Hello - Please tell me

[GeorgieGirl]

What I have done wrong and what I might have done right. I have a small space and am building my knowledge base. I love studio photography and its an aspect of photography that I have included as a serious hobby in my life. Would love to get it 'right'....This is my very first post after doing much reading and review here. Let me have it!

Thanks!!!

 

[oldmacman]

The image has a good range of tone, but the lighting is harsh and unflattering. For some reason, the red in the background has posterized (could be web compression). Nice attitude in the pose. Try balancing the key light and fill light a little more. She looks like she is right at the backdrop. Use a backlight or a spot to create some separation.

 

[dustin0479]

What did you use as a backdrop?

 

[GeorgieGirl]

What does posterized mean...I am unfamiliar with this term. And Thank You for your insight! I recently purchased a 3rd light for background, so its going to get better...

 

[GeorgieGirl]

What did you use as a backdrop?

Savage Paper...Crimson. I really like it. (i'd have to find the number if you want specifics)

 

[kundalini]

What Might Be Wrong"

Excessive negative space right side of frame.
Masculine position of her right hand.
Main light too hot causing loss of detail on her right cheek and harsh shadows on the forehead.
Showing top of trousers.
Shoulders rolling forward.
Lost chin / jawline.
Whimsical hair.



What you did right:

Whimiscal hair.
Decent separation of model to background.
Nice angular body position.
Whites are white and blacks are black.
2/3rds mask.


There's hardly ever more good than not when it comes to C&C. Don't take it too personal.

 

[oldmacman]

What does posterized mean...I am unfamiliar with this term. And Thank You for your insight! I recently purchased a 3rd light for background, so its going to get better...

Posterizing happens when colours and tones get pushed too far and the edges of colours become harsh and blocky rather than blending together.

 

[Frequency]

How about a vertical composition? the space behind her is non contributing negative space... this side of her face has no illumination; a shaded face can take away the cheer; if you observe the other side of her face reflects the vitality, but not this side

Her over weight also should not be overlooked, i feel

Regards

 

[GeorgieGirl]

The girl in the photo is not a model, she is a good sport that I am able to practice lighting with and I know that she is having fun while giving me the time I need to practice. The post was for feedback on the lighting and composition.

I appreciate the comments that pertain to the photo, which by the way is not adjusted or cropped and for which simple fixes to correct some of the issues raised are easily accomplished. Its just a basic shot to use for lighting feedback, however the posing comments that have been noted by some have been insightful too.

 

[GeorgieGirl]

Posterizing happens when colours and tones get pushed too far and the edges of colours become harsh and blocky rather than blending together.

Thanks, I plan to be more aware of this and train my eye a bit better! I did some reading up on this...Perhaps due to JPEG and not RAW. The noise reduction on my camera is set to off. Otherwise, the photo is as it was taken, no work was done on it to diminish the quality.

 

[kundalini]

For lighting, drop power on your main light to bring back some color and skin texture and add some fill flash to remove the dark shadow in the corner of her left eye and eliminate the hair shadow on her forehead.

Out of curiosity, what is your lighting setup?

 

[c.cloudwalker]

One can only learn by trying. And if you are able to show your stuff here and not freak out at the responses, you will learn faster. Especially if you keep in mind that not every one here knows anymore than you do. You will get to know members and you will get to know who to listen to and who to just ignore.

At the same time, it is the more advanced photogs that should be ignored sometimes, lol. They can get into a rut on how to do things that does not allow for creativity.

That said, I don't like this photo much. Your lighting is neither here nor there. It is neither flat to make everything smooth nor dramatic enough to create interest.

Also, her hair is a total mess but we could say this is part of the styling of this particular image. Her hand is killing me though. Because we don't see any of the arm between the hand and the shoulder, it could be Itt's hand and I don't think that's what you meant.

The background is fine. It may not be totally smooth color wise but it's not that bad. To me it is actually better than a totally smooth color. The choice of color may not be the best as it brings concerns about the color of her skin. There are some reddish spots that fit a wino better than a pretty girl. Are they due to or emphasized by the background's color is the question.

Her chin buried in her shoulder is not very good either.

Vertical vs horizontal composition is of no importance to me. Yes, traditionally, a lot of portraits are vertical but, to me, that is a very good reason to shoot horizontally. Negative space, in spite of its name, is not a bad thing. If you use it right. In this case, I don't see it as horrible, far from it.

I am only one person and what I say is only my opinion. You need to learn what it is YOU like and why. There are basic guidelines in photography but that is all they are, guidelines. However, getting away from those usually works better when you have a good reason to do so.

Hope that helps.

 

[GeorgieGirl]

Ok Thanks!...for the last two questions...the limits of my lighting knowledge and the gain of it will be via trial and error, no doubt about that.

I had been using one light with a softbox and a reflector. For this exercise I wanted to add a second light to see what the effect would be. So that was really the assignment, using two lights and a reflector.

Part of the setup was to try to determine proper placement of all of the elements based on rules that I knew and rules that I needed to learn following the assignment. The elements that I was focusing on were:

1. Size of softboxes
2. Placement
3. Distance to subject
4. and Metering

So what I started out with was a 3x4 softbox for the main light, but it did not turn out to be the main light due to the imbalance with the fill light which was mainly used to place some light at the background and spill over to the back of the girl by using a 1x4 strip. And add to the two lights the reflector (white) used to fill on my left. Plus that the light was a diagonal of two lights main on my right, strip at left back and reflector, left. White balance was set via custom and grey card. In this instance I was using my 17-55, therefore, extra space in the photos since there were two girls in the photos when this started and I didn't change my lens when the other girl said she was done.

Probably the biggest issue/lesson learned is the imbalance of the lights as has been pointed out and just as recent as today I may have finally understood to meter better/correctly/differently/properly.

Yet as rules apply if I start to break down some of the lighting of the photo and the effect, here is where I come out despite the effort.

1. I don't mind the horizontal, I could crop it square for fun.
2. I like the whimsical hair, I want to be able to repeat that kind of effect again but more controlled.
3. The pose was not a pose, just random movement by the girl so for me the pose and the hand has little to do with the photo exercise. (I know its killing a bunch of you all though) but I am not up to anything at this juncture more than getting the lighting sorted out but the notes on posing are good and I will carry them forward!

4. and most important to me...I don't want to take safe photos, I want to create photos that have an edge to them, like the result of the hair, so that is something that I want to be able to accomplish. This is my hobby, this is for fun, and I want it to be fun and look fun. I don't want to take a rules photo just because I have the equipment to do so or learn how to do so, I want to take a rules photo and give it some creative spark.

So there you have it. I can't tell you ho much this has helped. I have read today, all day, and I have learned a lot by sharing just this one photo and really having the notes from everyone to make me think and make me learn more to get better. Keep the kindness flowing!