Practicing portraits in an old mill

dsiglin

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I used to hate the idea of shooting with flash, telling myself I had to keep pure and use only natural light. That madness has passed and while I still love natural light, I appreciate the control and creativity flash offers. I just ordered another flashgun unit and some softboxes. This set of photos were taken with just a single YN560II and a shoot through umbrella. I wanted natural looking light. Soon I'll start playing with snoots and grids for more "artistic" effects. For now though, here's three photos taken at an old mill which is slowly being converted into artist studios. The mill is 800,000 sq ft and used to be a bleachery. It's a very cool location. C&C appreciated as always.

This was shot outdoors with the flash providing fill light and some rim light from the sun low on the horizon.

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These next two were shot indoors with natural light from a large window camera right and flash camera left.

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#1 is nearly perfect. Excellent light, pose, and composition, except for the distracting areas in the background.
 
Thanks guys, #1 I had to edit the background A LOT. That's light reflecting from the water behind her and I didn't realize how distracting it was until after the shoot. I ended up cloning the background from another shot and painting over part of it. I don't mind that the large lighter area makes the fur on the coat pop more but yeah I have to watch my backgrounds carefully.
 
Thanks guys, #1 I had to edit the background A LOT. That's light reflecting from the water behind her and I didn't realize how distracting it was until after the shoot. I ended up cloning the background from another shot and painting over part of it. I don't mind that the large lighter area makes the fur on the coat pop more but yeah I have to watch my backgrounds carefully.

background? there's a background in #1. The distraction are her eyes, okay, well not a distraction but they held my attention.
 
These are excellent photos. I think you've mastered simple straightforward portraits with no frills, here. (white balance seems a tiny bit cool to me)

Whether for a business or a hobby, either way I think you should focus now on more dynamic and unique compositions and poses, etc. Not in replacement of basic straight on's like these. But in addition. You've got the technical stuff down. Start working more on your STYLE and flair and on making your images stand out and have your signature, while also letting the client help themselves stand out from the crowd in whatever medium they're using the portrait in.
 
Number 1 is a stunning image!
 
YES.

YES.

YES.

IF anything could be improved, I think cloning out the shorter crack in the wall finish in the upper right hand side would make the second two shots look better. It's a small thing, but is about the only thing I would process out. The longer crack is less-distracting to me, since it bridges the tones on the background wall. That short, 12- to 15-inch crack though, is distracting. Removing it will make HER just totally "pop!".
 
Yeah that first one is really great. The subtle expression with the kind of soft, but cool (as in Kelvin) light really makes for a striking image.

The third is great as well, but I do see a bit of chromatic aberration on the camera. ;)
 
Thank you all for the encouragement. I'm looking forward to trying out a two flash setup soon. I'll be adding in snoots and honeycombs to get some more "artistic" flair as you put it Gav.

The lens I used is the old Canon FD 50mm 1.4 which I'm surprised produced CA but I guess that's to be expected on an older lens. Btw camera used was a Sony Nex5n. I need to get something with a viewfinder, telling focus off the LCD is a pain sometimes.
 
great shots but to me the vignetting is to apparent for my taste in the 2nd and 3rd
 

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