A few portraits from yesterday

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PDX_DVX

Veteran
Here are the results of my "shoot" yesterday, shot with a Canon 10D in RAW mode with a Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L, and a Canon 85mm f/1.2L, also lit with 2 Canon 580EX flashes, one of which was run off a pocket wizard, the other as a slave. Fire away! Cropped and color corrected in post. Critique is welcome. It was basically my first photo shoot of this nature.

chrissy.jpg


Chrissy_eyes.jpg


andrea-bluewall.jpg


Chrissy_wide_bluewall.jpg


Chrissy_redwall.jpg
 
I really like the first and fourth ones. I like the composition on the second one, but I'm not really liking how there's only a tiny bit of her in focus. On the third one I like the colors and use of shadow.
 
Thanks! Yeah, that 85mm has a super narrow DOF, and I was shooting almost wide open at like 1.8 and 1.2, these were in pitch dark, well w/o the flash, so focus was sometimes a guessing game....wish I had modeling lamps to judge the focus better.....
 
Wow, really liked your lighting and your colors. Looks like you picked some pretty vivid locations, worked well with the skin tone and wardrobe of your model. The only thing I can critique would be to watch your angles. Every model has a best and a worst angle, and unfortunatly for this model as seen in #1 and #4 shooting at a downward angle does not flatter her. She does not appear to be very tall and the angle in #4 really makes her look shorter than she probably is. Also, with the type of nose that she has, shooting downward appears to elongate it. As seen in the last photo, her nose isn't long at all, but from the top down photo it appears more obtrusive. WIth most people it is usually more flattering to shoot them at a downward angle, but I would say with her it is probably most flattering to shoot her straight on, or even looking up slightly, you could even explore the low angle shot as it doesn't look like she would have a problem with a double chin or anything like that. Overall good work, very beautiful colors.
 
thank you! yeah, I agree about the high angle, I tried some low angles, but for some reason I just wasn't liking them. I really need to work on interacting with people and making them look good, alot of the shots just looked awkward, out of 170 shots, I thought these were the best. Thanks for the good words!

BTW, that location is an elementary school by my house, the color of that grey/blue wall was what made me want to shoot there, it's a really nice color. The others were in the grass field, and against a red door. I had an umbrella on the flash for most of these too.
 
Hey, I really like the second one! Not as a publicity shot perhaps but as an art photo - very intimate and deep. I don't love 3,4, or 5 - 3 and 4 are kind of unflattering (well, her outfit itself is sorta unflattering when seen in whole). 3 looks like a wholly different person. The 5th one is out of character emotionally, and a little too smiley and simple for my taste. What are these for?
 
I know you like the first one, but for some reason, I find some dis-harmony. Something is not right.
Eyeline, head position and body, each of them tell a different story. I find discomfort.
Second is good (a bit too close for the relaxed position), and the third is the best from this set (regardless focus!)
Fourth (as stated above is not a flattering picture; angle and she is too close to the BG)
On the fifth, I would cut out all that headroom that does not add any value and the picture would look better (imo)
Keep on shooting ! ! !
 
They are all very nice, escpecially the first one. :)

Only the last one has a bit too much empty space above her head IMO.
 
Thanks for all the words guys! Always improving! Just a little self critique is that I really need to work with people better. I'm still trying to get the hang of how to make a person look, as in eyes, body position etc etc...lots of room to improve!
 
In general, the eye line is too high for the subject (except for the second image).

The first image looks to have very mixed lighting, the key is too harsh and too high in color temperature in relationship to the natural light on the background. A bit of diffusion and some fill would have helped, perhaps warming up this source (1/4 to 1/2 CTO) would have also helped.

The last two images have way too much headroom for a portrait shot. In fact when I shoot headshots, I generally have no headroom at all. You don't have to go that far, but this is just too much wasted frame (unless of course you are going to strip in something, then that would be fine framing).

The subject is showing a large range of looks here, and not knowing what you are trying to accomplish with the shot, it is difficult to know if it is really working out.
 
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