Greg Loc: Maryland

lol, I had to go back and look. I thought she was just sporting a spout :).

UP-2-IT Loc: RED STICK, LA

Beautiful shot even with the pink poneytail.

jmmermaid

One of the best lights for portraiture is an overcast but bright day. Perhaps too, a reflector might have been employed or a touch of flash fill. I can't see the eyes well enough to tell what the light sources might be. In photogrpahy, the eyes really do tell all. Study the reflections in magazine pictures...you will learn a lot.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

I don't know if I can attach this demo or not but I'll try. Just click the download link and if it asks to run Quicktime say yes and it will run the demo.

Click on Download and say yes to run quicktime.
Attached file:
(Download)

Greg Loc: Maryland

yep, and it looks like it was composited too.

Bails40

Agree with the flower, looks like it's ontop of her head... other than that minor flaw, I love the shot...

ftpecktim Loc: MONTANA

Botox

Dixiegirl Loc: Alabama gulf coast

Check out the Florabella website. The photo looks like it has had one of their actions applied to it.

Jusoljoe Loc: Texas

Oh dear is right. In the screen size I missed that too. That could call for some pp. Frankly, the only photoshop I can recognize is the vignetting around the outter edges, which could have been done in camera.

cdhakl Loc: Townsville, Queensland - Australia

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
You will have had great advice already on "taking" the photo. If you were referring to the tint / tone of the photo you posted, the post processing is probably 'split toning' or 'cross processed' look. Again, depending on what brand of PP software you have or want to use, there are hundreds of tutorials on the Net describing how to apply / use these effects. Was that what you were wondering about?

jackm1943 Loc: Omaha, Nebraska

This appears to be similar to Filter > Render > Lighting Effects in PhotoShop or Elements.

Ivy Beane Loc: Maine

Yes, that is what I want.

jackm1943 Loc: Omaha, Nebraska

Once you get into Lighting Effects, this looks very much like Light Type Omni, and Intensity around 15-20 or so. You will need to do quite a bit of trial and error.

Lyn Buchanan Loc: Alamogordo, New Mexico

Don't know whether anyone is still doing darkroom work or not, but the way we did it in the olden days was:

(B$W & Negative color) Expose the picture correctly and then have a round disk that we held near the lens to make the edges blur. Hold it over the center that you want to keep at the right exposure and the light from the enlarger would hit the rest of the picture, burning it in.

(COLOR) Barely expose the picture so it is way too dark, then hold a flat plate with a hole in it up close to the enlarger lens so the light coming through the hold would have blurry edges and would continue to expose the center of the picture, bringing it up to the exposure you wanted.
To help blur the edges, we would also keep jiggling the disk or the place around in a circle (back and forth for an oval focus area.)

With digital - I'm still working on my learning curve on that. Can't help you there.

Learning to use the digital programs is OK, and definitely the way to go, but I just keep wishing that I could get my computer to have that wonderful smell of the darkroom chemicals without ruining it.

zneb240 Loc: New South Wales - Australia

Ivy - not sure what you mean by "achieve this look" however I'll give it my best attempt. Hope it helps and I caution this is only my opinion as many knowedgable UHH members have already provided sound advice. By "this look", I'm going to assume you don't mean from an artistic perspective because this is entirely in the eye of the beholder so I will address only the technical issues. This need not be complex though some basic PP (Photoshop, Lightroom or whatever) will eventually be reqiured.

The Shoot Setup:

Tip No.1: The simplist and argueably (for amateur photogs) best lighting conditions are often natural light outdoor in light shade or slightly overcast. Even in these conditions the direction from which the strongest light comes from will be obvious. Avoid strong, harsh sunshine. Against the light can produce dramatic results but requires a little more consideration so I'll not go there. Just ensure that your model is positioned so that the strongest light falls on the face.

Tip No.2: Ensure the eyes nose and mouth are well lit. The viewer's eye is naturally drawn to the bright area of an image so the face must be illuminated - even if only slightly more than the rest of the image.

Tip No.3: Have the model look up somewhat and NOT at the camera, as looking up even slightly, opens the eyes more and gives a more pleasant "gazing" look. Great with children as it gives a feel of wonderment or innocence to the look.

Tip No.4: Position the model well forward of the background as you will eventually want this backgrond out of focus. Avoid distracting background objects - the purple thing above the baby's head is a perfect example of what NOT to do.

Tip No.5: If the model is a baby or animal or something with a short attention span, get your setup complete BEFORE bringing her/him/it to the set. Getting the model to the set is LAST thing before shooting and work fast as babies etc loose interest fast - means pack up and reschedule the shoot. If it's a baby, have mum (Australian) or mom (American) on hand to attract the baby's attention - if other live creature, have owner on hand for ditto. A little secret (don't tell anyone I told you, but a little swipe of jummy cream on baby's/dog's/cat's lips gets their attention and makes them smile & lick their lips. Can be a very fetching look)!

OK - setup looking good. Now for camera setup and shooting.

Camera Setup & Shooting

Tip No.1: I prefer SLR camera as what you see is what you get, however any good camera will do (save your phone camera for UTube or whatever).

Tip No.2: Use longer lens - anything from approx. 70mm up to 200 or 300mm. This allows good perspective, good distance from subject (less intimidating) and creates pleasantly out of focus background. Shoot from low perspective - at least the same level as the model. Don't shoot down.

Tip No.3: Tripod or Monopod. Your call. I find them a bit retrictive unless I planned to use it. Older folks unable to bend and change position quickly may prefer it but you will be using fairly high shutter speed anyway so camera shake should not be too much of a problem. (see next tip).

Tip No.4: Use large aperture for shallow depth of field (in other words, aperture priority). This is more important than shutter speed however speed will probably be high because of large aperture. ISO at anything up to 800 (depending on camera - some are better than others at higher ISO).

Tip No.5: Exposure: I suggest Centre Weighted to eliminate too much influence by the background, however the magic of digital enables instant checking of your histogram. It's important to learn to read the histogram as it's directly related to exposure. Note: When pros and accomplished photogs constantly look at the back of their camera, they are often checking the histogram, not the actual image.

Tip No.6: Focus: Use single focus point and (drum roll..........), carefully focus on the closest eye. Watch my lips - CAREFULLY FOCUS ON THE CLOSEST EYE!!! and try to capture "catchlight" or twinkle.

Tip No.7: Zoom in and fill the frame. Just prior to pressing the shutter, let your eye wander around the extremities of the frame to ensure there's no unwanted junk. Take many shots - often the best image is not a full smile, but just as the smile starts to fade and the model is somewhat caught off guard.


PP - The Easy Bit!

Tip No.1: Select which image you prefer, open in your preferred image editor. Now most important: crop to your preferred shape - your artistic call here and take care as this can make or break your image.

Tip No.2: Select "Levels" and adjust to taste. A knowledge of Levels is critical to good PP. Add a small amout of Viginetting to taste, Saturation to taste (go easy here) and Sharpening (go easy here - less is more).

Sorry if this sounds a lot but really good images are rarely just snapped , they are worked for. When your friends genuinely say "Wow - that's great" your chest will swell with pride.

Never forget there is a difference between an ordinary image of a beautiful thing and a beautiful image of an ordinary thing. Always strive for the latter. However we all now look forward to your beautiful images of beautiful things.

No pressure mind............. :thumbup: