First Pass On Fall

[smoke665]

Ended up with several keepers in Lil'Bit's fall shoot today. I've made the first pass through ending up with about 40 shots for a further look, whittled that down to 25, for PS. First pass through PP to set my tone mapping and processing so I can copy and paste to the rest. Other than the sign I'm fairly happy, of all things, something I ate for lunch "really" didn't agree with me, felt terrible the whole time, just wanted to be done. Looking for C&C on the color, processing, etc. Maybe a little lens blur on the background/foreground.

 

[Space Face]

That looks beautifully lit. She looks a bit grumpy tho

Overall a really pleasing take.

 

[smoke665]

That looks beautifully lit. She looks a bit grumpy tho

Overall a really pleasing take.

Thanks, the "look" is one of many of her repertoire of poses. Despite her young age she can be quite professional in front of the camera.

 

[jcdeboever]

Really nice lighting, and display. Adorable little girl.

 

[smoke665]

Really nice lighting, and display. Adorable little girl.

Thanks, this was a 3 light set, Octabox key left, 2x4 softbox right, kicker overhead left with 7" reflector feathered for hair. Two white foam core reflectors left and right at the floor to provide shadow fill on the props.

The size of the set forced me to be closer to the background then I wanted, which IMO is competing to much. Will likely add some lens blur post.

 

[jcdeboever]

Really nice lighting, and display. Adorable little girl.

Thanks, this was a 3 light set, Octabox key left, 2x4 softbox right, kicker overhead left with 7" reflector feathered for hair. Two white foam core reflectors left and right at the floor to provide shadow fill on the props.

The size of the set forced me to be closer to the background then I wanted, which IMO is competing to much. Will likely add some lens blur post.

I think the elements of the set are very good, it really speaks well for the season.

 

[charlie76]

I’m no portrait photographer, but from an exposure perspective it looks like the left side of the frame is too dark while there seems to be a strip throughs the middle that contains most of the light in the scene (even though I can’t make up my mind of her face could be toned down a bit or not). I believe it’s the uneven lighting on the white wall behind that is throwing me off and may be a distraction from the overall scene, which is very nicely composed. Composition wise I think the look her face is absolutely priceless and the setting is very well selected.

 

[smoke665]

I’m no portrait photographer, but from an exposure perspective it looks like the left side of the frame is too dark while there seems to be a strip throughs the middle that contains most of the light in the scene (even though I can’t make up my mind of her face could be toned down a bit or not). I believe it’s the uneven lighting on the white wall behind that is throwing me off and may be a distraction from the overall scene, which is very nicely composed. Composition wise I think the look her face is absolutely priceless and the setting is very well selected.

Actually options like yours are just what I need as her family aren't portrait photographers either.

There is a difference in exposure as you noted. I wanted to stay with my 70mm Ltd, because of how it renders skin, but the "depth" of the set forced me to close to the background. I should have either switched to the 50mm and moved the set away from the wall, or added more lights, but I tried to take the easy way out and use the kicker to split the hair and background. Now it'll take me more time post then it would have to do it right from the start. This edit has actually been scraped in favor of a different direction which addresses the background lighting.

Thanks for the comments

 

[zulu42]

I'm quite impressed there are almost no shadows on that white wall. But, the wall itself is my nitpick with this shot. In my opinion, the blank wall is negative space and therefore the weight of the composition is heavy at the bottom. Also, If the wall were darker it would no longer compete in brightness with the areas you've lit. I might suggest painting the wall a darker shade. Maybe even buy a box of laminate flooring and tack it to the wall for a nice wood texture. Or... composite in some barn wood over the background. I also think the wreath behind her head has distracting elements.
This being said, the young lady's charm wins me over every time
Thanks for offering this photo for C&C

 

[smoke665]

@zulu42 so you're saying composite barn wood on a barn wall? That's interesting. LOL Actually the background is made of 4x8 torsion boxes. I have three that can make a 12' long wall or a corner. The skin is lightweight 3/16" masonite, with lath (gray) on one side, smooth (white) on the other. When in use they hang from hooks in the ceiling and clip together. For storage they break down and hang compactly against a wall.

Using an overhead light on a boom minimized shadows, but also created some issues with overall lighting as you noticed.

In the final cut (I'll post a couple when I get done with the set) I pulled down the exposure on the background, added lens blur (foreground/background), a couple texture layers, and a LUT to address the issues you noted. I generally gravitate toward bright to begin with as the addition of layers tends to darken the image.

Thanks for looking.

 

[SquarePeg]

@zulu42 read my mind on this. The theme begs for a barn wall background! Or an outdoor setting with some golden hour backlighting. Have you considered taking this show on the road and shooting outside? The straw on the floor and hay bale need to be outdoors (or at least fake outdoors) IMO.

 

[smoke665]

@zulu42 read my mind on this. The theme begs for a barn wall background! Or an outdoor setting with some golden hour backlighting. Have you considered taking this show on the road and shooting outside? The straw on the floor and hay bale need to be outdoors (or at least fake outdoors) IMO.

As posted above final edits are different addressing some of the earlier comments, and this one's done. Unfortunately lights, modifiers, stands, tethered laptop, etc is a job to move, weather can be a problem and my interests lie more in studio. Thanks for looking and commenting.

 

[smoke665]

@zulu42 and others who commented I finally put the series to bed with some modifications. Here it is with the final theme. Just saw this needs a little touch up on some masks, but other than that, it's done

 

[SquarePeg]

I like the new background better but maybe without the blur? Or with more blur? I can’t seem to look away from the scarecrow on the left - it really draws my eye. Overall, it’s too busy for me and doesn’t showcase the cute model the way some of your other portraits do.

 

[Photo Lady]

Just beautiful in every way..