Pregnant wife c&c (aka please be gentle)

[JAC526]

Preggy Pics 030 by JChick526, on Flickr


After looking at it I feel like an off camera flash camera left would have eliminated the shadows on her face.

Unfortunately I don't got one of those. So this was what I could work with.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks,

Joe

 

[JAC526]

After looking at it some more I decided the tree is a distraction and cropped it out.

This is the result:


Cropped_Kelley by JChick526, on Flickr

 

[tirediron]

First off, if you're going to ask for C&C, don't add qualifiers such as "be gentle". Critique is not personal, and when you post an image such as this one, you need to be prepared for comments which, while they may seem unpleasant are genuinely meant to be objective and constructive.

That said, it's not bad start, but a couple of things jump out at me: (1) The lighting is a little harsh in spots, especially around her clevage and knees. Consider using a diffuser or reflector, or even an off-camera speedlight to reduce the dynamic range of the scene. (2) The pose could be improved. Materinity imagery is really about showing off the belly, and in this case, because of the way she is leaning and her position relative to the camera, it's not as "obvious" as I would suggest is ideal. Try to avoid leaning poses and have her either sitting/standing straight, or laying down.

That aside, it's a good start - keep practicing.

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.

~John

 

[JAC526]

Thank you for the response. The be gentle comment is directed towards any critique on her and not my underwhelming attempt at being a photographer.

If using a reflector/diffuser would you hold it camera left and try to reflect the light to the spots that are not so bright?

And I know virtually nothing about posing people so thank you for the advice.

 

[Ballistics]

A few things to work on:

-Composition
-Posing
-Location
-Cropping
-Exposure

Her head is wayyy to high in the frame, and in the center. The tree is distracting. Her arm locked out the way it is supporting her body is awkward. Her chest is blown out and pulls the eye very hard.

If you do not have a fill flash, you can use a reflector which can be made of anything.

Here's a very sloppy idea of a rule of thirds composition.



I think if you sat her up against the tree and came in much closer, you could have a great image.

 

[Ballistics]

After looking at it some more I decided the tree is a distraction and cropped it out.

This is the result:


Cropped_Kelley by JChick526, on Flickr

This is much better.

 

[Ballistics]

Thank you for the response. The be gentle comment is directed towards any critique on her and not my underwhelming attempt at being a photographer.

If using a reflector/diffuser would you hold it camera left and try to reflect the light to the spots that are not so bright?

And I know virtually nothing about posing people so thank you for the advice.

You'll find out that there is literally a science to everything in photography, and posing is no exception.

 

[JAC526]

Thanks for all the help.

I am not really very good at shooting portraits and people. Having a baby on the way makes me think I should become much better at it.

 

[Ballistics]

Thanks for all the help.

I am not really very good at shooting portraits and people. Having a baby on the way makes me think I should become much better at it.

We all have to start somewhere. Just keep practicing.

 

[Robin Usagani]

Seriously man.. if you are able to move around the subject and pose, you can get a way from not using flash. To me the biggest mistake is the placement of the sun.

 

[KmH]

* Thread Moved * ---- Per the Beginner's forum description, and the link provided:

​Forum: Photography Beginners' Forum

Don’t be shy. Use one of the forums in the - Photo Galleries - Photos submitted by members for general display or critique - section of TPF if you want C&C improvement tips on some of the photos you have taken. For equipment specific questions, use one of the forums in theCamera Forum section of TPF. Brushing up on some of the basics? The Beginner's forum is for asking basic technical photographic questions about things like shutter speed, aperture, ISO, white balance, metering modes, focusing modes.​

 

[paigew]

Your wife looks like she is a small lady but with this outfit choice and pose she looks very large. IMO maternity images are best with tight fitting clothing to really accentuate the belly! I would shoot this again with different clothes and posing. Google 'maternity' to get some flattering pose ideas .

 

[JAC526]

So where would you have placed the sun?

 

[JAC526]

Your wife looks like she is a small lady but with this outfit choice and pose she looks very large. IMO maternity images are best with tight fitting clothing to really accentuate the belly! I would shoot this again with different clothes and posing. Google 'maternity' to get some flattering pose ideas .

Yeah I think after she saw the pictures she decided she did not like the outfit so much.

We are going to shoot some more tonight I think.

 

[amolitor]

The light is bang on Rembrandt lighting, which is a good way to start. You put the sun in a good place.

The problem here is that this "key light" (the sun, and in fact your only light) was a bit harsh, so you wound up with a long range of values from the shadows to the highlights. Since you got the shadowed side of her face nicely lit, the sunlit side of her face is too bright.

The easy solution is to bounce some light into the shadows. Set up something, anything, a guy in a white shirt, a light colored lawn chair, a light colored car out of frame to the left, on her shadowed side. Imagine it's a mirror, try to reflect some light onto her face and body from the front and side. This will fill in the shadows so they're not so dark. Then you can expose the WHOLE FRAME less, without the shadows becoming unpleasantly dark, and this will reduce the excess brightness on the sunlit side of her face.

If you happened to have a day with thin cloud, you might be better off, since this would diffuse the sun a little, making the light less harsh but maintaining some directionality to it (a fully cloudy day loses all the shadows, and everything looks flat and dull).

Remember where the sun was for this one, though, you had it in a good place. You had is in the place Rembrandt put it, so don't let some guy on the internet tell you it was in the wrong spot