cgardner
Offline
Image Upload: Off
|
 p.1 #4 · 3 Seniors . . . Same locale | |
sboerup wrote:
Tell me how I fared, thanks.
1
Facial angle isn't precise with an odd bit of ear hanging out on the left obscuring the oblique profile.
Glasses have slipped down the nose covering the eyes a bit.
Crossed lighting is creating dark stripe down center of nose. Our brains normally associate lighter = higher and darker = lower so it looks a bit odd and draws attention to the nose. Right side of face hidden in shadows looks different from left - lack of symmetry due to the lighting pattern.
The arms hanging out in the foreground pull the eye down and off the face.
The background, particularly the post on the left, is distracting.
2
Facial angle isn't precise with an odd bit of ear hanging out on the left obscuring the oblique profile. Full face with both ears appearing to be same size would be more flattering. Higher camera positionwould have been more flattering, nose-wise
Glasses have slipped down the nose covering the eyes.
Nice short lighting pattern on the face.
Nice relaxed pose, but moving the front leg position to the left at bit would have eliminated the view of the crotch.
Dark gap on left is distraction which could be cropped out.
3
Nice lighting overall, but on closer inspection the nose is casting a nasty sideways shadow.
There's more background than seems really necessary for context. Houses on the right are a distraction.
Low camera position is cutting off the bottom of the feet and club.
When posing legs if you position the front leg in line with the back one relative to the camera you can get the same relaxed posture without the distracting gap between the legs.
4
Nose shadow hanging sideways, dark line on the right side of face, resulting from the crossed lighting pattern.
Could he spread his knees apart any further? And if you didn't notice his crotch because of that the hand over it casting the shadow will catch the eye...
Higher angle wouldn't have cut off feet or club.
5
Hair is shading right eye a bit but other than that lighting is quite flattering.
Nice pose and setting, however the slumped over posture makes her look tired rather than relaxed. A more upright, straight back would be more flattering. Since most of the leg is shown, cropping off the feet may cause them to be missed.
Cropping tighter and moving her face up in the frame would improve composition. The tree in the background to the right would provide a nice frame if you crop to eliminate the gap the the right of it. The color contrast of the sky is a distraction. Cropping lower on top to eliminated it would improve the overall balance nicely created between the bright pants and the flowers behind and to the left.
6
This is a very skewed and lopsided view of her face I don't find to be very flattering
7
The red couch was a good strategy to deal with the clothing but the pose is slumped over, looking more tired than relaxed. The feet cut are off the head is at an odd angle to the shoulders and the arm on the right is forming a stiff looking right angle.
The facial view and overall lighting is flattering, but hair is casting a distracting shadow and the kicker light is spilling past the side of the head and spotlighting the shadow side of the nose drawing unnecessary attention to it.
8
I find this to be the most flattering view of her overall. Artificially tilting the horizon has turned a very flattering reclining pose (with a straight back finally) into a bolt upright one. If you rotate the crop so the pole is vertical and crop in on the left to eliminate all of the foreleg you cut in half when shooting is will be be a more effective composition.
9
Nice relax pose and arm / hand position but the eye line is horizontal and static rather than angled in the direction of the shoulder line. A subtle but more flattering difference.
The facial angle is what a balanced full face pose should look like to flatter a person- symmetrical with both ears appearing to be he same size (whether the really are or not). But then why split the face in half with the lighting pattern and make it look asymmetrical again?
The odd bit of pants showing on the bottom is a distraction pulling the eye down which would not be missed if cropped out.
10
A very nicely pose, but you really should pay attention to facial angles and ears hanging out past the profile. Finding the most flattering camera angle is the foundation for a flattering portrait. Note how much more balanced and symmetrical the face looks in #11 where a more precise oblique angle was captured.
A tighter crop with less foreground and space to the left to go explore along the leading line would be more effective. Something similar in crop to #12.
11
Overall the best combination of pose, facial angle and lighting so far. As noted above the precise oblique angle, combined with short lighting make a face look as slim as it every will and very symmetrical if just the front "mask" of the face is highlighted. If you let the key light wrap past the eye on the near side the symmetrical look is diminished. You also want to keep the near side ear in shadow so as not to draw attention to it.
Here while much better than other oblique views you've still got an odd bit of the ear and cheek on the left hanging out and the ear on the right hanging out past the head. If you had simply moved your camera position an inch or two two the right the profile on the right would have been clean, the shape of the cheekbone better reveals and the ear on the right would appear in front of the head behind it, not hanging out in space where it attracts attention. Moving the camera an inch in an oblique pose can change the appearance of the face by a mile.
12
Nicely posed and composed overall. The dark nose shadow is very dark and unflattering due to a lack of fill. The light from the left side is being shaded by the left side of his face. Fill needs to be in front of the face (i.e. over the camera) to avoid nasty shadows like that.
To avoid a distracting nose shadow try this: Place your key light so the shadow from the nose models its shape naturally, not hanging out and creating a distraction. Add neutral fill from over the camera to lift the shadows evenly to the point where the camera sensor can record detail in the darkest shadows, then "sculpt" the shadows by feathering the fill, adding reflectors, or accent lights.
It is easier to find the most flattering angle of a person's face before shooting when you are not so focused on things like keeping the eyes in focus. Look at the face profile-to-profile and your eye will tell you which is most flattering. A square, nose forward, ear same size, full face view will quickly reveal any asymmetry you might need to mask with the angle / lighting strategy. Looking at both oblique views will reveal which is the most flattering when facing the camera. Looking at the nose from eye level, above and below will reveal the most flattering camera height.
If you have a clear mental picture of all of those things BEFORE starting shooting the percentage of flattering poses without the minor distractions like nostrils and bits of ear hanging out go way up because you will be more attuned to spot and eliminate them subconsciously when shooting. Its bit like golf. You go to the range to groove your swing path, so when you are standing on the course over the ball you don't need to think about your swing path, it just happens correctly subconsciously to cause the ball to fly to the target you've visualized.
Its not about RULES, it is about goals: finding the combination of angle and lighting pattern which meets the goal of flattering the subject as much as their face combined with your skill will allow. I see this stuff because: 1) I was trained to spot those things by a critique of every single shot I took as a pro, and 2) I've been training my eye ever since.
Edited by cgardner on Mar 27, 2008 at 02:52 AM GMT
Edited on Mar 26, 2008 at 09:52 PM
|
