Portrait for C&C (playing with off camera flash)

[Chris R]

asdf

 

[tirediron]

I like the lighting and monochrome conversion here; I might try just a little dodging around her right eye, just to coax a little more detail out of it. I'm of two minds on the elbows. I think I would prefer it had it been opened up, at least enough to include all of her jacket, but as-is, it's a rather striking shot.

 

[Chris R]

Thanks... Definitely a good idea on the eye. I try to avoid retouching because once I start doing it I tend to get carried away.

 

[Infidel]

I love it, for the following reasons, which all play off of one another beautifully:

1. Your girlfriend is striking in appearance.
2. The lighting creates great texture and mood.
3. The monochrome conversion makes the fades in the jacket pop...great job of highlighting texture (see also shirt and hair) while preserving her feminine beauty.

My only critique is a minor quibble, which relates to the aspect ratio, which appears to be straight out of camera. I personally would prefer an 8x10 crop (too much lower torso IMHO) or even a square crop.

I am undecided on the elbows, therefore their omission does not kill the photo for me, especially since every else is so strong. Bravo.

 

[Chris R]

Thank you. I actually slightly cropped out some of the bottom because you could see half her belt. I do agree that there's a little too much torso.

 

[Espike]

I didn't notice the elbows until I read that part. I really like the overall result.

 

[rab3rd]

to add to what others have already said, generally its a good idea to get your model about 4-6 feet away from the background so no shawdows are cast. Unless of course you are specifically going for harsh cast shawdows. It also looks as if you have blown some of the detail on her shirt, very easy to do on a white shirt, watch out for that. Overall a good shot sans the few things mentioned here.

Perfect practice makes perfect. ;-)

 

[Cpi2011]

Beautiful model and excellent shoot, i like your lighting very much !!

 

[Studio7Four]

I like this a lot; a great capture and a great B&W conversion - I love the tonal range. I personally like the amount of shadow, it adds detail to the contours of the image and IMO works very well with her expression. I agree that a touch more detail in her right eye might work, but I like it as is - the slice of white under her iris gives me enough definition that the lack of detail in the rest of the eye works with the feel of the shot rather than makes me wish for more. I also like the amount of shadow on the wall in this case as it puts her in context.

Since you specifically asked, I have no problem with the cropping of the elbows. The forearms are still connected to the upper arms, so we have continuity. Had the crop been tighter on the sides, to remove that bit of jacket at the elbow, the floating arms would have been a problem.

 

[Chris R]

Thanks everyone. I think I'm just going to leave it as is now because I don't want to get carried away with processing. The B&W conversion was done with a preset in Alien Skin Exposure 3 which I think is about the best "film effects" plugin around.I'll post up a few others from this little impromptu photo shoot when I get home later tonight.

 

[Chris R]

ddfff

 

[Ernicus]

I could be wrong, and if I am I'm certain I'll be corrected...but I read that you always want to be taking pics of your model at eye level or above...never below as it is unflattering angles...or something like that. I think that fits in case number 1. Your original pic is great...angle great, in this one...not only are you a little below eye level but she is kinda looking or has her head pointed as if looking up anyway...kinda ruins the entire pic for me...almost says "hey...look up my nose". ;-)

2 is ok, kinda weird posing with the arms and how she's holding her body...but i do like her expression in her eyes. You captured that part well. No comment on lighting, 'cause I'm still reading and learning about that. As a noob it looks ok to me though.


Edit

I used the word "always" but just wanted to clarify I use that term loosely. Obviously there are no exact rules...and when they are implied...they can certainly be broken as sometimes it works...as in profile shots looking upward with proper makeup to adjust etc....pretty sure its a big "no no" from front poses though.