I really have a room that's too small, so I'm playing pool with the secondary light by bouncing it off a wall. The "main" light is very close and is a rectangle light dome. The background is something that I'm not too happy with ... it was white satin musline and was painted myself ... lots of colors but they're all too soft ... I only have two Norman 2400 flash heads. Please critique very hard ... I really want good portraits ... I'm a big boy, I can take critism.
OK... my preference is for some hair light and some background light. You probably do not have enough room, but can you get a boom stand and a small flash head right above and just behind them, adding a little light to their shoulders and hair, but none to the face? Hard to do in a small room without also getting hideous light on the background, you need some distance there. When I set up like this I try to get the hair light to be about +2/3 stop over the main light, metered at the subject's head positon without them sitting there. NOW, can you also add a background light? A short stand (2') right behind the subject, with a snoot or grid on the light pointing right at the background, to put a halo around them. Meter that with a spot meter and go for +1 over the edges of the background... oh hell, just take a polaroid. Great pose. Ask her to cover her ear a bit with her hair, a lot of women do that when being photographed, they hook their hair behind their ears, but ears aren't that great looking in general. Keep it up, man!
Artie, thanks for your comments. I love placing my work here for new views ... and of course, it's nice when someone tells you that you did a good job. It builds confidence. ( Let's just be careful to not "create a monster" ).
I'll work on posing ... which I already knew was one of my weak points. BTW know of a good book for this?
Ok you want the HARD criticism, well guy here it comes hope you can handle it....... You did a GREAT job...... It looks really nice and flattering to both parties. She is a very attractive woman and your bit of touch up worked well. I admire the use of sharpness when it works, dont be afraid to explore however. Your hand painted background works so shut up......
Dave made a very valid point; the males forearm is over the top, intruding, looks weird. Buy the third light for the background to seperate people from the background, you wouldnt lose her body into the background if you had the third light.............If you dont plan on purchasing the third ligh right off than just select clothing for the sitters that will automatically do the seperation work for you. On a scale of 1 to 10 you did a 9.99999999999 Great job.... just fix the litle things, arm, background light thing and "you is home free"........
Thanks for your comment Dave. I admit that I seem to be "against the grain" when it comes to hard and soft focus. I'd MUCH MUCH prefer hard sharp focus. Soft is typically choosen to cover up stuff. The female is a deaf friend of ours. She's really an attractive lady ... but she had several blemishes ... photoshop's smudge & blur tools took care of this. Not a whole lot of time required either. And it doesn't look obviously "airbrushed" like several shops do. So ... to recap ... my style is to keep sharp focus and use photoshop. A larger version of this image, as well as other areas of interest, can be seen on my website: http://home.jam.rr.com/richimages consider yourself invited
I also think it's a great shot. Artie can help you with the lighting better than anyone. I think his right arm is sticking out to far for this crop. Almost looks like he's stretching forward. Good job.
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Deleted User{K:2231} 4/26/2001
My first thought when I saw this shot was that it was great! I really think the background complements the clothing colors and skin tones. The sharpness of the shot is really complimentary, even though some may prefer a softer look for portraits, I like this.
Only thing missing is a little more "twinkle in the eye" highlight!
(I'm no expert on portrait shots, so if there's something wrong, or room for improvement, I'm sure the other photographers online will let you know!)
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