Boudoir CC please

[Photos de l'amour]

Deleted

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

Not bad. Maybe a tighter crop on #3?

 

[vtf]

I think thy're nice but Im really new to portraits. My question is does she know you're posting them on this public forum? I'd be nervous doing that.

 

[Raizels]

I thing they're good! especially the silhouette.
Was the PS done mostly on her face? it's evident in the 1st pic. Also about the 1st pic, the background is very distracting. Otherwise very good IMO.

I'm also curious to know if she's aware we're all looking...

 

[tirediron]

C&C per req:

1. I think the post-processing is just a tad heavy on the face. Try and avoid showing the soles of people's feet, especially in this type of photography. No matter how clean they are, the soles of most people's feet tend to have a bit of a 'grubby' appearance from calouses, etc.

2. Not sure this pose works; she seems a bit strained. Again, perhaps reduce the PP on the face a little - it doesn't match the rest of her body.

3. A classic; nicely done, but I would prefer it to be less centered from left to right, and there's a lot of empty space at the top that isn't really adding to the image.

4. Very nicely done; I think this one should be centred however.

5. The lighting isn't working in this one. You need more fill on her face and less on her feet.

6/7. Those shoes in bed? Really?

Some nice images; the main concerns I have are with the details. The background really isn't working in 1, 2, and 5 - the lights and candles are a good idea, but they're blown, and the doorway image right is distracting.

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.

~John

 

[Derrel]

The lighting is rather flat on these, and it just does not have much directionality. I'm not sure what your light source is, but it does not create much in the way of shadows and highlights.

 

[ababysean]

My husband is in Afghanistan, I want some of these done SO bad, but I can't afford a real photographer! to come and take them for me!
haha
Anyone interested?

I think they look great, and if she is getting them done for her hubby or whatever, he will love them.

I agree about the feet though, that is the first think I looked at and I didnt even notice her face, I went straight to her feet, how would you change that?

 

[ababysean]

Maybe have her in shoes?

 

[KmH]

This was my first boudoir shoot. Please let me know if the PP is too much or not enough. I had to frame the silhouette that way cuz she really liked the photo but there was a bunch of distractions all around it.

Like Derrel, the one thing I see common to all of them is the lighting.

I agree with the comment her face was over processed in #1 and #2. To soft, and the eyes are to white.

#3 the pose makes her look really wide in the hips (shoot from a higher perspective, think ladder.) and needs a crop. A tan or brown bed cover would have been nice for making a more monochromatic scene.

The last is globally under exposed, at least 1 1/2 stops. That's not a problem for the background, to create mood, but the subjects face and chest should be properly exposed.

To illustrate, I added 1.5 stops of exposure to her face and chest:

 

[Photos de l'amour]

Thank you all for the comments. Yes, she does know that they are posted. She gave me permission to post and get cc on them. She does love them! I will work on all the comments and try to do better. I will go into PS and try to lighten up her face. I did the softening on all skin so I don't know why it would look like it doesn't match. I am trying to understand the spot metering so that I can get the background darker and her more in light. Can anybody help me with that?

I wonder if once my monitor is calibrated if I will see the problems you have all commented on. Hopefully it will be here soon.

I found a website with boudoir and since a boudoir is a bedroom I figured the door and other bedroom furniture would be ok. Is that wrong?

Thanks again everyone.

 

[mommy22]

3, 4, and 7 are my fav's. How did you do #4?

 

[mommy22]

My hubby just came back from Iraq-I tried to do some sexy pics but they didn't turn out like I had hoped.

 

[Photos de l'amour]

The lighting is rather flat on these, and it just does not have much directionality. I'm not sure what your light source is, but it does not create much in the way of shadows and highlights.

I was using the window light and an sb600 in an umbrella. It's all I have right now so I have to work with it. Any ideas to make it better with what I've got?

 

[Photos de l'amour]

This was my first boudoir shoot. Please let me know if the PP is too much or not enough. I had to frame the silhouette that way cuz she really liked the photo but there was a bunch of distractions all around it.

Like Derrel, the one thing I see common to all of them is the lighting.

I agree with the comment her face was over processed in #1 and #2. To soft, and the eyes are to white.

#3 the pose makes her look really wide in the hips (shoot from a higher perspective, think ladder.) and needs a crop. A tan or brown bed cover would have been nice for making a more monochromatic scene.

The last is globally under exposed, at least 1 1/2 stops. That's not a problem for the background, to create mood, but the subjects face and chest should be properly exposed.

To illustrate, I added 1.5 stops of exposure to her face and chest:

Can you explain how you did this in PS? Would you leave this one like this or were you just showing me what you meant?

 

[KmH]

I was just showing how much 1.5 stops is. It would be better to learn how to do it with effective lighting and in the camera, than how to do it in Photoshop.

Bottom line, I try to make images clients will pay me oddles of money for. If that means adding a edit like this to sell it, I'd do it in a heart beat.

I used CS5 and the Elliptical Marquee Tool.

I duplicated the layer (Ctrl-J)

I dragged out an ellipse, positioned it, and then used Refine Edge to feather the ellipse's edge. Elements has the tool, but doesn't have Refine Edge, but it does have a feather option for the Marquee tool. I'm not sure how that works in Elements though.

I then opened an Exposure Adjustment Layer. In Elements you would open a Brightness/Contrast Adjustment layer, but I can't get the edge to be feathered when I increase the brightness.

I adjusted the Exposure slider up 1.5. In Elements it is scaled differently but just increase the Brightness to taste.

Elements cost so much less because there is just so much it can't do.