stefankarakolev

I'm just a princess waiting for my fairytale ending

"and they lived happily ever after..."

"and they lived happily ever after..."
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NIKON D5100

settings

Aperture f/2.8 ISO 100 Shutter 1/160

upload_date

Feb, 2014

Views

134

Likes

Awards

Cool Capture

Superb Composition

Absolute Masterpiece

Behind The Lens

Location

I took this portrait of a friend of mine in a beautiful park in Varna, Bulgaria. It's a huge park along the sea side with lots of alleys and it's full of life - people everywhere.

Time

The photo was taken about 3:30 PM, it was quite hot and we were hiding in the shade of some big trees.

Lighting

The light of the sun was so harsh, it was impossible to shoot in the sun, so I used the soft light in the shade.

Equipment

I used just my Nikon D5100 and a manual focus Samyang 85/1.4 @ f2.8 lens, no other fancy stuff.

Inspiration

I love taking portraits, especially of friends of mine, because they feel much more relaxed and comfy and all that shows on the pictures. My favorite is shooting on a green background , for example in parks - this way the subject separated well from the background and usually the surroundings are not so distracting.

Editing

I did some post-processing with Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop to add some contrast and bring up the colors, as they look a bit dull and flat when shooing in the shade.

In my camera bag

I always bring with me some telephoto lens, because I just love taking portraits. My all time favorite is my Samyang 85/1.4 - it's sooo sharp from f2.2 and above. It's even sharper than some 50mm and 85mm of Nikon I've tried and it's a fraction of their price. And the manual focus is so smooth, precise and easy with AF confirmation on Nikon bodies. I have switched to FX and bought also Tamron 70-200/2.8 VC, but all these are really not needed for one beautiful portrait. Just a cheap body and 85mm will do the job.

Feedback

Portraits are about making the viewer feel something, make them leave different after viewing your photo - happy, sad, depressed, inspired, etc... In my opinion, the subject should be separated from the background, maybe with the help of different lighting with reflector, flash, plain white board, the model wearing clothes with colors different from the background... to make that subject pop in the picture. An advise for all beginner portrait shooters - stay away from the sun. Clouds and shade are your best friends, because they work as a softbox. Then you need some face and/or body expression showing what you want to tell. And finally, shoot what you love - this makes you and your fans all happy!

See more amazing photos, follow stefankarakolev

stefankarakolev

stefankarakolev

I'm just a princess waiting for my fairytale ending

"and they lived happily ever after..."

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow stefankarakolev

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