My Best Friend

foxXx · Aug 2, 2005

I shot this of my best friend Beth, shes a rad girl and great to get myself some pratice with new techniques etc. This was in my basement studio about a month ago and I would appreciate any feedback / critique ... thanks

foxXx · Aug 3, 2005

64 views and no comments, I guess the new guy doesn't get critique

Big Mike · Aug 3, 2005

For critique...it helps if you give us more info. What did you use? What was the lighting. What were you going for? etc.

I like the shallow DOF and that her eye is nice & sharp. It kind of makes her head look big though. Did you use PS to blur some things...or is that just the DOF?

I'd like to see her left eye, even if it still had some hair in front of it.

I looks like you used some sort of ring light...a macro LED light or something similar. The catch lights in her visible eye are very unique.

She's very pretty...I'd like to see other shots from this set up.

clarinetJWD · Aug 4, 2005

I have been staring at this for about 5 minutes now, and I finally figured out what I wanted to say

First off, the ring light in her eye is amazing, it's a perfect example of how tiny details can absolutely make a photo.
However, I don't think this is the optimum crop for the photo. I personally would like to see it with the background on the right just barely cropped out, so that the darker colors balance the whites better.

craig · Aug 4, 2005

Good camera work and lighting! Her skin tone is leaning on the green side. Let me know if it is just my monitor.

Christie Photo · Aug 5, 2005

Big Mike said:
... looks like you used some sort of ring light...a macro LED light or something similar. The catch lights in her visible eye are very unique.

Looks like some sort of wild contact lens.

I'm not sure how I feel about the lighting scheme. It mostly works here. The most troubling results for me is the shadow from the nose piercing and the sharp edge shadow on the wrist.

I think you handled the blur pretty well. Also, the "out of key" clothing and subject comes off just fine.

Basement studio? Low ceilings, huh?

Overall, I like your results, Matt.