Girl portrait C&C please

[KreGg]

Hey, so I took my girlfriend out for some shooting.
I came up with some pics I really liked (and more difficult than that, some that she liked).
What do you find of these?

PS: I did some pp, like cropping and softnening of the skin

#1

#2

 

[BekahAura]

My Thoughts:

#1: It looks like she's really stiff in this shot. Like she's holding her breath, or trying to hold her stomach in or something. I would turn this into a head shot and crop out the bottom half.

#2: I love this shot. Great expression, love how her hair is windblown (or was she turning her head?). I just wish you didn't cut off the top of her head. If it were me I'd get rid of the bra strap.

Good job, keep shooting!

 

[KreGg]

Thanks BekahAura,

#1: I was trying to get her to pose, and she tried to pose it like that.. I took the picture anyway, and looking at it after in the computer I liked it. Hmm I will give it a shot with a tighter crop.

#2: Yep, I had her turn her head and with the wind blowing that direction it all made for a good shot. This is the cropped version, I have her full head on the uncropped version. I was just reading Kelby's book the other day, and he talks about cutting the top of people's head in portrait, and that its being used a lot nowadays...

Thanks for the input!

 

[MLeeK]

I am not on a fully calibrated monitor right now and I have a suspicion that the first is a little dark on the face. I like the shot and definitely agree on the cropping, however an 8x10 crop will naturally do that for you, so where you have left it for now is fine. My color is good on this monitor, just not my brightness-skin looks great in this one. Focus seems to be spot on. I'd like to see a little more light in the eyes if it is as dark as I suspect. With a slight brightening of the eyes I think I'd even like the little bit of dark on the face. It's a beautiful shot!

2 is a bit soft on the eyes which appears to be some motion if you look for an eyelash. Skin tone is a bit yellow on this one. I also like the movement in her hair on this one. It's definitely a much more natural look than the first. Exposure is probably spot on if I were on a better monitor on this one. Trust someone else on that though!!!

 

[KreGg]

Thanks MLeeK. I don't really know about the dark on the face you talking about. Light was hitting her from her left side, and with the hat on, her right side was a little darker indeed than the left side.

Cheers

 

[KreGg]

anyone see something more, any more critiques? Please do so

 

[cnutco]

Do you have a few more shots that are not so tight?

 

[KreGg]

hmm I do have the uncropped versions which have a bit more of the surroundings and body and have a few others catching more also.I just thought it benefit from a tight crop, filling the frame and keeping the background neutral.But why exactly do you ask this?
thanks

And by the way, thanks bekahAura for pointing out the bra trap. I got it off in photoshop! Looks better now indeed

 

[MTVision]

hmm I do have the uncropped versions which have a bit more of the surroundings and body and have a few others catching more also.I just thought it benefit from a tight crop, filling the frame and keeping the background neutral.But why exactly do you ask this?
thanks

And by the way, thanks bekahAura for pointing out the bra trap. I got it off in photoshop! Looks better now indeed

I'm on my phone but I feel like the crop is too tight. The background already looks pretty neutral and blurred out. Your crop went right into her arm/elbow in the first one and part of her hair is cropped out of the 2nd one. I mean they aren't huge things. In the 2nd she looks really good and has a carefree, relaxed pose but she is so cramped in the frame. I don't know if this makes any sense but i'd like to see a shot without such a tight crop!

 

[cnutco]

hmm I do have the uncropped versions which have a bit more of the surroundings and body and have a few others catching more also.I just thought it benefit from a tight crop, filling the frame and keeping the background neutral.But why exactly do you ask this?
thanks

And by the way, thanks bekahAura for pointing out the bra trap. I got it off in photoshop! Looks better now indeed

I'm on my phone but I feel like the crop is too tight. The background already looks pretty neutral and blurred out. Your crop went right into her arm/elbow in the first one and part of her hair is cropped out of the 2nd one. I mean they aren't huge things. In the 2nd she looks really good and has a carefree, relaxed pose but she is so cramped in the frame. I don't know if this makes any sense but i'd like to see a shot without such a tight crop!

Agreed.

I think of the background to be the location that I choose to have the shoot at. I try to choose the location to have the background add something to the photo. You then compose all of the elements in your frame so that the eye is drawn to your subject and then the eye is drawn to other lesser important elements in the photo making it more interesting than just a head and should shot.