Trying to improve, would like some feedback

danchez · Sep 13, 2009

Would like some honest feedback on these pics, like the title says, I am trying to improve my work. I take feedback very well, I promise my feelings will not get hurt, just looking for good honest critiques. Thanks

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4)

ocular · Sep 14, 2009

#1 I'm looking up at the model, it's not an extreme angle but it's still going up. This picture is unflattering, I can see the fat under her face. You can see the dimples or pimples on her face next to her mouth. #2,3,4 you've applied blur and healed the image. I think your best image is #3 the reason being is it's the most natural even with post processing.

#2 Color's reminds me of a default Photoshop gradient.

danchez · Sep 14, 2009

Background for #2 was natural, I had a white background with a few colored gels hitting it and it just went gray where the light wasn't hitting it. I kind of liked the transition.

2, 3 & 4 I had to blur and heal. I am still looking for a good technique though...

ocular · Sep 14, 2009

I didn't mean that the bg wasn't natural, I think the bg along with the sweater reminds me of a def. gradient selection.

robertwsimpson · Sep 14, 2009

as said, #1 is not a very flattering angle

#2 looks too much like a typical myspace photo. I'd try a different angle again.

#3 is interesting. I can see where you erased the background to make it white though. Also, the white that is peeking through her hair is warm due to the reflection from the hair... not sure what you can do to get rid of that.

#4 I think I'd use a different depth of field to have either more or less in focus... probably more. That's just personal preference though, I think it's a great shot. There is some clipping on her left shoulder and chest area, but it isn't too bad.

On the whole, as your studio shots go, I think you'd benefit from slightly more even lighting. you're getting good detail on the "dark" side, but you're losing detail on the lit side. maybe you could speed up the shutter 1 or 2 clicks to combat that if you want to have a shaddowy effect... I dunno, just personal preference.

danchez · Sep 15, 2009

robertwsimpson said:
as said, #1 is not a very flattering angle. Yeah, I was afraid of that too.

#2 looks too much like a typical myspace photo. I'd try a different angle again.

#3 is interesting. I can see where you erased the background to make it white though. Didn't even touch the background in post processing. Also, the white that is peeking through her hair is warm due to the reflection from the hair... not sure what you can do to get rid of that.

#4 I think I'd use a different depth of field to have either more or less in focus... probably more. That's just personal preference though, I think it's a great shot. There is some clipping on her left shoulder and chest area, but it isn't too bad. Still working on my lighting, I seem to always have it just a touch too hot.

On the whole, as your studio shots go, I think you'd benefit from slightly more even lighting. you're getting good detail on the "dark" side, but you're losing detail on the lit side. maybe you could speed up the shutter 1 or 2 clicks to combat that if you want to have a shaddowy effect... I dunno, just personal preference.

Thank you, I appreciate your feedback.

kundalini · Sep 15, 2009

*without reading previous posts*

#1 - The top of the waterfalls is bisecting her head. Sunglasses are cool, but lose the rest of the jewelry (wrists & fingers). WB seems a bit odd. Left hand position seems manly, right arm position should have more separation from the torso. Strong stance and nice shutter speed for the falls.

#2 - Nice gradient of the background and angularity of the model. The scrunch of the top of the right shoulder in not flattering. I might crop a bit closer to remove the thick looking torso and possibly the bump out of the breast in order to have a more solid "bust" portrait.... (not to be confused).

#3 - Love it.... but her hand and forearm look huge. Is it me? The shadow above her left shoulder is a bit distracting.

#4 - *waits for decision*.......... Nope, it's your strongest of the lot IMO. The blown highlights top left and the main light seems a bit hot is the only crit from me. Easily overlooked but some massaging in PP may enhance.

Nice work.

danchez · Sep 16, 2009

kundalini said:
*without reading previous posts*

#1 - The top of the waterfalls is bisecting her head. Sunglasses are cool, but lose the rest of the jewelry (wrists & fingers). WB seems a bit odd. Left hand position seems manly, right arm position should have more separation from the torso. Strong stance and nice shutter speed for the falls. Thanks, all good things for me to remember for future outside shots.

#2 - Nice gradient of the background and angularity of the model. The scrunch of the top of the right shoulder in not flattering. I might crop a bit closer to remove the thick looking torso and possibly the bump out of the breast in order to have a more solid "bust" portrait.... (not to be confused). I kept trying to keep her sweater straitened, but it just kept scrunching up.

#3 - Love it.... but her hand and forearm look huge. Is it me? The shadow above her left shoulder is a bit distracting. I didn't even notice the shadow above her shoulder.

#4 - *waits for decision*.......... Nope, it's your strongest of the lot IMO. The blown highlights top left and the main light seems a bit hot is the only crit from me. Easily overlooked but some massaging in PP may enhance. Yeah, my hairlight was too close and too concentrated,(too small of a light source)

Nice work.

Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it.

vegasvisionstudios · Sep 16, 2009

#1
The first thing that hits me aside from the compositional issue with the waterfall through the head is that the white balance appears to be incorrect. There is a serious yellow cast in this image, the white water should be white but it looks yellow instead.

It also appears to be hazy and somewhat overexposed as well, the haze causes softness and knocks the contrast of the image into the dirt. I am not looking at the histogram on this shot but would bet that it reads flat.

#2 - Ugg camera Superior position and a short lens spell disaster for a girl with prominent facial features. The distortion caused by the lens and the angle result in her nose dominating the image. Aside from that the pose does nothing to flatter the model. The blue background would have been better had you moved her closer to it and changed your perspective so you were only getting blue being her instead of the floor. Also the exposure of the face is a half to three quarters of a stop hot.

I am guessing here that the background was lit with a blue gel as witnessed by the fall off at the floor and the blue glow to the stray hairs around her head.

3. This is by far the best shot of the series but again the skin tones feel just a bit on the warm side. The pose has life, the shot appears to be reasonably sharp and exposure and post all seem to be where they need to me.

4. Ouch...... the key light is too hot and too far back. Move it closer to soften the light and turn it down to properly expose the skin. When working with models we expose for the skin and then fill, cut or overlight as needed to balance out the rest of the exposure.

The position of the hair light and the tight 20 degree snoot or grid could be improved. In its current position it is only providing a single large highlight just off of the crown of her Head. Positioning it further behind and above her or almost directly over the back side of her head, turning down the power and opening up the spread of the light would contribute to a nice highlight producing rim light that would help to separate her from the background even better.

The addition of a reflector to provide a bit of fill on the left side of the face would have made for nice smooth transitions form light to dark and would have been kinder to her skin texture.

Last bit, so you shot all three of these studio shots on the same roll of white paper or on a cyc wall correct? If so then you did do a nice job of positioning the model and the lights so that the falloff was significant enough to turn the bg black from the light just not reaching it.

danchez · Sep 21, 2009

vegasvisionstudios said:
#1
The first thing that hits me aside from the compositional issue with the waterfall through the head is that the white balance appears to be incorrect. There is a serious yellow cast in this image, the white water should be white but it looks yellow instead. I was going for a 70's look and did some funky processing.

It also appears to be hazy and somewhat overexposed as well, the haze causes softness and knocks the contrast of the image into the dirt. I am not looking at the histogram on this shot but would bet that it reads flat.

#2 - Ugg camera Superior position and a short lens spell disaster for a girl with prominent facial features. The distortion caused by the lens and the angle result in her nose dominating the image. I had a few problems with posing her and learned quickly that I need at least an 85mm for my closer head shots. Aside from that the pose does nothing to flatter the model. The blue background would have been better had you moved her closer to it and changed your perspective so you were only getting blue being her instead of the floor. Also the exposure of the face is a half to three quarters of a stop hot.

I am guessing here that the background was lit with a blue gel as witnessed by the fall off at the floor and the blue glow to the stray hairs around her head.

3. This is by far the best shot of the series but again the skin tones feel just a bit on the warm side. The pose has life, the shot appears to be reasonably sharp and exposure and post all seem to be where they need to me. My WB was set a little bit high and I didn't notice it right off.

4. Ouch...... the key light is too hot and too far back. Move it closer to soften the light and turn it down to properly expose the skin. When working with models we expose for the skin and then fill, cut or overlight as needed to balance out the rest of the exposure.

The position of the hair light and the tight 20 degree snoot or grid could be improved. In its current position it is only providing a single large highlight just off of the crown of her Head. Positioning it further behind and above her or almost directly over the back side of her head, turning down the power and opening up the spread of the light would contribute to a nice highlight producing rim light that would help to separate her from the background even better. Thank you, I will definitely work on placing my hair light in a better place.

The addition of a reflector to provide a bit of fill on the left side of the face would have made for nice smooth transitions form light to dark and would have been kinder to her skin texture. You are correct again, thanks.

Last bit, so you shot all three of these studio shots on the same roll of white paper or on a cyc wall correct? If so then you did do a nice job of positioning the model and the lights so that the falloff was significant enough to turn the bg black from the light just not reaching it.