Coming out of the shadows....

jwilly1 · Nov 18, 2014

I have been lurking in the background of this site for a couple of years now, soaking up the wealth of knowledge that you all bring to the table. I have messed around with photography since I was a teen, but never took it too seriously. I bought an entry level Nikon D3100 several years ago, and well, you know how it goes from there... I'm an amateur that may looking at considering this as something more serious than a hobby in the near future.
My wife is fantastic! She lets me practice on her pretty much whenever, so you will probably be seeing quite a bit of her until I can convince someone else that I can really do this stuff. I guess you all will be the judge of that. Anyway, here are a couple that were taken at the beginning of the year, as I just started to venture into studio flash photography. Any and all critique is encouraged and welcomed. I'm here to get insight from people that, without question, certainly know more than I. Thank You for taking the time to let me have it!

The two photos below were taken with a Nikon VR f/4-5.6G lens @ F/5.6, 1/200s, ISO 100 in manual mode. Two Flashpoint 150W strobes were used, more or less at 45 degree off center to either side, the main with a 60" umbrella, and the other with a 17" beauty dish.

PHOTO 1

PHOTO 2

tirediron · Nov 18, 2014

The lighting isn't bad at all; I might try and pull the key around a little further image left as a lot of it is hitting her hair (#1) and maybe drop the power 1/3 stop or so. Her face and teeth seem just a bit 'off' to me; did you do some smoothing and such?

Rick50 · Nov 18, 2014

I like lighting and poses in these. I also see some processing. Good job!

jwilly1 · Nov 18, 2014

Rick50 said:
I like lighting and poses in these. I also see some processing. Good job!

There is some retouching. You conformed for me that it may have been a little much. Now that you mention it, the teeth are definitely to white.

jwilly1 · Nov 18, 2014

tirediron said:
The lighting isn't bad at all; I might try and pull the key around a little further image left as a lot of it is hitting her hair (#1) and maybe drop the power 1/3 stop or so. Her face and teeth seem just a bit 'off' to me; did you do some smoothing and such?

The hair was smoothed. What are your thoughts on hair smoothing? Use it? Stay away from it? Sparingly?

tirediron · Nov 18, 2014

jwilly1 said:
What are your thoughts on hair smoothing? Use it? Stay away from it? Sparingly?

VERY sparingly, and only when absolutely necessary. This is something that should be done with a comb prior to shooting. Even for an expert, hair can be very challenging to deal with in post, and IMO, never looks quite right. Comb/brush prior to the shoot and get it right in camera. Saves time and produces a better image.

Granddad · Nov 19, 2014

Welcome to posting! Not bad work and a great model!

OK, you asked for critique so here goes.

As the husband of a "mature" model (considerably more mature than yours

) I'd say ease up on the retouching, especially around the eyes. I noticed that before I noticed the hair smoothing. You should aim to gentle the effects of maturity, not bash them into a pulp with a baseball bat. Aim for credibility, make it about the same effect that a good pro makeup job would do. Tooth whitening to the extent you have here isn't natural and screams "PHOTOSHOP!!" Teeth are normally ivory, not white.

I'm NOT on commission ( :eyebrows:

) but take a look at "Portrait Professional" software , it's not very expensive and I get pretty good results from it on faces. You can use it to make a woman look like a plastic Barbie doll or, by playing with the sliders, get some pretty credible results with practice.

On posing a mature woman, avoid poses that show the back of the hands because those show years beyond 18 even more than the face and are harder to retouch. You did pretty well in #1 but #2 the back of her right hand almost has a shine to it that makes it look like she's wearing a fake skin glove. Note how the way the hand is bent forward emphasises the loose skin.

Apart from that the poses aren't at all bad and your model looks comfortable and confident in front of the camera... as she should be. She's got what it takes. I look forward to seeing more of your photos. :thumbyo:

jwilly1 · Nov 19, 2014

Granddad said:
Welcome to posting! Not bad work and a great model!

OK, you asked for critique so here goes.

As the husband of a "mature" model (considerably more mature than yours ) I'd say ease up on the retouching, especially around the eyes. I noticed that before I noticed the hair smoothing. You should aim to gentle the effects of maturity, not bash them into a pulp with a baseball bat. Aim for credibility, make it about the same effect that a good pro makeup job would do. Tooth whitening to the extent you have here isn't natural and screams "PHOTOSHOP!!" Teeth are normally ivory, not white.

I'm NOT on commission ( ) but take a look at "Portrait Professional" software , it's not very expensive and I get pretty good results from it on faces. You can use it to make a woman look like a plastic Barbie doll or, by playing with the sliders, get some pretty credible results with practice.

On posing a mature woman, avoid poses that show the back of the hands because those show years beyond 18 even more than the face and are harder to retouch. You did pretty well in #1 but #2 the back of her right hand almost has a shine to it that makes it look like she's wearing a fake skin glove. Note how the way the hand is bent forward emphasises the loose skin.

Apart from that the poses aren't at all bad and your model looks comfortable and confident in front of the camera... as she should be. She's got what it takes. I look forward to seeing more of your photos.

Thanks for the honest comments! You make very good points. Portrait Pro is what I used here. I just went a little overboard (easy to do....). Thsee are exactly the things that I need pointed out. Thanks so much!