First try at studio portraits (C+C)

[Hrern1313]

Im fairly new to the site so please bear with me

I invested in a basic portable studio setup a couple of days ago after having quite a bit of intrest from friends and aquaintanced about shoots, and convinced a friend to come along and do some vague modelling whilst I familiarised myself with it. This is my very first try at studio shots so and criticism, could it please be constructive haha (if you think something is wrong or dont like something please tell me why so i can get better

) Ive also experiemented with some editing, more on some than others.

 

[ToddLange]

i think the last one wouldve been better if more of her eyes were showing so you could really show the blue of them more.

oh, and in the first one, she looks uncomfortable.

good shots!

 

[Hrern1313]

Thanks, ill bear that in mind =D

 

[Samanax]

Strobist

Strobist: Lighting 101

Strobist: Lighting 102

StudioLighting.net

Studio Lighting - A Beginners Guide To Lighting

Studio Photography

Studio Lighting - Lighting Diagrams, Planning and Explaining

Lighting Essentials

LIGHTING ESSENTIALS - Studio Lighting

Portrait Lighting For Beginners: Introduction

dg28: New Technique Pages

dg28.com: Old Technique Pages

Basics Of Flash Photography

Learning To Light Better

Explained Lighting Schemes

 

[Kimba]

I agree with Toddlange on the last one with the eyes. As she is a slightly larger girl it's best to keep the arms away from the body to slim them down. if her arms are crossed or pressed against her she will appear bigger than she really is and no woman wants that!
also for future reference, if you do a shoot and you dont want then smiling then get them to press their tongue to the top of their mouth, this helps you not to smile and drws the cheeks in a fraction to highlight the cheekbones! a little tip i picked up when i was modelling.
your doing great keep it up.

 

[ToddLange]

I agree with Toddlange on the last one with the eyes. As she is a slightly larger girl it's best to keep the arms away from the body to slim them down. if her arms are crossed or pressed against her she will appear bigger than she really is and no woman wants that!
also for future reference, if you do a shoot and you dont want then smiling then get them to press their tongue to the top of their mouth, this helps you not to smile and drws the cheeks in a fraction to highlight the cheekbones! a little tip i picked up when i was modelling.
your doing great keep it up.

you can just call me todd. lols

thats great advice btw.

 

[fiveoboy01]

Is it me or is the white balance off?

Good first effort. Keep practicing, and read up on Samanax's links. I have been through many of them myself and there is some excellent reading material there.

 

[Kimba]

I agree with Toddlange on the last one with the eyes. As she is a slightly larger girl it's best to keep the arms away from the body to slim them down. if her arms are crossed or pressed against her she will appear bigger than she really is and no woman wants that!
also for future reference, if you do a shoot and you dont want then smiling then get them to press their tongue to the top of their mouth, this helps you not to smile and drws the cheeks in a fraction to highlight the cheekbones! a little tip i picked up when i was modelling.
your doing great keep it up.

you can just call me todd. lols

thats great advice btw.

no worries Todd, oh look at that we're like best friend already!!

 

[Hrern1313]

I agree with Toddlange on the last one with the eyes. As she is a slightly larger girl it's best to keep the arms away from the body to slim them down. if her arms are crossed or pressed against her she will appear bigger than she really is and no woman wants that!
also for future reference, if you do a shoot and you dont want then smiling then get them to press their tongue to the top of their mouth, this helps you not to smile and drws the cheeks in a fraction to highlight the cheekbones! a little tip i picked up when i was modelling.
your doing great keep it up.

Ooh thats really helpful, thank you!

 

[ToddLange]

I agree with Toddlange on the last one with the eyes. As she is a slightly larger girl it's best to keep the arms away from the body to slim them down. if her arms are crossed or pressed against her she will appear bigger than she really is and no woman wants that!
also for future reference, if you do a shoot and you dont want then smiling then get them to press their tongue to the top of their mouth, this helps you not to smile and drws the cheeks in a fraction to highlight the cheekbones! a little tip i picked up when i was modelling.
your doing great keep it up.

you can just call me todd. lols

thats great advice btw.

no worries Todd, oh look at that we're like best friend already!!

i always wanted a best friend!!!!!!!!!!!:hug:: :lmao:

 

[kundalini]

Good first go at protraits.

A couple of things that I noticed..... in all, the black bra strap is distracting. If she is insistent on wearing a bra for obvious reasons, then a strapless should be used with spaghetti string tops. I would also clone / heal the pierced ear holes without the jewelry in them

#1 - Crossed arms send a signal of "back off" even with her pleasant smile.

#2 - The missing white of her left eye gives a slightly manic expression.

#3 - It's a miss for me. Completely shut eyes means you miss timed the shot IMO.

#4 - Nice attempt at dramatic lighting, but her face (right side is completely in shadow without any features and left side lighting missed the mark. Back of hand is square with camera, giving a manly look.

#5 - Not a fan of selective coloring, but that's just a personal preference. DoF seems too shallow. I would try to lessen the faint sideburn hairs.

All in all, it's still a very good effort. I would suggest to try with her again as she seems friendly with the camera. Another thought is to shoot from a slightly higher PoV with plus size models (meant in the kindest way for those that are not a stick of macaroni).

Thanks for sharing.

 

[smn_xps]

I just noticed that she is making a bit of a shadow on the background in two of the shots.

try to move her forward to aviod this.

cheers
jerry

 

[wet]

I am not the expert....2 cents
#1 She seems too close to the background causing shadow on the backdrop & her face is not properly lit.
#2 is better but still too close to the backdrop & shadow on her right cheek seems like not enough fill light. Or maybe is the effect you try to achieve. Also, a bit of hairlight might be good.
#last one is the one I like the most, i don't care for the blue eye, I think a bit of hairlight will make it better too. Her hair seems too blend. Also, seems too soft. Mybe is my poor eyesight.