... In Strange Places

[PatrickCheung]

my friend's sister volunteered to model for me today! i tried out everything you guys suggested, over exposing, fill flash... i gotta say... i ended up with some crazy over exposed images which means i gotta improve my skills haha. anyway, it was fun! she was a pleasure to work with, contributed many ideas, overall great experience. we shot this in an alley in downtown toronto... it got kinda weird when people walked passed us to a corner where they... "lit up". definitely a place where we didn't belong (hence the title).

before you guys comment, here are a few limitations i had to work with:
1. almost no sunlight meant i had to shoot at iso400 (LOTS OF NOISE D, 1/60-1/125, f4-6 to get the overexposed but not too overexposed look you guys mentioned in my other thread
2. tiny fill card/reflector

and here a few things i found wrong with my photos:
1. the noise...
2. some are still really dark
3. White Balance! (it's the crazy colours... i swear.)
4. eyes not sharp enough
5. soft images/missed focus

anyway, here are the three photos she agreed to let me upload (3 out of 20 keepers... haha says a lot about my skills) :

Let's start out with the model's favourite! (a bit dark... i know)

my favourite:

the last one:

Info can be found here

special thanks goes out to my friend colin wu for holding the fill card/reflector and editing out blemishes!

 

[PatrickCheung]

D: nothing?

 

[Laika]

I think they look pretty good, I haven't seen your last post, so I can't really comment on whether you have improved.

I also don't know much about light, I think these look fine for the most part. But someone else would be able to give you a much better critique on the lighting.

I am going to comment on the composition:

1.) A little too centered for my taste. You are also shooting up at the model. This works sometimes, but it is generally much less flattering than shooting from an even level or from above. I think it also tends to work better with male models than with females.

2.) Same as above with shooting from below. I do think this is the best shot of the three though.

3.) Same as the other two. We are looking right up the models nose, which isn't very flattering.

Other than the point of view, I really do think these are fine shots. Just try some different angles!

 

[Iron Flatline]

I think they're fine - technically there's a number of things that could conceivably be improved on, but there comes a point at which technique must take a back-seat to the creative content. Worry more about pose and composition, and then use technique to support the shot. The first shot is too "sideways" for my taste, it just doesn't seem like a natural comfortable post. The second one is fun and works well, the bright paints vs. the dark jacket are nice juxtaposition. The third one is ok, though it is tough to shoot up at someone. In your case it's close, consider cropping tigher across the bottom and the right.

 

[PatrickCheung]

thanks guys

yeah i shot below even-level because i read somewhere that it's sometimes better to shoot under the eye-level of the model. i tried that out for a few shots, and it just so happens that all the photos she picked to have displayed were shot in that style. i really really need to work on my composition and posing though. D:

i'll try and work on that in my later shoots!