Portrait Shot Of My Daughter C&C

[TimothyJinx]

Here is a one light/ one reflector shot of my daughter. I experimented with some skin softening techniques and I also added the catch lights to her eyes - they looked a little "dead" with just the softbox and bounce reflections. But I'm not crazy about how they turned out. I'm just trying things and learning.

By the way, she's growing a little wearing of being my model - I'm going to have to find a new guinea pig soon!

 

[NikonO4K]

I think the lighting is very good and the skin softening you did looks natural and not overdone. However the eyes do look strange. If you can fix them up you will have a great portrait.

 

[Robin_Usagani]

the black doesnt look natural. If I have to guess, your lighting hit your background and you added the black. You need to block your light so it will only shoot toward your subject and not the background.

 

[TimothyJinx]

the black doesnt look natural. If I have to guess, your lighting hit your background and you added the black. You need to block your light so it will only shoot toward your subject and not the background.

Actually, no. I used a black background and had the light sources at fairly extreme angles left and right (hence the strange catch lights). No light really reached the background. I did bump up the blacks a bit in PS though.

 

[Robin_Usagani]

Yeah, thats what im saying, you bumped up the black. The hair around her shoulder doesnt look right because of the added black. Maybe your background wasnt black to begin with?

 

[Trever1t]

now my eyes aren't the best and I am tired but the eyes look less glossy than normal, flat. the skin looks ok and I don't care about thebackground, minor issue but why shoot a portrait like this in landscape?

 

[TimothyJinx]

Yeah, thats what im saying, you bumped up the black. The hair around her shoulder doesnt look right because of the added black. Maybe your background wasnt black to begin with?

Here is the original - maybe I didn't bump up the black as much as I thought. I tried to get the light to feather off as it reached her shoulders. I'm still experimenting and learning. What would you suggest to make this look better? The next time I shoot I think I will add a hair light to give her a little separation from the background.

now my eyes aren't the best and I am tired but the eyes look less glossy than normal, flat. the skin looks ok and I don't care about thebackground, minor issue but why shoot a portrait like this in landscape?

Yeah, you nailed it - the eyes are what I don't like about this picture. And it definitely should have been in portrait mode. All things I am learning.


Thanks for the input!

 

[studiobetties]

Personally, I think the excessive skin smoothing might be what is making the photograph look "dead". Skin smoothing is a delicate process, my suggestion is use a soft touch with it. In my opinion, this might be a bit over smoothed, you still want to see some skin texture. I TOTALLY disagree with the notion it SHOULD be shot in portrait mode. Rules are meant to be broken and I like the negative space in the photograph, it draws your eye to her (rule of thirds). Perhaps adding a second light where the reflector is would add more dimension to the photograph. However, this is a good example of a low-key portrait. Nicely done!