Model in the making

TreeofLifeStairs · Jun 23, 2014

My daughter told me she wanted to take some pictures so I set things up outside and she started doing a bunch of poses. I didn't coach her at all I just clicked away. Let me know what you think.

ronlane · Jun 23, 2014

Cute little lady you have there for sure. You may get some that say they are a little too tightly cropped, but I'm okay with them as they are. The second one being a little under exposed is more of an issue for me.

Keep on shooting her as long as she'll let you.

JustJazzie · Jun 23, 2014

What a cutie! Almost makes me want a little girl!

These are super cute, but I agree that the second one might be a little dark. Maybe just bringing up the shadows a bit would help, epically around the eyes.

One more thing, and this is a nit pick, but on number one, you have some colored bokeh that I find a little distracting.... Perhaps you could selectively desaturated that? Maybe there is a better way; I'm not the best at PP techniques, but the blue and orange colors are definitely pulling me away from the main subject.

Great shots though, and a fantastic subject.

frommrstomommy · Jun 23, 2014

How cute! What a lil diva haha.. the biggest standouts for me are the processing.. something seems a little off with skintones but I can't quite pinpoint what and her eyes look overprocessed to me?

robbins.photo · Jun 23, 2014

I've got a double barrel 10 gauge side by side I can loan you for when she gets old enough to start dating.

Sent from my LG-LG730 using Tapatalk

Braineack · Jun 23, 2014

frommrstomommy said:
How cute! What a lil diva haha.. the biggest standouts for me are the processing.. something seems a little off with skintones but I can't quite pinpoint what and her eyes look overprocessed to me?

I agree here, maybe a touch too much clarity, and it needs to be warmed up.

Next time also try shooting stopped down 1 or 2 so you can get her completely in focus. Fill flash wouldn't have hurt here either, but great shots none-the-less.

ronlane · Jun 23, 2014

frommrstomommy said:
How cute! What a lil diva haha.. the biggest standouts for me are the processing.. something seems a little off with skintones but I can't quite pinpoint what and her eyes look overprocessed to me?

(hopes Bonnie doesn't look at my latest portraits if she thinks these eyes are over processed.)

JustJazzie · Jun 23, 2014

frommrstomommy said:
How cute! What a lil diva haha.. the biggest standouts for me are the processing.. something seems a little off with skintones but I can't quite pinpoint what and her eyes look overprocessed to me?

I actually really like the eyes!! I don't think they are over processed at all, personally.

Tree of life: a friend of mine, who does portriats, portriats and more portriats suggests this technique for really creamy skin:

Stick the camera in manual mode. Walk up to the subject and fill the frame with their face only to get your metering correct. Then, over exposing that meter reading by 1/3 stop. I can't argue with her results. She always ends up with a really smooth look to her portriats! Though I'm not sure how much of that is her PP methods.

frommrstomommy · Jun 23, 2014

JustJazzie said:
frommrstomommy said:

How cute! What a lil diva haha.. the biggest standouts for me are the processing.. something seems a little off with skintones but I can't quite pinpoint what and her eyes look overprocessed to me?

Click to expand...

I actually really like the eyes!! I don't think they are over processed at all, personally.

Tree of life: a friend of mine, who does portriats, portriats and more portriats suggests this technique for really creamy skin:

Stick the camera in manual mode. Walk up to the subject and fill the frame with their face only to get your metering correct. Then, over exposing that meter reading by 1/3 stop. I can't argue with her results. She always ends up with a really smooth look to her portriats! Though I'm not sure how much of that is her PP methods.

I'm actually really curious about that method.. interesting! I may have to try something like this.

Designer · Jun 23, 2014

Very nice! I agree with Braineack's comments and will add that you've cropped these too closely. I hope you have a little more space in the originals for some "room to breathe" and a little more margin for framing.

JustJazzie · Jun 23, 2014

frommrstomommy said:
I'm actually really curious about that method.. interesting! I may have to try something like this.

Give it a shot! I tried it with my studio strobes and was pretty happy with the results, though I feel like its "different" with flash. She's a "natural light" photographer, and it really seems to work for shooting in that setting,

frommrstomommy · Jun 23, 2014

ronlane said:
frommrstomommy said:

How cute! What a lil diva haha.. the biggest standouts for me are the processing.. something seems a little off with skintones but I can't quite pinpoint what and her eyes look overprocessed to me?

Click to expand...

(hopes Bonnie doesn't look at my latest portraits if she thinks these eyes are over processed.)

*goes hunting*

frommrstomommy · Jun 23, 2014

I think its just the REALLY blue-ness to them, considering where it looks like she's placed as far as where the sun is hitting her. They almost look purple to me?

And Ron.. I just found them. haha Slightly over processed.. but to me, more "acceptable" because its clear they have strong light hitting their faces which naturally really illuminates light eyes.

ronlane · Jun 23, 2014

frommrstomommy said:
I think its just the REALLY blue-ness to them, considering where it looks like she's placed as far as where the sun is hitting her. They almost look purple to me?

And Ron.. I just found them. haha Slightly over processed.. but to me, more "acceptable" because its clear they have strong light hitting their faces which naturally really illuminates light eyes.

I see what you are saying. There were a couple that I had to go in and back them down a little bit more because they were really strong. I use a technique I learned from Scott Kelby. I duplicate the layer and choose blend mode Screen. Then hide that behind a layer mask and paint in the eyes and change the opacity to anywhere from 30%-75% depending on the look or my taste.

Derrel · Jun 23, 2014

Awww, she's cute, doing her little poses and stuff. I thought her eyes looked reallllly blue. I didn't even stop to think that might be processing. As far as light metering from really close-upo on the face, that is called taking a close-up meter reading, and was standard operating procedure for about three decades, before spot meters became built-in to many cameras. It does work. Add 1/3 to 1/2 stop for caucasian skin, subtract a tiny bit for darker skin, subtract as much as one stop for people from places like Nigeria and so on.