Working on some Glamour Portraits
Jan 29, 2018 11:38:01 #
Well, I am not a newbie anymore, but indoor portraits are not my specialty. So I decided this winter to give it a whirl with what I have in my home studio. I have also become quite close with Orignalcyn (Cynthia here at UHH) on Facebook and we have been learning a lot together and sharing our experiences and helping.
I purchased my first handmade backdrop and I already had one studio light, a with a 48 inch octo box. I also have a few speedlights that I could use an a rectangular softbox for the next shoot. I decided to do a one light shoot with a white reflector. I tried to feather the lighting and got better as my shoots progressed. I think my light could be softer and I am thinking of building some V Flats for the next one to bounce the light from and maybe adding another layer of diffusion on my softbox (there is already 2).
So I shot two different women (both in their 40s). I prepared their outfits, handmade some flower clips and bought some cheap tulle to use. My daughter is a self taught makeup artist (thank you Youtube!!) so she did the makeup and I did the hair! I wanted to have color harmony between the backdrop and outfits (thank you RUSS, you know I have come a long way from the little boy I photographed in front of a blazing red tree! LOL) . I am working on expression, hand placement (so damn hard!) and body language. Not perfect, still learning but pretty happy with the outcome. The read head had much less touching up because her skin was much easier to shoot. That was a learning piece in itself. The brunette is a gorgeous woman but her skin showed more age and I do not have enough experience with lighting yet to really adjust it all the time to make it the most flattering. However, she was happy with the level of editing done.
I purchased my first handmade backdrop and I already had one studio light, a with a 48 inch octo box. I also have a few speedlights that I could use an a rectangular softbox for the next shoot. I decided to do a one light shoot with a white reflector. I tried to feather the lighting and got better as my shoots progressed. I think my light could be softer and I am thinking of building some V Flats for the next one to bounce the light from and maybe adding another layer of diffusion on my softbox (there is already 2).
So I shot two different women (both in their 40s). I prepared their outfits, handmade some flower clips and bought some cheap tulle to use. My daughter is a self taught makeup artist (thank you Youtube!!) so she did the makeup and I did the hair! I wanted to have color harmony between the backdrop and outfits (thank you RUSS, you know I have come a long way from the little boy I photographed in front of a blazing red tree! LOL) . I am working on expression, hand placement (so damn hard!) and body language. Not perfect, still learning but pretty happy with the outcome. The read head had much less touching up because her skin was much easier to shoot. That was a learning piece in itself. The brunette is a gorgeous woman but her skin showed more age and I do not have enough experience with lighting yet to really adjust it all the time to make it the most flattering. However, she was happy with the level of editing done.
Jan 29, 2018 12:02:23 #
Alissa, these are quite nice.
--Bob
--Bob
alissaspieces wrote:
Well, I am not a newbie anymore, but indoor portra... (show quote)
Jan 29, 2018 12:28:40 #
Jan 29, 2018 18:49:34 #
Alissa, that first shot is killer! You nailed it! Your lighting and every attention to detail is off the charts "professional" looking. I've seen many professional portraits that are no where near what you have shared with us. Bravo!
Jan 29, 2018 23:06:58 #
These are excellent images. I would bank your style here. The color has a european muted earth type palette. These types of color tones can be very attractive. They match well with the expressions of your subject to give more meaning,.
I would consistently use this style of image( it does not need a lot of refining.) You're basically there.
Here are a few small details you missed.
1) Remove the flyway hair in Image one. Imagine the hair without that curl and notice how much more symmetry you add.
2) Image two has the flyway hair but it is not as much of a problem because it is in the shadow. Hand placement is good in two although the second hand on the shoulder does look somewhat posed. The hand with the glass is perfect. Mainly because it gives the hand purpose. The story here is the girl is looking over her shoulder with a glass of wine....Red wine matches the palette. The second hand position in image two is completely subjective. It does work.
3) In image 3 I would remove the green leaf camo in the center of the lady's right breast. It doesn't add anything to the image. I have made this point quite a few times. Is there anything in the image that takes away from the story?
I would also slightly darken the center of the part of the hair in image III. A hard hair part down the center of an image can ever so slightly split the image apart. You want to always bring and image together as one uniform piece. This is especially true in a muted earth palette.
Again some of the best use of color I have seen posted here. It's easy to create contrast in an image where the colors are hard(saturated by color and light) It is much more difficult to retain contrast and interest in a muted color palette.
A really good example of the use of color that everyone should appreciate and study.
One final note on image one.
if you could have pulled the girls shoulder back and not have it slumped forward while still maintaining the expression of image 1 it would have been better. Most traditional portrait photographers will pose subjects this way. The problem there is if you pose your subject....it looks posed. The idea is to set the pose and have the model work through the expressions naturally. Basically to have a pose that looks non posed, especially in the expression. The way I have done that is to make sure the base pose is acceptable, have a conversation with the subject while shooting, and finally take a lot of shots, while adjusting your angle (slightly) relative to them.
Everyone has there on thought about how to get an image, i just thought I would pass along the way I think about what i am doing while I am doing it.
I would say to wrap this final note up is that the color palette and expression are so good it overrides many of the smaller details that I have mentioned here.
You have come a very long way....
I would consistently use this style of image( it does not need a lot of refining.) You're basically there.
Here are a few small details you missed.
1) Remove the flyway hair in Image one. Imagine the hair without that curl and notice how much more symmetry you add.
2) Image two has the flyway hair but it is not as much of a problem because it is in the shadow. Hand placement is good in two although the second hand on the shoulder does look somewhat posed. The hand with the glass is perfect. Mainly because it gives the hand purpose. The story here is the girl is looking over her shoulder with a glass of wine....Red wine matches the palette. The second hand position in image two is completely subjective. It does work.
3) In image 3 I would remove the green leaf camo in the center of the lady's right breast. It doesn't add anything to the image. I have made this point quite a few times. Is there anything in the image that takes away from the story?
I would also slightly darken the center of the part of the hair in image III. A hard hair part down the center of an image can ever so slightly split the image apart. You want to always bring and image together as one uniform piece. This is especially true in a muted earth palette.
Again some of the best use of color I have seen posted here. It's easy to create contrast in an image where the colors are hard(saturated by color and light) It is much more difficult to retain contrast and interest in a muted color palette.
A really good example of the use of color that everyone should appreciate and study.
One final note on image one.
if you could have pulled the girls shoulder back and not have it slumped forward while still maintaining the expression of image 1 it would have been better. Most traditional portrait photographers will pose subjects this way. The problem there is if you pose your subject....it looks posed. The idea is to set the pose and have the model work through the expressions naturally. Basically to have a pose that looks non posed, especially in the expression. The way I have done that is to make sure the base pose is acceptable, have a conversation with the subject while shooting, and finally take a lot of shots, while adjusting your angle (slightly) relative to them.
Everyone has there on thought about how to get an image, i just thought I would pass along the way I think about what i am doing while I am doing it.
I would say to wrap this final note up is that the color palette and expression are so good it overrides many of the smaller details that I have mentioned here.
You have come a very long way....
Jan 30, 2018 06:02:16 #
These are wonderful Alissa... very nice tone, PP, exposure and general countenance of the subjects... very nice.
alissaspieces wrote:
Well, I am not a newbie anymore, but indoor portra... (show quote)
Jan 30, 2018 13:14:50 #
Jan 30, 2018 19:20:45 #
Very nicely done! The lighting and post processing are excellent. In photo #2, it looks like it would have been uncomfortable for her to hold her right hand in that position. It may have been better to have her touching the base or stem of the glass with her right hand.
You mentioned that you have some speedlights. You can use one of them as a hair light. I've used my speedlight with a grid attached as a hair light and one of my studio strobes as the main light. I had a PocketWizard Mini-TT1 on the camera, the speedlight on a PocketWizard Flex-TT5, and a PocketWizard Plus X connected to the studio strobe. The Mini-TT1 on the camera triggered the speedlight and studio strobe simultaneously. The Mini-TT1 and Flex TT5 support TTL metering. I was able to adjust flash compensation at the camera to vary the intensity of the hair light.
You're obviously very skilled and knowledgeable with photography. Please disregard my comments if you have done it already.
You mentioned that you have some speedlights. You can use one of them as a hair light. I've used my speedlight with a grid attached as a hair light and one of my studio strobes as the main light. I had a PocketWizard Mini-TT1 on the camera, the speedlight on a PocketWizard Flex-TT5, and a PocketWizard Plus X connected to the studio strobe. The Mini-TT1 on the camera triggered the speedlight and studio strobe simultaneously. The Mini-TT1 and Flex TT5 support TTL metering. I was able to adjust flash compensation at the camera to vary the intensity of the hair light.
You're obviously very skilled and knowledgeable with photography. Please disregard my comments if you have done it already.
Jan 31, 2018 01:50:52 #
Jan 31, 2018 12:49:22 #
Jan 31, 2018 12:50:01 #
Thank you very much Brent! I really had to think so much during this shoot! I suppose over time it all becomes more natural?
BrentHarder wrote:
Alissa, that first shot is killer! You nailed it! Your lighting and every attention to detail is off the charts "professional" looking. I've seen many professional portraits that are no where near what you have shared with us. Bravo!
Jan 31, 2018 13:07:11 #
Thank you so much for all this feedback!! Good point about the fly away hair and excellent point about the dress with the green. Now all I can see is that green...it has been removed! lol I will darken the part too.
As for the color, you know I have been working very hard to see and understand color, so I am quite proud. I really gave a lot of thought to the flowers, costume and backdrop as I wanted them to blend more then pop...but in the way that you described it. I am so very flattered by what you have said as you have helped me (and so many) over the years. There is so much to think about when doing posed indoor portraits. I have been watching some tutorials by Sue Bryce. She is an excellent teacher and helped me to move beyond the same 2 poses that I usually do.
Thanks again for taking the time to write such detailed feedback. I know that so many will benefit from it!
:))
Alissa
As for the color, you know I have been working very hard to see and understand color, so I am quite proud. I really gave a lot of thought to the flowers, costume and backdrop as I wanted them to blend more then pop...but in the way that you described it. I am so very flattered by what you have said as you have helped me (and so many) over the years. There is so much to think about when doing posed indoor portraits. I have been watching some tutorials by Sue Bryce. She is an excellent teacher and helped me to move beyond the same 2 poses that I usually do.
Thanks again for taking the time to write such detailed feedback. I know that so many will benefit from it!
:))
Alissa
PalePictures wrote:
These are excellent images. I would bank your styl... (show quote)
Jan 31, 2018 13:11:08 #
THank you so much for taking the time to write so much feedback. I appreciate the positive words! Suggesting that I use a second light for hair by no means is offensive!! Lol I appreciate it and honestly I was working on a one light set up AND I was a little lazy to get my speedlight and trigger set up (if I am being honest!). Next time I will do that! Thanks again!
CO wrote:
Very nicely done! The lighting and post processing... (show quote)
Jan 31, 2018 13:11:27 #
Feb 1, 2018 10:23:50 #
Alissa first and foremost my complements to your daughter's makeup artistry on this session... Working with a full team can and often does make all the difference in the world! And yes I'm keenly aware of the fact that young girls binge-watch YouTube makeup videos... In fact I'm addicted to them also... :)
You bonded wonderfully with your talent here, and thus the compelling results...
Beautiful hand in the second image... so feminine and elegant... Might consider rethinking the wisdom of cropping on the hand on the first and last image... Modeling is silent acting thus the talent must emote with their facial expressions and most importantly their hands! Ballerinas are trained early on in positions of the arms and hands which is a fundamental part of classical ballet technique. The hands are absolutely crucial for conveying the narrative both in dance and on a photographic set...
What I have found to be of merit pertaining to excellence in posing the hand is to study the advertising imagery for jewelry in high end women's magazines i.e VOGUE, BAZAAR, ELLE etc. My favorite is David Yurman's ads for bracelets, rings and such... Kate Moss has become iconic for her David Yurman's ads... I use her David Yurman imagery in many of my storyboards...
Only photographic suggestion I might offer would be hair separation illumination to pull your sitters forward from the background... Please always keep in mind that one's hair is their most important fashion accessory... virtually nothing else comes close...
I wish you much success in your migration into studio portraiture...
Which is so appropriate and germane for the winter months...
Thank you for sharing...
You bonded wonderfully with your talent here, and thus the compelling results...
Beautiful hand in the second image... so feminine and elegant... Might consider rethinking the wisdom of cropping on the hand on the first and last image... Modeling is silent acting thus the talent must emote with their facial expressions and most importantly their hands! Ballerinas are trained early on in positions of the arms and hands which is a fundamental part of classical ballet technique. The hands are absolutely crucial for conveying the narrative both in dance and on a photographic set...
What I have found to be of merit pertaining to excellence in posing the hand is to study the advertising imagery for jewelry in high end women's magazines i.e VOGUE, BAZAAR, ELLE etc. My favorite is David Yurman's ads for bracelets, rings and such... Kate Moss has become iconic for her David Yurman's ads... I use her David Yurman imagery in many of my storyboards...
Only photographic suggestion I might offer would be hair separation illumination to pull your sitters forward from the background... Please always keep in mind that one's hair is their most important fashion accessory... virtually nothing else comes close...
I wish you much success in your migration into studio portraiture...
Which is so appropriate and germane for the winter months...
Thank you for sharing...
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