I could only say that maybe the point of sharpest focus could be the nearer eye - in this case it appears to be the nose.

Great photo Mak.

[PiroStitch]

great photo and looks very nice and natural