Trying out some studio photography. Critiques Welcome!

[Elliot Hamilton]

Hello everybody! This is my first post on this forum but I've been lurking for some time. Anyway, I have been trying to hone my photography skills lately so I bought a cheap studio kit. Here is one of the pictures I took today, let me know what you think!

 

[Scatterbrained]

The eyes need some light in them, and the flare coming through the arm from the background light is quite distracting. The left hand is chopped at the knuckles, and the right leg looks like it could belong to someone else. Also, you've got flare on the lens that is turning her hair blue where it drapes down the shoulder. All in all however, I'd say it's a solid start, and better than where I started.

 

[Elliot Hamilton]

Thanks for the kind words and critique! I was really struggling with the flare in this shoot, even when it wasn't coming under her arm. As for more light in the eyes, what would you suggest? Would moving my softbox down lower help? I didn't have much time to experiment unfortunately.

 

[Scatterbrained]

A bit lower and further forward would help open up the eyes. Is your background light aimed up, or is the flare from the hotspot on the background?

 

[DGMPhotography]

The eyes need some light in them, and the flare coming through the arm from the background light is quite distracting. The left hand is chopped at the knuckles, and the right leg looks like it could belong to someone else. Also, you've got flare on the lens that is turning her hair blue where it drapes down the shoulder. All in all however, I'd say it's a solid start, and better than where I started.

This.

And you've got a HUGE watermark xD

 

[Elliot Hamilton]

Thanks! Its aimed upward. I was working in a pretty small space so I had to set it close to the backdrop and aim it nearly straight up. I also had a diffuser on it (its a off camera hot shoe flash) which in hindsight probably didn't help the flare.

 

[JoeW]

The eyes need some light in them, and the flare coming through the arm from the background light is quite distracting. The left hand is chopped at the knuckles, and the right leg looks like it could belong to someone else. Also, you've got flare on the lens that is turning her hair blue where it drapes down the shoulder. All in all however, I'd say it's a solid start, and better than where I started.

Totally on-point--I'm quoting to emphasize b/c this is very accurate.

Not sure what you were using but for studio work, you're going to want to look at soft boxes and/or umbrellas to help make that light softer and more diffused. Look at the hard shadow line on her right wrist--a softer light that is closer is going to prevent that from happening. For glamour portraits, soft light is your friend. Also, just in terms of the pose, I generally speaking don't ask people to look me straight on--I'll use have them point their chin to one side just a little...faces tend to be more interesting when they're not straight-on.

 

[ronlane]

They've pretty much got it covered. The first thing I noticed was the really bright light coming from behind her. One thing that I would offer for this photo would be to crop it and make it basically a head shot. Something like this. It removes the distraction of the light and the cropped fingers. My version seems to have accentuated the colors of the lens flare though.

 

[JustJazzie]

I find that I get more helpful answers when I include what my lighting setup was for each shot. It can help fill in the gaps on how to improve.

I can't really add to what has already been said as you have gotten some great advice already. Perhaps a reflector below the subject to bounce some light back into her eyes would have helped? Did I miss where you said what was causing the flare between her arm?

 

[ronlane]

I find that I get more helpful answers when I include what my lighting setup was for each shot. It can help fill in the gaps on how to improve.

I can't really add to what has already been said as you have gotten some great advice already. Perhaps a reflector below the subject to bounce some light back into her eyes would have helped? Did I miss where you said what was causing the flare between her arm?

I don't think it was said, but I was figuring that it was the rim light from behind.

 

[shmne]

The background is as hot as a million suns burning up in an instant!

Its causing chromatic aberration around the entirety of her body and really killing the overall image quality. The flair being captured is also turning her hair and body slightly blue which is not the best :| also since the lens is getting hit so hard its washing out some of her features.

I think the starting point would be getting your exposure ratio of foreground / background on lock. It should not be as extreme as it is Distance plays a major role in this though so you might not be able to get optimum ratios.

 

[Elliot Hamilton]

Thanks for all the great advise! I think the next time I shoot using my studio equipment I will try to find a bigger space so I can place my subject farther from the background so I can rely on a narrow depth of field to blur the background rather than relying on my background flash to overexpose it and blow it out. Anyway, thanks for all the input and the next time I post here I will include my lightning set up at well! Cheers!