Tamera

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2012012908 by J E, on Flickr

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[pgriz]

Josh, are you looking for comments?

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If you have some, I'd be glad to hear them.

I'm not too keen on the greenish tint on the background, but it's not a big deal to me.

Trying to get better at this portrait stuff, lol.

I had one light, but I guess you can tell that much.

[luvmyfamily]

If you have some, I'd be glad to hear them.

I'm not too keen on the greenish tint on the background, but it's not a big deal to me.

Trying to get better at this portrait stuff, lol.

I had one light, but I guess you can tell that much.

I like it! I think the color she has on is great with the background. I do however prefer smoothing of skin. I usually always smooth skin in my photo's. To each is own thought, right?

[O|||||||O]

Hmm... I thought it already was kinda smoothed out... I didn't do any 'extra' skin smoothing, but this was shot on film, which generally requires less skin smoothing than digital (it just comes out that way). Which specific areas are you thinking of? ...I don't want it to look 'plastic'.

[kundalini]

Positioning of the arms is very off-standish. Shoulders rolled foward only emphasize this.

Positioning of you key light is suspect. Notice things such as her gullet, her left lapel and left wrist. All seem a bit hot.

Wardrobe malfunction on the right lapel.

Missing right elbow.

Skin smoothing is NOT an issue here.

Nice lighting ratio on her mask, but the Rembrandt pattern is slightly amiss. I think the key light is a little too far to the side of your subject. I would suggest to bring it back towards the camera.

Genuine looking lady. Thanks for sharing.

[BuS_RiDeR]

Is she cold?

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Thanks, kundalini. That helps.

As far as the wardrobe malfunction, I noticed an fixed it on the other side - didn't notice this one, lol.

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Is she cold?

Maybe. We keep the heat pretty low, lol.

She has ZERO modeling experience, and I have just as much experience directing models, so - if the pose is weird, that's why.

[kundalini]

As far as the wardrobe malfunction, I noticed an fixed it on the other side - didn't notice this one, lol.

Apparently, you're as slow to react as Justin Timberlake.

[pgriz]

I find the shadow across her face to be a little harsh. And yes, she looks like she wants a sweater - badly! What's the back story?

But even with one light.... where's the reflector?

[Rotanimod]

Hmm i think her expression/posture is a little distracting.
She is a bit hunched over and the smile looks a bit forced.
If she straightened out her posture could be a much better shot.

Shadows are harsh on face and highlights a bit hot on her arm

[EIngerson]

Josh,

Did you try anything to modify the one light? I have been messing around with portraits too and for a couple bucks, you can get some foam boards from Walmart and really play around with light. I don't want to jack your thread but my last three pics uploaded to Flickr are just that. it's my "Ghetto studio"

[Big Mike]

C&C.

As someone mentioned, the positioning of your key light is....well, key. In this case, I'd say that it was too far to your left and not high enough. Look at the shadow of her nose and it falls across her face. The shadow is just getting into her left eye and is going horizontally across her cheek, maybe even up a bit.
By raising the light, and maybe bringing it around to the front, just a bit, you can cause the nose shadow to stop before the eye and to be cast in a downward direction. If you move it high enough, you may even be able to hide that highlight on her lower left cheek, which isn't great.

Also, I think that the photo could have been improved if she had just pushed her chin/head forward (thus tightening the skin on both her neck and face) and tilting her head a little more to her right (accentuating a feminine pose).

Lastly, as mentioned, the highlight on her wrist isn't great.

[O|||||||O]

OK, good tips on posing and lighting.

I need to figure out a way to hold the reflector so I can actually use that too (I need another light stand).

For modifiers on the light, I used a DIY diffuser made out of an alcohol bottle.