Model in the making

[TreeofLifeStairs]

Thanks for all the comments from everyone. I really appreciate it. As far as the cropping, that is the full frame so no extra room. After getting them off camera I did feel that they were a little cramped too. I did have an umbrella and the back of the chair that she was standing on to contend with to keep out of the frame. As far as the skin color/overall processing, I did an auto correction on the raw in PS. In the past I've processed to dark (my monitor still isn't calibrated), so I've been letting PS do what it think is best then tweak it from there. I did do a mask on the eyes and adjust the hue/saturation on them. I can see how they may be too blue, especially in the shade of the tree.

I had a flash set up camera right just behind perpendicular to her, so in the second photo her body is more facing it so it produced more of a highlight along her shoulder and chest and darkened her face. I did notice that it was a bit darker overall than the first, but didn't think it was enough to make any adjustment. I suppose it would look better to bring up the fill light in post.

Again, thank you for all the insights. Oh, and Jazzie, I didn't notice that orange bokeh at all until you mentioned it, but I don't think it would be a problem to change it.

 

[JustJazzie]

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.

Great info Derrel! She didn't mention adjusting based on skin tone, so I am glad that you chimed in to clarify. Does this method work better or the same as using spot meter and adjusting from there?

 

[Derrel]

Coming in CLOSE to the subject does one thing: it brings you close to them, where you can actually look with your eyes and literally SEE issues that need to be addressed, like hair,teeth,makeup,necktie knots,loose threads, hairs out of place, lipstick issues on teeth or over-painted too much, need for touch-up powder, and so on. I'm not kidding...when you come right in to within a few feet, you can check the subject's pose-readiness AND take a close-up meter reading. I personally prefer to take a close-up meter reading and have since the early 1980's when I encounter a person in a tricky lighting situation.I detest spot metering. I think it was a good tool before digital, for slow,careful, deliberate exposure determinations--but it is a true EXPERT'S tool! In the wrong hands, spot metering leads to disasters many times.

I grew up WITHOUT a spot meter. I almost never use my Nikon cameras with their spot meters. ANnd the main reason? It's super hair-trigger, and makes the camera into a single-frame, one-at-a-time, slow-shooting tool. If the spot is aimed a SLIGHT bit off, the exposure can vary huuuuuuugely. As in unrecoverably hugely, if the subject is moving or the shooting situation is fluid. The **exact** nature of the spot is so critical! Consequently, I do not like to use spot metering, because I like to shoot fast, and fluidly, and spot metering is a very slow way to shoot. I find it almost worthless, now that we have an image and histogram ready for review in .3 second after each shot is tripped off.

Pardon my French, but I always say, Spot meters lead to more f***k-ups than fix-ups!". Coming in close with just standard, center-weighted metering averages out the tones in the face, from the eye sockets to the nose to the cheek contouring, as well as the whole mask of the face.

I invented a memory device years ago for using in-camera metering. "If it's white, you need to add more light. If it's black, dial 'er back. If it's gray, then you stay."

Metering your own palm then adding one stop or so is a common, old method. If you meter a black Labrador dog and shoot AT the meter level suggested, the dog will be wayyyy to bright. If you meter and shoot centered up at twilight, everything will tend to look too bright. The light meter in some cameras can tell scene colors based on reflectance and measured RGB values (Nikon, and the new, non-color blind Canons). Each person needs to check his/her camera and how it meters under a wide range of lighting conditions.