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Archive 2016 · Naomi in the Orchard

KaBudokan
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Naomi in the Orchard

There's an apple orchard near my house that sits up on a hill, and when I discovered it a few years ago I knew it would be a good spot for portraits. Each Spring since then, I've driven past the orchard every week or so to see if the trees were blooming. They only bloom for about a week, and when they would finally bloom, I was never able to set up a portrait during that window of time.

This year it worked out, as my sister-in-law asked me to do some portraits of her daughter, my niece Naomi, since she was tired of the "standard" dance photos she gets through Naomi's dance studio. The timing corresponded with the brief window of the bloom. I'm not sure if they're not quite fully blooming yet, or if the strange weather this year caused a less "full" bloom (this seems to be the case with a few trees in our yard). They're not quite as full as in a few years past. I'll probably do another drive by this week to see if they're any more full.

We went out there on Sunday night about an hour before sunset. These were all done with a Rovelight shooting into a 60" Softlighter. Overall I'm happy with the lighting. A while back I saw a post on here where someone used the sun as a backlight, and then basically put the flash opposite the sun; the advice given in that post, which I took to heart, was to place the light on the same side as the sun, so it seems to just wrap around.

CC welcome - there are some things I see in the pictures that I would change, but I'll hold off to see if anyone else points out the same things.

FWIW, both mother and daughter were thrilled with the pictures.

Ballerina in the Orchard by Alex K, on Flickr

2

Ballerina in the Orchard - 2 by Alex K, on Flickr

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Naomi in the Orchard - 1 by Alex K, on Flickr

4

Naomi in the Orchard - 2 by Alex K, on Flickr

Edited on Apr 27, 2016 at 08:55 PM · View previous versions

Apr 27, 2016 at 10:57 AM

Brev00
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Naomi in the Orchard

Excellent set! Thanks for sharing. #1 is stellar. Great shallow dof. Love the way the greens work with her reds. Beautiful bokeh. Beautiful dress, terrific pose and expression. #2, perhaps because it is placed after #1, seems, well, mild--but still very well done. In #3, I am not so crazy about the in focus bud right next to her face. It draws the eye especially since much of her face is so soft. I have mixed feelings about #4. Fantastic pose and expression. Excellent natural quality. Whether it is the background, itself, or the desaturation but something feels a little off. Maybe if she were further from the trees. I would like to see the two in color if that is possible.

Apr 27, 2016 at 11:26 AM

KaBudokan
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Naomi in the Orchard

Brev00 wrote:
Excellent set! Thanks for sharing. #1 is stellar. Great shallow dof. Love the way the greens work with her reds. Beautiful bokeh. Beautiful dress, terrific pose and expression. #2, perhaps because it is placed after #1, seems, well, mild--but still very well done. In #3, I am not so crazy about the in focus bud right next to her face. It draws the eye especially since much of her face is so soft. I have mixed feelings about #4. Fantastic pose and expression. Excellent natural quality. Whether it is the background, itself, or the desaturation but something feels a little...Show more →

Thanks so much for the feedback! All valid points.

I can get color versions of 2 + 4 later when I'm home.

I liked #2 a lot, but agree it doesn't jump off the "page" - probably my favorite after #1, which I think is the standout of the whole session. Might be worth seeing the color edit - I think I liked the softness of this particular image in B&W, but the color may be worth saving.

#3 - I agree about the bud next to her face - I've been torn about it. Maybe I'll try to get rid of it and see how it looks. Should have seen that one when shooting, but I like the rest of it. There were a few other similar shots in that same setting, so I'll need to see if I think a different one works better.

#4 - I'll take a look to revisit the edit on this one. I edited this at the end of a late-night editing session, and was looking to get through it quickly, so it is probably worth doing again with a fresh set of eyes. Sitting on the stump was a last-minute idea as we were packing up to head out, so we did a bunch of shots in a hurry there.

Again - thanks much for the feedback - it's always helpful!!!

Apr 27, 2016 at 12:00 PM

Vcook
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Naomi in the Orchard

They're all good. #1 is spectacular. I wish I could lop off that one branch that is in focus in #1, it doesn't change the fact that the picture is excellent but I wish it wasn't there.

Apr 27, 2016 at 12:23 PM

Steve Wylie
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Naomi in the Orchard

They're all good. #1 is spectacular. I wish I could lop off that one branch that is in focus in #1, it doesn't change the fact that the picture is excellent but I wish it wasn't there.

Me, too. That would be my only nit. I recently did a portrait setting near a tree where this same issue occurred. Didn't notice it during the shoot; wish I had. In your case, although the wide perspective is nice, I don't think the image would suffer by simply cropping the branch out, and an equal amount on the other side. It's still a very strong image.

Apr 27, 2016 at 12:52 PM

KristinSmall
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Naomi in the Orchard

These are lovely! What a great setting and I'm glad you got that window of time. My feedback:

1. I wish we could see a little of her feet, but otherwise, my favorite of the group. (Maybe straighten the horizon a tad.)

2. I like this, but would up the contrast or add more black (watching for blown spots on the skirt.) Looks like nice focus.

3. The color is a bit rich, due to the sun, I assume. A bit warm. Not sure I like the crop and agree that the flower doesn't add anything.

4. I do not like tinted B&W, but that's a personal choice. My least favorite, due to the pose.

Nicely done and I'm sure a treasure for them.

Apr 27, 2016 at 01:08 PM

KaBudokan
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Naomi in the Orchard

Thanks. The branch was my big issue with #1. I may spend a little time with it to see if I can clone it out effectively. Not sure there's quite enough to work with to do it seamlessly with the left side. I did add a bit of the light coming in from the right side in post - the original had more even exposure on both sides, so if I pull the original in, I think I may be able to clone it out.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

Edited on Apr 27, 2016 at 01:45 PM · View previous versions

Apr 27, 2016 at 01:15 PM

KaBudokan
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Naomi in the Orchard

KristinSmall wrote:
These are lovely! What a great setting and I'm glad you got that window of time. My feedback:

1. I wish we could see a little of her feet, but otherwise, my favorite of the group. (Maybe straighten the horizon a tad.)

2. I like this, but would up the contrast or add more black (watching for blown spots on the skirt.) Looks like nice focus.

3. The color is a bit rich, due to the sun, I assume. A bit warm. Not sure I like the crop and agree that the flower doesn't add anything.

4. I do not like tinted B&W, but...Show more →

Thanks for the detailed response!

#1 - I'll double check in the uncropped version, but I think the horizon is actually straight. There was a slight grade in the grass in front of her, so either that's straight or the horizon is, but not both.

#2 - Thanks. I'll probably walk away for a few days and then look on with fresh eyes to see if I want a different edit.

#3 - There are several similar shots from this session of our shoot, and I keep going back and forth between which ones I like. This one was my SIL's favorite, so I just threw that one in here. The more I look, the more I like some of the others better... lol

#4 - I usually don't tint the B&W too much, but felt good for this pose. I'll revisit again as well. I like her expression a lot, but the pose on the stump felt a bit awkward to me while shooting and still does. Maybe I'll just crop super tight (chest-level up) and tell her not to print bigger than 4x6.

Thanks again!

Apr 27, 2016 at 01:44 PM

KaBudokan
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Naomi in the Orchard

So... I wasn't really thinking, and I replaced the #1 w/ an edited version where I removed the branch on the left. (I meant to keep the original and just place an updated edit in the thread.)

Anyway - I think the edit works and looks natural.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll revisit some of the other edits later, as well as post the color versions as requested.

Apr 27, 2016 at 08:57 PM

Brev00
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Naomi in the Orchard

If you could repost your original, I would appreciate it. I really liked it so would like to be able to compare (I didn't mind the branch).

Apr 27, 2016 at 10:32 PM

ucphotog
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Naomi in the Orchard

I think all of the pictures are lovely, but only the last one really makes any use of having an orchard full of flowers. I'm certainly not saying you should not have taken these shots, they are well worth your effort and I like them, but based on the last shot, I was wondering some potential was missed?

Dave

Apr 28, 2016 at 12:17 AM

bbourizk
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Naomi in the Orchard

1 is just lovely isn't it...I think they all need to be in color.

Apr 28, 2016 at 06:47 AM

KaBudokan
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Naomi in the Orchard

Brev00 wrote:
If you could repost your original, I would appreciate it. I really liked it so would like to be able to compare (I didn't mind the branch).

I'll get the original back up later today.

---------------------------------------------

ucphotog wrote:
I think all of the pictures are lovely, but only the last one really makes any use of having an orchard full of flowers. I'm certainly not saying you should not have taken these shots, they are well worth your effort and I like them, but based on the last shot, I was wondering some potential was missed?

Dave

I had a few others that showed a bit more of the whole environment. Honestly, in hindsight (I knew it as soon as reviewing the pictures) - what happened was... I very recently upgraded to the Nikon 70-200 VRII from an earlier Sigma version I had for a while. The Sigma always left me feeling sad and lonely and disappointed (

), so since getting the Nikon, I've been having a little love affair with it. I shot almost this whole session with it, which is something I wouldn't have done before getting this lens. Just couldn't put it down. I should have taken more wide shots - I really only have a few from this session. You're right about missing some potential.

---------------------------------------------

bbourizk wrote:
1 is just lovely isn't it...I think they all need to be in color.

Thanks so much! I may revisit the edits in a few days. I put some B&W in for variety in the set, but I'm not sure it's needed or helpful because of the bountiful colors present in the orchard.

Thanks again for all the feedback! I really appreciate it.

Apr 28, 2016 at 07:38 AM

saaketham
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Naomi in the Orchard

Loved #1

Apr 28, 2016 at 11:26 AM

01Ryan10
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Naomi in the Orchard

#1 is so fantastic. I'm going to nitpick, just to give you something to think about, and it's probably my own personal preference. If you could of put a little more fill on the right side of her face, then the pic would be a 9.9 to me (perfection can never be achieved). As is, it's a 9.8.

Apr 28, 2016 at 02:57 PM

KaBudokan
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Naomi in the Orchard

Brev00 - Here's the original:

Naomi_Orchard--4 by Alex K, on Flickr

Apr 28, 2016 at 08:58 PM

Brev00
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Naomi in the Orchard

Thanks! My review remains the same. I prefer it to the edit.

Apr 28, 2016 at 09:21 PM

KaBudokan
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Naomi in the Orchard

Brev00 wrote:
Thanks! My review remains the same. I prefer it to the edit.

Interesting. I'll have to get some more feedback. I think I prefer it without, but I don't hate it with the branch in. I think the fact that I question it makes me want to remove it. lol

Apr 28, 2016 at 11:22 PM


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