These are nice, I'm surprised there hasn't been more discussion.
I like the way you used the sun for your hair light in the first group. For the second group, it would have been nice to have another OCF set up as a hair light. Notice how there's not much separation between her hair and the background. I would have also liked to have seen a little reflector fill to reduce the lighting ratio a smidge. Finally, experiment with raising your softbox a little higher. Move the catchlight from 3 o'clock to 2 o'clock and get a closer to a loop pattern.
I would have liked to see her eyes looking off camera in some in some of the photos. One thing to be aware of is that looking out of the corner of the eyes will occasionally result in too much white on one side and no white on the other, which can look a little weird. Not to say that these photos are bad, but just something to be aware of.
story_teller wrote:
I would have liked to see her eyes looking off camera in some in some of the photos. One thing to be aware of is that looking out of the corner of the eyes will occasionally result in too much white on one side and no white on the other, which can look a little weird. Not to say that these photos are bad, but just something to be aware of.
Nice job!
There’s an old pro trick to get your subject to”almost” look at the camera. Less whites, but they look like they are looking at the camera.
I've become much less critical with time and am much more accepting of images in general. So, I'll let others offer their detailed critiques. I for one like each and every shot here. If I had to nit pick, I'd agree that there isn't enough separation on a couple of shots toward the end...but it ain't no deal breaker for me.
Looks like you took a lot of shots and I'm sure there must be several more to choose from.
Heh Matt! I just saw your thread. I am not close to being a good portrait shooter so my comments come as an observer.
I do not find much conflicting, if at all, in the images. She is a beautiful young woman who is made for the camera. Lighting for portrait shooting is becoming an art. There are many fine portrait members here and I am sure all will chime in.
Shooting from 1 side and frontal does have its challenges. I think you did extremely well here. There is a very small nit for me in that some of her skin tone on face and arms flask with her midriff. But not anything terrible.
Let's see more please!
Dan
PS Evan Baines is a master of portrait shooting here. Seek out his input.
