My Nieces...

[artoledo]

So my nieces wanted me to shoot some pics of them to show their friends. I got a couple with a red Silverlake Background and a few with seamless paper. C&C is appreciated.

No skin smoothing on this one.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4086/5065190341_9d5ed812d5_z.jp

 

[Derrel]

More girls, less background would be nice...a half-body shot down to below the waist would look more natural, with the camera held in the vertical orientation...horizontal shots from this distance crop off the body at unflattering points...

 

[artoledo]

More girls, less background would be nice...a half-body shot down to below the waist would look more natural, with the camera held in the vertical orientation...horizontal shots from this distance crop off the body at unflattering points...

Thanks for the tip Derrel!

 

[KAikens318]

I LOVE that dark pink background!!

They are both very pretty, portrait instead of landscape would show more of them and less background as Derrel suggested.

 

[Studio7Four]

I like the shots with the seamless background. They're well lit, and I personally like the composition using the landscape orientation. I also like the little bit of 'tude your niece is showing in the last shot.

I'm not as big a fan of the muslin shots. The single light setup isn't really working for me. I'd try to get a little more separation between the subject and the background (so you don't get the harsh shadow). You can also try to keep an eye on how your subject is using the light. Notice the difference between the first shot, in which your niece is slightly turned away from the light (so it both strikes the side of her face too squarely and creates deep shadows), and the third shot.

It's great that you have such willing models. They definitely look comfortable in front of the camera, take advantage of that!

 

[artoledo]

I LOVE that dark pink background!!

They are both very pretty, portrait instead of landscape would show more of them and less background as Derrel suggested.

Thank you!

I like the shots with the seamless background. They're well lit, and I personally like the composition using the landscape orientation. I also like the little bit of 'tude your niece is showing in the last shot.

I'm not as big a fan of the muslin shots. The single light setup isn't really working for me. I'd try to get a little more separation between the subject and the background (so you don't get the harsh shadow). You can also try to keep an eye on how your subject is using the light. Notice the difference between the first shot, in which your niece is slightly turned away from the light (so it both strikes the side of her face too squarely and creates deep shadows), and the third shot.

It's great that you have such willing models. They definitely look comfortable in front of the camera, take advantage of that!

Thanks for the tips!

 

[portrait tips]

Hi Artoledo,
I agree with all the comments, sorry if I replicate.
Generally it's a good practice to turn the body away from the light and the face back towards the light, placing the light in the eyes at around 10 or 2 o'clock. Your number 3 image is so close, you just need to turn her body away to her right more. Turning her face so the nose points away from camera and her eyes back to camera was well done. This is more flattering where as number 2, the nose appears broader.( beautiful smile though)
Number 1 is broad lit and is not the best for her shaped face - short lit as in number 3 would be more flattering for her.
Suggest moving another metre forward from the background and if you want the portraits in landscape style try offsetting the girls - eg: place the right eye of number 3 on the top third intersecting line for a starting point and crop the image a bit tighter.
The girls are very pretty and it's worth reshooting with some fine tuning.
I hope you take this as constructive c&c.
You can visit my portrait tips and techniques blog for free info on portraiture.
regards
Wayne
http://www.portraittipsandtechniques.com