Darlene - CC Requested Please

[Austin Greene]

Hey folks,

I had another impulsive shoot yesterday. No prior knowledge of the subject, just a simple "lets meet up and take a few photos" jist of things. She had just gotten out of class, and while I didn't expect a fancy outfit, I found the baggy sweater hard to work with.

Darlene is a graduating Neurobiology, Physiology, and Biology major, a very popular program here on campus. I wanted the photos to carry subdued, natural tones, and I thought that perhaps the winding wood rail in one of our older buildings would match her sweater. I intentionally left the railing in the background, hoping that it would act as a leading line to her eyes, but I'm not sure if I accomplished that, or if it's simply distracting.

I'd love to hear your thoughts! As with my previous post, this was again with a single light setup. I tried loop lighting at first, but Darlene was not a fan and wanted a narrower look for her face, so I moved the flash closer to something like rembrandt.

1.

Darlene by TogaLive, on Flickr

 

[JustJazzie]

The lighting is really pretty! I just wish it were not cropped so tightly. I want to we her elbow AND the curve to that railing, It feels too broken up as it is IMO.

 

[MatthewSimes]

Maybe adding a small light directly opposite the main light to add some rim light/hair light to separate out her left side from the background?

 

[jenko]

The lighting is fine for me. I am just not that crazy about the pose. It is too generic, emotionless. Her face also looks a little soft. Agree a little more space and atmosphere would have helped here.

 

[Braineack]

I like the lighting. But I also agree it's a bit too tight. The pose doesn't bother me. What does is that there's spillage on the stairs, I'd like that to be all black and I wish her hands fell into focus, depending on your f-stop, you might have been able to focus on her hand/nose and shifted the focus range closer in so her fingers were in it.

But I say good job.

 

[Derrel]

I think her head tilt direction is wrong for this. With the strong bannister and railing, her head tilting "out of the frame" and her being a bit off to the right hand side of the frame gives this a very slightly "uneasy" feeling...it's a subtle thing, but this picture creates an unbalanced feeling in my mind. On her chin, it looks like she has a small scar or a straight line, and the shadow is emphasizing that. Her HAIR is lighted wonderfully though! I think the sweater looks well-lighted too. For an impromptu shoot, this is a good result, especially if this was done with a speedlight and an umbrella and no modeling light to guide you to the exact placement of the light.