It's fun being a photographer

[binga63]

The first time I shot this woman was in a group shoot, frustrating as hell and it showed on her face... so I asked her back for a one on one shoot to make up for the stress and to see if I could get more than what was first seen...her are 3 different shots and I think that it was worth it


Vanessa by Chris Crossley, on Flickr


Vanessa by Chris Crossley, on Flickr


Vanessa by Chris Crossley, on Flickr

 

[EOV]

The second one is very nice and it shows her personality the best. IMHO of course.

 

[LarryLomona]

Yes, the second one.

 

[mmaria]

#1 I'm curious why didn't you apply some kind of texture/textures? you could do your thing and it would make a great portrait.
#2 great pose and expression. she will be very pleased
#3 you showed her imperfection and years. I'm not sure if I'm seeing this properly but it looks like you tried to bring details from the shadowed side of her, too much.

of course, jmo

 

[amolitor]

The first one is underexposed (?) or at any rate dim, non-traditional, hides one of her eyes for crying out loud, and not very flattering. Also, it's excellent.

The others are kind of eh, the lights strike me as too hot, and it feels like you and she are going for a sort of Standard Portraiture look of one sort or another, so she's reading very posed, "best foot forward" and not very interesting. On the up side, your mastery of backgrounds really shows in these, whether you lit them or photoshopped 'em, they appear to me spot on.

 

[tirediron]

I like #2; I think the lighting is just a touch hot, but nothing that couldn't easily be tweaked.

 

[Derrel]

I'm not enamored of the first or third shots, but I do kind of like the second frame. I wish she had a bit more head space on it though, and I'm not sure how I feel about the border treatment it has. As Tirediron was mentioning, maybe the highlight on her forehead should be toned down just a tiny bit...seems a tiny bit more specular than needed--and because of that, and the feel of the lighting, I bet #2 would make a sweet,sweet B&W!

 

[terri37 8]

That's an interesting set. I would agree that #2 is the strongest of them, with the posture and her open, natural expression. The lighting indeed may be a little hot but she looks relaxed and confident.

I think she looks great in the first one - but would suggest a soft-focus filter to smooth out the complexion. In the third image, the lighting is so strong it appears to be throwing "worry lines" on her forehead, giving her a puckered brow and overall tense look. I agree that the backgrounds are nice in each of them.

 

[binga63]

I agree with most that has been said, my intent was to give back something and to see if what I saw was possible to get out of her...and yes she was very "Posed" it was hard to get a relaxed shot, I succeeded in a few and hopefully as my skillset increases I will be able to get more

from the group shoot all I saw was stress and tension

Tension by Chris Crossley, on Flickr

one on one... I can see less tension there

One on One is better by Chris Crossley, on Flickr

 

[Derrel]

Yeah...tension in front of a camera is a feeling many people, esp. older people, have. I usually try to tell people my philosophy of photography, which is that not every shot needs to be a smile, not every shot needs to be perfect, not every shot needs to be posed, and not all shots are gonna be good, and that we want a VARIETY of looks and expressions and moods. I think people 40 years old and older tend to be the most-rigid, the most stressed, since they grew up in the "film era", and might very well have longstanding 'issues' with picture-taking. I used to shoot portraits at some high volume studios, so I'm familiar with the forced smilers, the blinkers,the FAKE-smilers, the I-hate-my-picture-taken'ers , and the Let's-Get-This-Over-With types...and the world is filled with them, and more...

I once had a kid who came in with his Mom and some of his brothers and sisters, and his Mother said to him under her breath, "You are going to behave, and you are GOING TO smile when he says smile, or ELSE, Godd**nit!" needless to say, that kind of childhood photo-related issue is actually somewhat more common than some people might realize.

 

[rexbobcat]

I like the second one as well, although on my screen her skin seems a little magenta. I know this might sound weird but she has very cheerful cheekbones. Smiling flatters her.

I'm just curious, was the RAW third photo really overexposed? It has the signs of overexposure because of the harsh highlight transition and patches of mottled discoloration.