Margarita's Pre-semester Portraits

rexbobcat · Aug 30, 2012

I met up with a friend from high school and took some photos of her before the semester started since I haven't had a chance to photograph another person in forever.

The only reason I put the name in the bottom corner is because they went on FB so at least I would have a chance to get maybe some credit even though she could have just as easily cropped it out. lol.

(I know that one of the eyes is slightly OOF on I think the 5th one and maybe one of the others...I think...It's definitely OOF on the 5th one, though)

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Derrel · Aug 30, 2012

Whoa...notch those sliders back about 40%...

rexbobcat · Aug 30, 2012

Which slider? XD

I know 5 might be a little much on the saturation side.

tirediron · Aug 30, 2012

I think I'd prefer to see them as either a square 'head and shoulders' crop, or to have included all of the arms. The cropped arms/elbows/hands feel awkward to me.

amolitor · Aug 30, 2012

Saturation and contrast are both a bit punched for my taste. The shadows are gone, and her eyes are a little too much like black pits. I don't think either one is doing her skin any favors. Good appealing poses, nice light. She's a pretty girl and you handled her well, except for what I've noted.

rexbobcat · Aug 30, 2012

Yeah I noticed the eye "blackness." I reduced some of the shadows on her eyes as much as I could without it looking too bright and weird. I had the flash position a little too far behind her I think, so her brow shaded her eyes.

What do you mean about her skin tones? Is she too orange?

amolitor · Aug 30, 2012

I think the contrast and saturation are emphasizing unevenness in her skin. She doesn't quite look "blotchy" but she's headed in that direction. Reducing contrast pushes the tones closer together and reducing saturation pushes the colors closer together, which would give a smoother appearance to her skin.

Women are funny about how their skin looks

rexbobcat · Aug 30, 2012

Ah yeah. I didn't really understand what you meant at first lol.

I really need to get a second reflector/diffuser. I think some of the blotchiness is partly because I have the flash (it was a speedlite) too close to the diffuser so the light wasn't spread evenly enough, and there was evening ambient light coming in image left.

I didn't really notice it until I put the photos on my computer, but I'm just glad I actually managed to take my flash off-camera without it looking too horrible. Still needs some work, though, obviously.

On a side note: Does anyone know exactly how to get skin tones and light completely even? I can't ever get the skin tones (like above) to be have the soft, creamy, flattering look to peoples' skin. I always have a little shadow here, or a little hotspot here, especially when using a reflector.

DiskoJoe · Aug 30, 2012

#5 ftw. I like the poses on the first few too but think the crop is a bit tight. I dig the saturation but thats me.

DiskoJoe · Aug 30, 2012

rexbobcat said:
Ah yeah. I didn't really understand what you meant at first lol.

I really need to get a second reflector/diffuser. I think some of the blotchiness is partly because I have the flash (it was a speedlite) too close to the diffuser so the light wasn't spread evenly enough, and there was evening ambient light coming in image left.

I didn't really notice it until I put the photos on my computer, but I'm just glad I actually managed to take my flash off-camera without it looking too horrible. Still needs some work, though, obviously.

On a side note: Does anyone know exactly how to get skin tones and light completely even? I can't ever get the skin tones (like above) to be have the soft, creamy, flattering look to peoples' skin. I always have a little shadow here, or a little hotspot here, especially when using a reflector.

magic