Abused girl in a park

Pomo · Jul 5, 2019

vintagesnaps said:
Who cares how many followers anyone has on Instagram? She might be better off to just close it out and find ways in real life to connect with people, social media isn't necessariy the best thing or at least might be better used in a more limited way.

Thanks for your suggestions, vintagesnaps.

You know those teenagers... They brag about the cost of a phone or clothes and rate each other according to the number of subscribers in social media.

JBPhotog · Jul 5, 2019

Pomo said:
I shot jpg + raw. So, I raised shadows and darkened whites for these raws. But if raise shadows too much, it starts looking like fake HDR (which I do not like).

Thus, I'm thinking to use some fill light next time.

I agree, fake HDR is not the best look. However, there is a bit more room to improve the shadows via luminosity masks even for these JPEG's. I would also agree, in harsh sunlight a reflector or fill flash is the best way to recover detail from the dark shadows. Hopefully she is game for another shoot, good luck.

Derrel · Jul 5, 2019

I know what you mean about that fake HDR type look from raising the shadows up in brightness too much. Whenever I have to lift the shadows up quite a bit, the last thing I do is to re-apply the curves tool to get just the right contrast, and thus avoid that "fake HDR look".

I have only seen these on my phone ,but since you shot it Raw +JPEG, I would expect that you could go back and additionally edit these for a little bit more detail in the shadows well keeping the background brightness about the same.

The last set I did in a location like this was with freshly-poured concrete that was almost white in color, and which provided a lot of shadow fill-in lighting even though I was shooting in bright August afternoon sunshine

Donde · Jul 5, 2019

Pomo I like the last one the best. Cute girl. You say she has a dental issue? She hasn't smiled for any of the shots. By the way, catchy title.

weepete · Jul 5, 2019

Cute poses, 7 looks as if she hasn't settled yet and 10 is the best imo. Iagree with the fill light.

Be a bit careful about terminology, abused has different connotations certainly in the UK. Also I'm not sure that's an apporopriate title, it has no bearing on the shots.

Derrel · Jul 5, 2019

Yeah, the thread title is a bit "misleading" in American English, and is probably even more misleading in the Queen's English, I must say. The word "abused" should, IMHO, be replaced with "formerly bullied", or some other descriptive term.

Pomo · Jul 6, 2019

JBPhotog said:
I agree, fake HDR is not the best look. However, there is a bit more room to improve the shadows via luminosity masks even for these JPEG's. I would also agree, in harsh sunlight a reflector or fill flash is the best way to recover detail from the dark shadows. Hopefully she is game for another shoot, good luck.

I never used luminosity masks. Will google it, thank you.

Pomo · Jul 6, 2019

Donde said:
Pomo I like the last one the best. Cute girl. You say she has a dental issue? She hasn't smiled for any of the shots. By the way, catchy title.

Thank you Donde!

Yes, she has some problems with teeth. And I suppose, her family can not afford good dantist to fix them. Lea said me, that she borrowed this blouse from her mom.

Pomo · Jul 6, 2019

weepete said:
Cute poses, 7 looks as if she hasn't settled yet and 10 is the best imo. Iagree with the fill light.

Be a bit careful about terminology, abused has different connotations certainly in the UK. Also I'm not sure that's an apporopriate title, it has no bearing on the shots.

Thanks for your comment, weepete.

In my language there is no word "bulling". So I translated it like "abused" (or "insulted", "offended") first, and then I remembered the word "bulling" from some movie, which is more suitable.

Pomo · Jul 6, 2019

Derrel said:
Yeah, the thread title is a bit "misleading" in American English, and is probably even more misleading in the Queen's English, I must say. The word "abused" should, IMHO, be replaced with "formerly bullied", or some other descriptive term.

Yes, I suppose "formerly bullied" is the most suitable.

Fujidave · Jul 6, 2019

Hi Dmitry as I said on the other forum I think you did a good job in your images to show how beautiful this young lady is. Bullies are horrible and sad people and only bully because it makes them feel good, she will go a long way in her life and I wish her all the best.

JoeW · Jul 6, 2019

Sorry she's bullied. She's lovely.

1. You need an assistant to hold a reflector and bounce and some light off her face. Nice soft light and she'd be...beautiful! Now she's just really pretty.
2. I'd recommend a narrow DoF. The background draws attention--I found myself thinking "I wonder where that is?" The focus should be on her. For portraits, bokeh is your friend.
3. IMHO, the more relaxed she is, the better she looks. Look for poses that let her exhale, less rigid, more casual.
4. Don't have her face the camera front-on. Show a side profile or at an angle. She's slim and a great profile--so emphasize that. Facing the camera straight on makes her look thicker than she is because she has hips.

Pomo · Jul 6, 2019

Fujidave said:
Hi Dmitry as I said on the other forum I think you did a good job in your images to show how beautiful this young lady is. Bullies are horrible and sad people and only bully because it makes them feel good, she will go a long way in her life and I wish her all the best.

Thank yoy Dave!

Pomo · Jul 6, 2019

JoeW said:
1. You need an assistant to hold a reflector and bounce and some light off her face. Nice soft light and she'd be...beautiful! Now she's just really pretty.
2. I'd recommend a narrow DoF. The background draws attention--I found myself thinking "I wonder where that is?" The focus should be on her. For portraits, bokeh is your friend.
3. IMHO, the more relaxed she is, the better she looks. Look for poses that let her exhale, less rigid, more casual.
4. Don't have her face the camera front-on. Show a side profile or at an angle. She's slim and a great profile--so emphasize that. Facing the camera straight on makes her look thicker than she is because she has hips.

Hello JoeW!

Thank you for advices! Since I'm not involed in commercial portreture, I don't have an assistant. I was using X100T with conversion lens TCL-X100 for narrow DOF. It gives 50 mm f/2.0 in FF equivalent. I agree with you about shooting from different angles, not only from the front. Next time I'll try something different.

JoeW · Jul 7, 2019

Pomo said:
JoeW said:

1. You need an assistant to hold a reflector and bounce and some light off her face. Nice soft light and she'd be...beautiful! Now she's just really pretty.
2. I'd recommend a narrow DoF. The background draws attention--I found myself thinking "I wonder where that is?" The focus should be on her. For portraits, bokeh is your friend.
3. IMHO, the more relaxed she is, the better she looks. Look for poses that let her exhale, less rigid, more casual.
4. Don't have her face the camera front-on. Show a side profile or at an angle. She's slim and a great profile--so emphasize that. Facing the camera straight on makes her look thicker than she is because she has hips.

Click to expand...

Hello JoeW!

Thank you for advices! Since I'm not involed in commercial portreture, I don't have an assistant. I was using X100T with conversion lens TCL-X100 for narrow DOF. It gives 50 mm f/2.0 in FF equivalent. I agree with you about shooting from different angles, not only from the front. Next time I'll try something different.

It doesn't need to be a paid assistant. Get a second person interested in modeling. Tell them the "price" for each of them modeling for you is, when it isn't their turn to pose they'll be holding the reflector and carrying gear. Then have the models trade off. One poses, the other assists. You'd be surprised how many people will be willing to do this.