Portraiture Experiments - Jacelyn

abovenormphotos · May 19, 2014

Hey all..

Tried another set with a variety of lighting. I realised from my previous shoot that the poses were all limited to head and shoulders shots.

This time, I told myself to move back and capture full-body/half-body portraits and also pay heed to the advice given by the rest of the photographers here.
(eg : Stop-down, watch out for hotspots, change perspective, shoot in portrait orientation)

I was working with my 6D, 70-200 2.8, 2 pieces speedlights (YN 560 and YN 565) one was bare and the other was in a 80x80 softbox. The softbox provided totally different light from the experience I had with the reflective umbrella. I'm still struggling to fully comprehend the nuances of off camera flash. But every shot teaches me something new.

Hope you guys can continue to help and comment on the lighting and composition and the posing as well.

Here are some photos, more to come.

Cheers and thanks!

Best regards.

abovenormphotos · May 19, 2014

#1 - Jacelyn

Outdoor Portraiture - Model Jacelyn by AboveNorm, on Flickr

abovenormphotos · May 19, 2014

#2

Outdoor Portraiture - Model Jacelyn by AboveNorm, on Flickr

abovenormphotos · May 19, 2014

#3 - Jacelyn

Outdoor Portraiture - Model Jacelyn by AboveNorm, on Flickr

kanuski · May 19, 2014

I don`t claim to be an expert but I can share my opinions. I think the first one is the best of the three but there are some others on your Flickr page that I like even better. I think I would darken the arms and shoulders in the second shot. Otherwise it looks good. The third shot has two problems. Her face seems to blend in with the white window frame behind her and there is too much white door on the right side of the image. Her pose looks a little awkward as well.

mmaria · May 19, 2014

#1 for me

abovenormphotos · May 19, 2014

kanuski said:
I don`t claim to be an expert but I can share my opinions. I think the first one is the best of the three but there are some others on your Flickr page that I like even better. I think I would darken the arms and shoulders in the second shot. Otherwise it looks good. The third shot has two problems. Her face seems to blend in with the white window frame behind her and there is too much white door on the right side of the image. Her pose looks a little awkward as well.

Kanuski-

Thanks for dropping by with the tips.
For the second shot, I agree that the arms and shoulders are overexposed. Do you have any suggestion as to how I can ensure that it isn't when I take the shot? I mean, on the histogram, nothing was clipped. Is that an ok way to check immediately after taking the shot? (I don't have a light meter to use for checking exposure.) Btw, for that shot only a bare flash with a white bounce card was placed at about 40 degrees to camera left to work as a fill. The rest is ambient light.

The third picture- yeah. Composition isn't very strong. And I understand what you mean about the face blending in with the whites. Given that I used a 80x80 softbox that was about135degrees camera left, how else would you suggest that could I have made it better?

Thanks for dropping by with the critique!

abovenormphotos · May 19, 2014

mmaria said:
#1 for me

Thanks mmaria!

Appreciate you dropping by!

kanuski · May 19, 2014

For the second shot, I agree that the arms and shoulders are overexposed. Do you have any suggestion as to how I can ensure that it isn't when I take the shot? I mean, on the histogram, nothing was clipped. Is that an ok way to check immediately after taking the shot? (I don't have a light meter to use for checking exposure.) Btw, for that shot only a bare flash with a white bounce card was placed at about 40 degrees to camera left to work as a fill. The rest is ambient light.

The arms are just a little brighter than the face. Easy to fix in post.

The third picture- yeah. Composition isn't very strong. And I understand what you mean about the face blending in with the whites. Given that I used a 80x80 softbox that was about135degrees camera left, how else would you suggest that could I have made it better?

I would move her away from the white background and reduce the amount of light. By having her pose against the wall you are making it very difficult to separate her from the background. By pulling her away from the background you can light her without blasting the white window frame. Maybe moving her hair around to the other side of her face would help as well.