Vivian!

Trever1t · Jan 15, 2012

My first paid portrait session took place in a local park, just down the street from my home. Vivian was a real champ, it was freaking cold and windy and her outfits didn't offer much in the way of warmth. Still have much to edit but here's a preview.

#1

_POR7886-Edit by Trever1t, on Flickr

#2

_POR7882-Edit by Trever1t, on Flickr

#3

_POR7908-Edit by Trever1t, on Flickr

#4

_POR7981-Edit by Trever1t, on Flickr

I'm beat. My processing takes too long, and my eyes get tired. Peace out!

Trever1t · Jan 16, 2012

Critisism is fine, I can take it

I'm not sure I like the color temp, I warmed them up a bit. Actual light was very overcast and blue.

Joey_Ricard · Jan 16, 2012

Poses in the first 3 I like - I think they look natural and interesting, the model has a humble look on her face

The background is distracting and not pleasing in all but #2 - not sure what your editing abilites are, but you could easliy do a high key series out of these
eliminating the backgrounds and in#2 especially, becasue of the highlights on the dress. (while this may not suit eveyone, high key images look great, my clients love them.

If you have no intention on doing high key- then you will have to consider what your background is while setting up your shots.

Mach0 · Jan 16, 2012

I can't offer critique but I like 1 and 2 the most.

bell · Jan 16, 2012

I love that first one. DOF is perfect. Colors are amazing, Kudos. Keep on clicking.

Trever1t · Jan 16, 2012

My editing skills really suck. I could clone out the distracting elements in the backgrounds (people, bench) but my workflow is terribly slow and I need to just pay more attention to my backgrounds. I have another 150 images to sort and edit from the session, with wardrobe change. Thank you for the critique!

Joey_Ricard · Jan 16, 2012

Trever, what editing software do you use?

Trever1t · Jan 16, 2012

LR3 and CS5....

Joey_Ricard · Jan 16, 2012

Trever, you have it made man. No excuses except for time - that you may not have.

If you know how to use adjustment layers in CS, you can get really creative in a short period of time.
Or you can even open a copy in LR and use one of the presets (say old age photo), save that copy, open in CS overtop of the original backgroun layer and lightly paint away the mask over the model. The "image background" will stay light and of course the model area you can keep painting until you have that high key look.

Just try it, you can even paste a copy of the original layer over that one and change layer styles to something like "multiply" etc. Then mask and paint away.

#3 would look really fantastic that way. Just the trees lightly in the scene, would look dreamy.

Trever1t · Jan 16, 2012

Yeah, I know like 3% of what I could do with the software...I barely scrape by editing. I am thinking I should seriously take a course.

o hey tyler · Jan 16, 2012

Trever1t said:
...it was freaking cold and windy...

Location: San Jose, CA

o hey tyler
Location: Maine

MReid · Jan 16, 2012

Pick your backgrounds first.
She is a pretty girl....if she were more engaged and with some personality in the shots would have made a big difference.
Average shots...2 had the most potential...background is not bad and with some slight work on the pose and a big smile or anything from her it could have been really nice.

Trever1t · Jan 16, 2012

OK so not Maine cold but definitely California cold, ice on my car in the morning cold....that's cold. Yeah she is really cute, I'm sure I have some shots where she looks more comfortable.

Glad to hear (or not hear otherwise) that my color correction isn'too far off.