First work with a "model"

[Derrel]

Can you imagine how insanely great these would have been is you'd shot them with a 6x6 format camera??? All the chops would have been eliminated, and you'd have a great big image to crop into to get it 'just right'. I do like the simplicity of this set...lovely woman in timeless clothing, simple hair style, minimal almost no makeup look, good teeth, that irritating green hairband on one wrist...but the chops are killing these poses. Makes me wanna smack you and yell "BACK UP, dude!" The poses she was in were okay, but the way the narrow 3:2 frame aspect ratio has been deployed makes the pictures feel uncomfortable. But man, she sure is a lovely lady. Maybe some of these can be salvaged by tighter cropping?

On #6, the flash on background. One thing I see is that the flash is angled upward somewhat, and that has the effect of raking the light across the backdrop, thus actually creating visual shadows and highlighting wrinkles. The best way to do that is to make sure the background light is aimed square-on at the backdrop material, and is not "angled" in any highly directional way. Unless you do want to create a textured or lines and shadows kind of look.

As far as the lighting goes, on #2 and #3, I think it looks simply awesome. VERY classic,simple, appealing lighting. EXCELLENT lighting ratio! It looks just...awesome on her, with those clothes and that skin coloration and those expressions/poses. The way the light sweeps across the entire broad width of her face in #5 and #6 causes her face 'mask' to be lighted up entirely, and widens her face quite a bit, and is not as flattering a way to apply the light as it is in #2 and #3, which serve to slim-down her face, and adds drama with the shadowed side being visible. In 5 and 6, there isn't much in shadow.

If you are using speedlights without modeling lamps, it's difficult to actually SEE what the light placement/model positioning combination actually looks like until an image has been shot and is under review. That makes learning/practicing very much a trial-and-error process.

 

[leeroix]

If you tethered the camera would that help with composition? You can "see" things that are missed on the tiny LCD of your camera...

 

[Derrel]

If you tethered the camera would that help with composition? You can "see" things that are missed on the tiny LCD of your camera...

I think sometimes the beauty and magnetism of an attractive person of the opposite gender, combined with working on new techniques or new equipment gives a person "tunnel vision". And speaking of tunnel vision...many d-slr cameras have a viewfinder that's a lot like a tunnel...peering down into it, it's not all that big.

Shooting tethered, or using Live View...either of those things might have changed the way you were photographing. But as I see it, the real issue is how VERY challenging it is to do this type of people photography with a narrow-aspect ratio camera, like a 3:2 d-slr...the frame is so doggone SKINNY in vertical mode, and so doggone SHORT from top to bottom in horizontal mode...

 

[jwbryson1]

What are you...NEW?

 

[runnah]

Can you imagine how insanely great these would have been is you'd shot them with a 6x6 format camera??? All the chops would have been eliminated, and you'd have a great big image to crop into to get it 'just right'. I do like the simplicity of this set...lovely woman in timeless clothing, simple hair style, minimal almost no makeup look, good teeth, that irritating green hairband on one wrist...but the chops are killing these poses. Makes me wanna smack you and yell "BACK UP, dude!" The poses she was in were okay, but the way the narrow 3:2 frame aspect ratio has been deployed makes the pictures feel uncomfortable. But man, she sure is a lovely lady. Maybe some of these can be salvaged by tighter cropping?

On #6, the flash on background. One thing I see is that the flash is angled upward somewhat, and that has the effect of raking the light across the backdrop, thus actually creating visual shadows and highlighting wrinkles. The best way to do that is to make sure the background light is aimed square-on at the backdrop material, and is not "angled" in any highly directional way. Unless you do want to create a textured or lines and shadows kind of look.

As far as the lighting goes, on #2 and #3, I think it looks simply awesome. VERY classic,simple, appealing lighting. EXCELLENT lighting ratio! It looks just...awesome on her, with those clothes and that skin coloration and those expressions/poses. The way the light sweeps across the entire broad width of her face in #5 and #6 causes her face 'mask' to be lighted up entirely, and widens her face quite a bit, and is not as flattering a way to apply the light as it is in #2 and #3, which serve to slim-down her face, and adds drama with the shadowed side being visible. In 5 and 6, there isn't much in shadow.

If you are using speedlights without modeling lamps, it's difficult to actually SEE what the light placement/model positioning combination actually looks like until an image has been shot and is under review. That makes learning/practicing very much a trial-and-error process.

You are my new favorite.

Yeah I really regret cutting of elbows on these. It is entirely due to my noobness when it come to people.

I did use a flashes to light these so I have a bunch of trial and error shots. The main problem I had was that I had the reflector too close and had to shoot around that. I am hoping to have another session at some point to work the bugs out .

 

[kanuski]

I think she looks better on the darker background. Especially with the white shirt.

 

[Patrice]

Runnah your model is simply gorgeous, job well done getting the beauty to shine through.

I can't help but wonder how 1, 2 and 3 would have turned out with just a touch of back light on her hair and right shoulder, just enough to separate her from the dark background.