[anyscreenamewilldo]

[quote name='Pinhole' timestamp='1300414155' post='6921']

Noooo!

Don't start your portrait odyssey by messing around with any of those 'instant portrait' filters/plugins for the computer.

I feel you should start with the basics about lighting first -

[/quote]



hellooo ph,

i hope you are not referring to my magnificent effort in extracting beautiful pictures from these tiny files??



. . . . but yes, agree with everything you say about the shoot and the lighting - a most important attribute, and being nice to the subject, setting the scene et al -



but post has it's place also i hope - and i'm not sure a nice picture has always to be just a photograph . . .



and, fun filters are fun to have a look at too on the journey to the better picture (i'd never thought about straightening faces before) . . . especially when the advertisement is inserted here . . . click . . . click . . .







ps. - to state the obvious - ms sexy teeny/20 something; mr & mrs 30-40yo; character lined old fogey; would all possibly like to see something different in a portrait - and tennis court lighting might not always be the answer -



+ your/my? d40(etc.) with a kit lens might not, at a distance, give the skin texture you might like, even though making a nice smooth picture : -)