Out of my comfort zone (simple portraits C&C welcome)

[cauzimme]

So one of my good friend is a hairstylist, she's building her port and ask me if I could help her, I agree even tho, it's not really my thing.

Here's the first 2 I had time to edit;
Any C&C welcome, hope she's gonna be happy with the photos.

ISO 100,
f8, 1\100
85mm


1.

2.

 

[weepete]

I think these are excellent shots. If anything I'd consider getting a touch more light on the hair or lifting it slightly in post as it looks to me like a little detail is being lost in the shadows. I am on my phone though so it could be my screen that's a little off.

 

[cherylynne1]

These are incredible! I think you should definitely look into doing portraits like this more often, they're gorgeous.

 

[mmaria]

I think:
- you went too far with the skin smoothing.
- the lighting isn't particularly nice... f.e. you have big bright areas that shouldn't be that bright at all. #1 between her dress and shoulders at the front #2 her back ... those areas demandes more attention because they the brightest part of her
- they could use some more of bg separation
- keep attention to the eyes/pupil position when posing

(watching these on a crappy monitor at work so... maybe I'm not right at all)

 

[Braineack]

lovely.

 

[Designer]

Any C&C welcome,

IMO, the first one has the brightest area on the model's chest, and her hair is on the opposite side of her head. The hair should be the star of this photo shoot.

The second is much better because you've positioned the light to be concentrated on the hair.

 

[tirediron]

Having seen other work, I know you can do better! That's not to say that are bad, but rather, they could be better. In the first, your key light is blasting her right in the chest, cauing highlights that have washed all the tone out of her skin, as well as a nasty hot spot on her right cheek. The exposure & lighting on her back and left side of her face is absolutely perfect. Unfortunately as a hair shot, this is a total fail because there's not enough lgiht on her hair; the area nearest the viewer's eye is a dark, almost detailless blob. I think your key should have been the hairlight; a large softbox up high at about 45 off of vertical, and then a strip box on each side for fill. I would strongly recommend NOT posing a dark haired hair model against a black background and watch your lower crop; all of the breasts or none of the breasts, not through the breasts.

#2 has much better overall lighting, but again loses as a hair shot because there's a large dark, mass with almost no detail. Additionally, there's way too much of the rest of the model here. Yes, she's beautiful, but it's a hair shot; we really don't need anything below the shoulders in this one.

 

[JoeW]

Very good first results with some room for improvement.

#1: Lighting is uneven. Hair at the top of her forehead is almost completely black/dark. Parts of her face are washed out. Less dynamic range would be better for this photo. And...she looks lovely and most of her hair if fine--I think your client will love this photo despite my comments.

#2: Hair on the top/front of the model's head needs more detail, it's a tad too dark (easy for this to happen with a bright white background).

Tips for shooting for a hairdresser/stylist: you're looking for shots that do two things:
1. Show off the hair clearly and provide detail. So a client can point to a photo and say "I want to look like that but with longer bangs." Often times clients seeking this will have a series of shots (like: 8 different types of braids, 4 difference versions of dreadlocks, etc.) to help clients choose. In other words, there is enough detail so a good critic can use the photo as a reference and it attests to the skill of the stylist. That's also a reason for closer crops so these are more headshots.
2. The person in the photo looks stylish and happening and less observant people will look at it and go "oh, I want to look like here--make me look stylish too!" This approach can justify showing more of the model (less of a headshot).

Ideally, you can do both. But talk to your client and get a better feel for what she wants you to focus (no pun intended) on.

Lovely work and thanks for sharing.

 

[Vtec44]

I love the lighting. It's very creative and on point. I love that it creates pleasant and quality shadows. Shadows create shapes and dimensions and I think you did an excellent job in lighting your subject. The only thing that stands out a bit is the bright spot on the first girl's right cheek, and that I'd love to see her on a more neutral backdrop as her hair and dress are a dark.

BTW, I can still see texture on the skin of both girls so IMHO skin smoothing is just the right amount.

Good job. I don't think I could have done any better

 

[otherprof]

So one of my good friend is a hairstylist, she's building her port and ask me if I could help her, I agree even tho, it's not really my thing.

Here's the first 2 I had time to edit;
Any C&C welcome, hope she's gonna be happy with the photos.

ISO 100,
f8, 1\100
85mm


1.

2.

Probably just me since no one else has commented on it, but I find the black lipstick extremely distracting. My eyes go there every time, not to the hair.

 

[cauzimme]

Thank for the CC, some great advice.
My friends is unhappy with the work, well at least it was free, lol.
I'm sending her the contact sheet, so she can choose more hair appropriate photo.
Meh, it's the first time I am dealing with a negative outcome, hurts my ego pretty badly, at least the models like the photo

 

[Designer]

My friends is unhappy with the work, well at least it was free, lol.

That is too bad. On both counts.

I think you know what needs to be adjusted, so next time you march in there and take control! As you're starting the setup, explain to the models what you are going to do. Hair shots are generally not about the models. Yes, of course they will dress up, but they may be surprised to realize that they will be facing away from the camera for some shots.

 

[cauzimme]

My friends is unhappy with the work, well at least it was free, lol.

That is too bad. On both counts.

I think you know what needs to be adjusted, so next time you march in there and take control! As you're starting the setup, explain to the models what you are going to do. Hair shots are generally not about the models. Yes, of course they will dress up, but they may be surprised to realize that they will be facing away from the camera for some shots.

Yeah... I did tell her I had no experience in hair photo, let along studio, I usually use 1 strobe as fill with natural or ambiant light, that I was specialized in boudoir, but since i'm her friend, free and I was willing to rent the studio on my own, meh, I should have refuse

Now I just have to wait and pray that she find at leat 2 good photos of each hairstyle (15 in total)

Skin smoothing is good, but I have to take all the messy hair out.

 

[Derrel]

I'll pass along some observations that I think might be of some help in the future, just observations about pictures of women.

There are a number of characteristics of your lighting that multiple keen observers have mentioned, like the darkness of the hair in some spots, and the intensity of the accent lighting method you've used, and it seems pretty well agreed upon that the hair just is not the main focus of the shots, being dark, and void of clear detail that really allows the viewer to literally SEE the hair, completely. These are interesting from a portraiture standpoint. They have dramatic posing. They show of "the woman", they highlight the face, and the body, and they have a lot of bare skin exposed, and all together those are the things that make these look unlike the typical hair stylist portfolio shots that we've all seen. I think these might be too stylized, too much lighting drama, not quite enough emphasis on the hair, and the details that can be seen in the hair, or the way it was braided and then carefully arranged.

Second thing is the contact sheet you added this morning; in those shots, the lighting is much less dramatic thyan in the shots #1 and #2, but one issue really comes to the front: all the bare skin...until one gets down to the top of the dress, almost every shot looks like an implied nude shot. I'm not sure if the contact sheet images are the hair stylist herself, or a model or hair client, but the basic idea in featuring hair styling or color work is to keep exposed skin to a reasonable minimum. The bare shoulders, exposed chest, cleavage, all of that with a dark-haired model posed in front of black makes the hair just...disappear.

It's interesting how soft and gentle the lighting is in the contact sheet's 30 frames, contrasted against the more dramatic lighting you have in shot #1, and to an extent, shot #2. I really like DSC_8507 and the way the hair was very gently accented on the right side of the frame, and the way the shoulder has a nice accent light too. (Shot #1 by contrast has much hotter accent lighting, very specular on the face and ear, I would add a mylar diffuser to cut the hotness of those two lights used in Shot #1).

I'm not sure what work was not liked, but the contact sheet has 30 images to evaluate, and there's one thing you did over and over: her face is pointed in the direction of the main light, and her chest and torso is in the same orientation...that's a bit more of a masculine head/shoulder alignment than a feminine one. Every one of the 30 images on the contact sheet has the face and torso and shoulders in the same alignment, and there's not one frame where the body was turned away from the light and the head brought back to it, and if you want a 'trade secret', well, that's the one you need for portraits of women: slim the torso more, by turning the body AWAY from the main light, and rotating the face back toward the main light, which is slimming, and it's visually more "dynamic" to have the face and the chest area in differing alignments, pointed in different directions.

8510 and 8511 have full-face angle, and shoulders in alignment, which can work (I do not mind shoulders square if I want to create a powerful-woman vibe), but the sides of the frame are "crushing her"...she just fills the frame entirely and looks awful; note that pulling the frame wider, as in 8513, makes her look about 30 pounds lighter? But her chin is dropped too much in 8511,8512,and 8513.

Just in-general on the contact sheet: she needs more projection of the chin in many of the frames. In some, her chin is down, and her pretty face looks less-than-ideal; her torso, neck, and chin position is not "taut" enough in quite a few, she looks slumped, not in an erect and projecting body posture. She is clearly not a model, but she is attractive and the lighting is soft and pleasant enough, but the aligned head/shoulder axis in every single frame, and her less-than-taut body position and lack of neck and chin projection makes these look not that great. The posing is just not quite "dynamic" enough on the contact sheet.

 

[cauzimme]

I'll pass along some observations that I think might be of some help in the future, just observations about pictures of women.

It's interesting how soft and gentle the lighting is in the contact sheet's 30 frames, contrasted against the more dramatic lighting you have in shot #1, and to an extent, shot #2. I really like DSC_8507 and the way the hair was very gently accented on the right side of the frame, and the way the shoulder has a nice accent light too. (Shot #1 by contrast has much hotter accent lighting, very specular on the face and ear, I would add a mylar diffuser to cut the hotness of those two lights used in Shot #1).

I'm not sure what work was not liked, but the contact sheet has 30 images to evaluate, and there's one thing you did over and over: her face is pointed in the direction of the main light, and her chest and torso is in the same orientation...that's a bit more of a masculine head/shoulder alignment than a feminine one. Every one of the 30 images on the contact sheet has the face and torso and shoulders in the same alignment, and there's not one frame where the body was turned away from the light and the head brought back to it, and if you want a 'trade secret', well, that's the one you need for portraits of women: slim the torso more, by turning the body AWAY from the main light, and rotating the face back toward the main light, which is slimming, and it's visually more "dynamic" to have the face and the chest area in differing alignments, pointed in different directions.

8510 and 8511 have full-face angle, and shoulders in alignment, which can work (I do not mind shoulders square if I want to create a powerful-woman vibe), but the sides of the frame are "crushing her"...she just fills the frame entirely and looks awful; note that pulling the frame wider, as in 8513, makes her look about 30 pounds lighter? But her chin is dropped too much in 8511,8512,and 8513.

Just in-general on the contact sheet: she needs more projection of the chin in many of the frames. In some, her chin is down, and her pretty face looks less-than-ideal; her torso, neck, and chin position is not "taut" enough in quite a few, she looks slumped, not in an erect and projecting body posture. She is clearly not a model, but she is attractive and the lighting is soft and pleasant enough, but the aligned head/shoulder axis in every single frame, and her less-than-taut body position and lack of neck and chin projection makes these look not that great. The posing is just not quite "dynamic" enough on the contact sheet.

I agree to everything, thank you for your pointers!

She was in fact a model, swimsuit model...
For the contact sheet, I was such in a ''I'm not sure what you want me to capture (Friend was busy with 5 girls, didn't send me inspirations looks ... )that I took LOTS of photos, which mean, for the same look, there's an other contact sheets with her not facing light, I tried to do Front, Back, Right, Left, so my friend could just have a wide selection. Now that I sent her the contact sheets (and I'm not done yet) she sent me her first pick (8408, 8419, 8420, 8439, 8444,8451, 8464, 8465, 8472, 8474, 8480, 8483,8487, 8528, 8493, 8494, 8499 WTF ?, 8511 WTF ?, 8512 WTF ? , 8313, 8322, 8319, 8323, 8328, 8333, 8343,8339,8337) and now I'm even less sure about what she wants, goooooosh dear lord help me, lol.

I feel like a total amateur, not knowing what i'm doing, lol.

For the bare skin I use the tank of one girl as girls had black and white lined sweater, or checked blouses... I thought it would be more standard to make them pose with the same thing,