Half a face, does it work?

[MissCream]

I now have a live in model and it's FANTASTIC, I can pretty much shoot whenever I want I needed a new picture for my webpage so we did a quick 10 minute shoot. This was the test the light shot so it was the first and I decided to edit it while I waited for the rest of the pictures to upload in LR. I cropped it like this because the other side of her face was pretty much all shadow (not in a good way). Anywho I think it looks kinda cool , my only complaint is that I wish you could see more of the side of her nose. Oh and the "backdrop" was her yellow sweater
The second picture was the one I am going to use as the background of my website. I puropsly cropped the top of her head off, it's not shot that way. I need a new skin smoothing technique!

Sorry for the poor quality, they are from Facebook because I am on my laptop and I'm downloading something on my desktop that is taking forever...

1.

2.

 

[Robin Usagani]

I dig it. Maybe work on the eyes and the make up so it pops more?

 

[powasky]

They both seem overexposed to me. Her skin just...all blends together, not in a good way.

 

[tirediron]

I like the idea in #1, but your key seems a bit hot to me; I would try and dial it down 1/3 - 1/2 stop. I also think that you want to consider using a smlaler SB; the catchlight is just a little too large. #2 just isn't working for me; the catchlights are too big and too centered in her eyes, but what really bothers me is the lack of shadow around her nose. At a quick glance it blends into her cheek and makes her look deformed. Reducing the lighting on her left side by 2/3 stop would provide a bit of shadow here and really improve the image.

I think you've got some great ideas here, but I would try tuning the lighting just a little more.

 

[MissCream]

I like the idea in #1, but your key seems a bit hot to me; I would try and dial it down 1/3 - 1/2 stop. I also think that you want to consider using a smlaler SB; the catchlight is just a little too large. #2 just isn't working for me; the catchlights are too big and too centered in her eyes, but what really bothers me is the lack of shadow around her nose. At a quick glance it blends into her cheek and makes her look deformed. Reducing the lighting on her left side by 2/3 stop would provide a bit of shadow here and really improve the image.

I think you've got some great ideas here, but I would try tuning the lighting just a little more.

Thanks

My soft boxes are 2x2, I just got a light meter and FORGOT TO USE IT... I'll see if I can fix what you mentioned in PS. I honestly think it's my skin smoothing (mostly) that is making her skin blend together because it wasn't like that before I did it.

 

[BJF]

It did work.

 

[mwcfarms]

I like the first but agree with the catch light overpowering her eye, and it being a bit hot. I enjoy the first picture but get a bit distracted by the beauty mark/mole. I am not a fan of the second. Awkward crop for me. It's ok with the top cut off but not enough on the bottom kwim? And the catchlight is a bit centered.

 

[KmH]

For me, in the 1/3 rd face shot, the composition is good, but there is insufficeint DOF and she is way to close to the background.

 

[MissCream]

Thanks for the critiques everyone! I'll give it another go

 

[Starskream666]

Get rid of that spot on her lip

 

[g-fi]

If the first one was rotated slightly so that the dividing line went straight down the middle of her bottom lip, I'd like it better, but I am super OCD and picky about symmetry in shots where it's emphasized. Overall these are great though! I would clean up the hair in front of her ear, or just be super aware next time to tuck those hairs back or clone them out, it's just a little bit distracting from the overall image. The large catchlights don't bother me, but when I use studio lights I shoot with large softboxes too, so the square catchlights aren't an issue for me. Beautiful model!!