My good friend's lovely daughter stood in for a few portrait shots over the weekend. She has done some pageants and may want to do some modeling down the road (she's about 5'10"). I'm trying to practice with lighting and postprocessing, so I was glad to have a willing subject. The shots out of camera were a bit hot and needed some white balance / color correction. Some of it is purely stylistic. I'd appreciate any constructive criticism from you talented folks.
"GP" I will comment as a viewer only. I am not well versed in the art of portrait shooting.
As a viewer I find the facial tones a bit off. The glare from the lights is distracting to me. I would like to see her smile a bit. Now the white blouse/shirt seems to be fine, exposure wise.
Don't feel I am "slamming" your image. I am not. This is coming from a "viewer" versus a portrait photographer.
If the comments help, fine. If not...don't hate me!
Dan
The skin tones don't look as overdone on my phone for whatever reason, and I kind of had that medium in mind when I edited the picture. She's quite tan, so I played it up a bit. But your opinion is definitely valid (and matches that of my wife, so I'm outnumbered). This pose/expression is also a little more "glam." Some of the others that I'm working on look a little more girl-next-door (including several where she's flashing a nice smile), and I'm keeping those a bit more natural.
Another posted commented via PM about the slightly dilated pupils, and I agree that it's one of the weaknesses of the photo. Next time I'll try to get some more ambient light on my subject to try to correct that in the moment. In the mean time I might experiment with expanding the iris in post.
This is all a "learning experience" "GP". Especially for me. I think portrait photography is "THE" hardest medium to get right.
Yes the pupils are usually mentioned in most requests for comments but as a viewer I did not even notice nor consider that constructive suggestion.
Depending on your audience that may not even be a factor.
Well done and looking forward to more!
Dan
Skintones look fine to me. I think people are too used to seeing heavily retouched images where the skintone is made uniform in post, and don’t realize that in real life skintones have a huge amount of variation across an individual - in this case amplified by the fact that the subject is fair skinned and has gotten some sun.
My only advice would be to think more about what types of images potential clients would want to hire her to produce for modeling gigs. She has a clean “Gap” look to her, so I’d play around with more up beat mood and lighting. Adding more lights for fill and rim/hair will also help clean up the skintone variations across her face
Lighting is a bit of the "deer in the headlight" variant in this sample. More light sources, with a hierarchy, should improve the image. I concur with proam that it is important to have lighting, mimic, hairstyle, clothing etc. targeted to a specific purpose or intented overall impression. For example, I would consider the black & white "background" too formal for her natural/athletic character in the photo, and would use a more structured non-black background.
Reflections off the skin need to be retouched. (Next time perhaps she should wash her face prior to taking the images, or she should try some foundation make-up that will prevent glare off her skin.)
Her hair is a mess.
From the catch lights in her eyes it appears you are using a single light source and maybe one reflector. Probably need to look into more reflectors or additional secondary lights. Composition looks a little too tight to me. I would probably remove the necklace too, as it appears to be a rather inexpensive piece. I think it's a decent initial effort. I hope you get to work with her more and post some updates.
Thank you all for the excellent feedback. I don't disagree with anything that's been said.
This was an an 8:15 PM text of, "Hey, do you want to stop by with your daughter and I'll take some test headshots?" kind of thing, so prep was minimal on both of our ends. We've already made tentative plans to do another shoot of some 3/4 length shots and her wearing a few different outfits. There are at least a dozen little clothing boutiques within walking distance from us (college town), so I'm going to try to make these next shots reflect that style and market.
I did have the opportunity earlier this week to shoot another group of friends' kids. I thought this one below turned out pretty well. I missed my lighting angle a little bit because we were being informal, swapping kids around, and the variations in height threw me off a bit. I ended up having to lighten her hair in post to help correct it. In this case I did sort of a clamshell lighting setup, but the bottom light is a little hot relative to the top one. I think this was more to do with the position of the top light.
I did utilize the trick of briefly blinding her with a flashlight to help contract the pupils. It definitely made a difference. Please feel free to offer any comments or criticism.
GroovinPickle wrote:
Thank you all for the excellent feedback. I don't disagree with anything that's been said.
This was an an 8:15 PM text of, "Hey, do you want to stop by with your daughter and I'll take some test headshots?" kind of thing, so prep was minimal on both of our ends. We've already made tentative plans to do another shoot of some 3/4 length shots and her wearing a few different outfits. There are at least a dozen little clothing boutiques within walking distance from us (college town), so I'm going to try to make these next shots reflect that style and market.
I did have the opportunity earlier this week to shoot another group of friends' kids. I thought this one below turned out pretty well. I missed my lighting angle a little bit because we were being informal, swapping kids around, and the variations in height threw me off a bit. I ended up having to lighten her hair in post to help correct it. In this case I did sort of a clamshell lighting setup, but the bottom light is a little hot relative to the top one. I think this was more to do with the position of the top light.
I did utilize the trick of briefly blinding her with a flashlight to help contract the pupils. It definitely made a difference. Please feel free to offer any comments or criticism.
Thank you for your explanation on the circumstances of the first photo shooting! The second pictures are improved with regard to the issues I mentioned, though I still think that lighting, skin, and background can be improved. Also, all elements of the subject, i.e. mimic, pose, hair style, clothes etc. need to work together to support a message or overall impression.
I have to disagree...just my opinion of course...but I think these are charming pictures of the girl. She is a great little model who looks totally relaxed, and the lighting and processing look fine to me. YMMV
The last picture is terrific. You have captured a charming quality. She is not trying to present a relaxed pose; she actually is relaxed. I am not a portrait pro so cannot critique the lighting et al. But, I can see that you developed a good rapport with her by the time you took this shot. To me, that is key. She seems to be less authentic and relaxed in the first. An attempt at producing a smile. Keep your rapport uppermost in your mind and you will take some more terrific shots.
