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All criticism of photo technique welcome I am not sensitive. Please respect model
Apr 4, 2020 16:50:37   #
GDJSTL Loc: Missouri
 
Canon 6D 4 speed lights, background, hair, Main beauty dish, Fill 36" soft box, small silver reflector horizontal EF 70 200 1/60 5.6 ISO 320


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Apr 4, 2020 20:00:14   #
E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada
 
GDJSTL wrote:
Canon 6D 4 speed lights, background, hair, Main beauty dish, Fill 36" soft box, small silver reflector horizontal EF 70 200 1/60 5.6 ISO 320


"All criticism of the photo technique welcome I am not sensitive. Please respect the model". ?????

First of all- why would anyone in this section disrespect the model or subject of any portrait? That's not allowed or tolerated here! Why do you need to be insensitive to obtain a fair critique! We do not allow or tolerate personal attacks or harsh remarks. Folks here are encouraged to offer constructive critiques, logical approaches and useful remedies to issues.

Your subject appears to be a lovely woman with fantastic smiles and lovely eyes. Obviously she is not a teenager and probably does not want to be portrayed as one. What did SHE think of the portrait you made of her? You secured geat eye contact and a smashing expression.

If your speedlights do not have modeling lamps, you did not do too badly with the lighting.

Aesthetics? From a technical/artistic point of view, this is my take. For a head and shoulder portrait, you are shooting too close, there is not sufficient body to balance and support the head. The camera position is slightly too low- a very slight increase in height to the subject's eye level or slightly higher would give you a better rendition of the chin/jawline. A slightly higher lighting ratio- stronger shadows would make for better facial sculpting as well as a variation in the position of the main light.

As for skin texture- softening, retouching, etc.- this is always a matter of taste and the expectations of the client/subject. Personally, I might go a bit softer and calm down a few lines.

Pose, I might suggest a contra-pose, that is where the shoulder and head are gracefully posed in opposite directions.

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Apr 4, 2020 22:51:03   #
GDJSTL Loc: Missouri
 
Thanks for the reply. I did what I was able to as an edit to address your comments. I see that a little higher would have been better. I had shot further back and have adjusted the crop. Also tried to soften but still leave a realistic vision of her. She did like the photos. I did not mean for the statement about the model to be the title, this is the first time I posted here. I did look thru the forum and see you are correct this is a very well managed and respectful board unlike some other sites. Appreciate all your suggestions and will incorporate them in my next attempt. Your correct that it is more difficult without modeling lights. I do have two Elinchrom 500 BX mono lights with modeling lights but my studio is so small they are hard control.


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Apr 5, 2020 06:50:50   #
camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.
 
I prefer the second set of portraits. Nothing wrong with the model, she is a very charming lady. I cannot remember if I ever saw anyone here showing disrespect to a model. You used the head light very well indeed because having a blonde hair reflects more light. I like the darker background in these portraits.
The lighting looks great to me and the posing is pretty good. If she is pleased with the results then you did your job. Although the whole head cannot be seen in the first shot that does not bother me. I myself do that at times.

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Apr 5, 2020 10:09:52   #
Toby
 
The model is a very nice looking lady. I think the photo is very well lighted. The only change I would want is less cropping and I prefer it when her head is slightly to the side rather than strat on.

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Apr 5, 2020 10:21:36   #
Jaackil Loc: Massachusetts
 
I think these are excellent. You did a great job with the lighting. Personally, I do not like images that are too soft and over processed, I think these are pretty spot on as far as that goes. You softened the face enough but didn’t over do it. Here are my two critiques. The eyes, her left facing camera eye has a bit of brown in it. Did you consider fixing that? Personally I would have sharpened the eyes a little to bring them out more. They have great color overall a little sharpening would have made them really “pop”. The second thing I see is with the pose in the second image in each set. While technically very good they are not a flattering as the first. She has a little bit of deer in the headlights look. Also because of the angle of her shoulders she appears “heavier”. A little bit more of an angle would be thinner for her as it is in the first image in each set. Lastly, and this is purely personal preference I would clean up some of the flyaway hair. On the right facing camera side there is a little more than I would like.
Overall you should be very happy with these. I know I would be if I had gotten this result. You also have to keep in mind we are all photographers so we are going to see every little imperfection. The client and everyone else looking at these is going to see amazing images. Well done.

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Apr 5, 2020 15:48:30   #
GDJSTL Loc: Missouri
 
Thanks for the comments "camerapapi". I was a little over sensitive because most models are young and we are of a certain age. But you are correct everyone has been very professional.

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Apr 5, 2020 15:57:14   #
GDJSTL Loc: Missouri
 
Jaackil wrote:
I think these are excellent. You did a great job with the lighting. Personally, I do not like images that are too soft and over processed, I think these are pretty spot on as far as that goes. You softened the face enough but didn’t over do it. Here are my two critiques. The eyes, her left facing camera eye has a bit of brown in it. Did you consider fixing that? Personally I would have sharpened the eyes a little to bring them out more. They have great color overall a little sharpening would have made them really “pop”. The second thing I see is with the pose in the second image in each set. While technically very good they are not a flattering as the first. She has a little bit of deer in the headlights look. Also because of the angle of her shoulders she appears “heavier”. A little bit more of an angle would be thinner for her as it is in the first image in each set. Lastly, and this is purely personal preference I would clean up some of the flyaway hair. On the right facing camera side there is a little more than I would like.
Overall you should be very happy with these. I know I would be if I had gotten this result. You also have to keep in mind we are all photographers so we are going to see every little imperfection. The client and everyone else looking at these is going to see amazing images. Well done.
I think these are excellent. You did a great job w... (show quote)


Yes the brown spot is natural, her fiends would have notice it missing. I will look for some instruction on sharpening the eyes. I did see that stare in the 2nd photo. I shot these as she and my gal were going to the theater, although I had taken may snap shots of her in the past it was a little uncomfortable for her in front of the lights. I only had ten minutes so did not have time to get her to relax. I did see the fly away hair but was not sure I could correct this in LR without it showing in the back ground. Probably should have gone to PS to fix. Yes she is quite slender so I did not do her justice in the 2nd photo. I will take care to try some better body positions in future attempts. Thank taking the time to help.

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Apr 5, 2020 16:02:01   #
GDJSTL Loc: Missouri
 
Toby wrote:
The model is a very nice looking lady. I think the photo is very well lighted. The only change I would want is less cropping and I prefer it when her head is slightly to the side rather than strat on.


Yes I am going back to up on my next attempt to allow more options on cropping. Thanks for looking

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Apr 6, 2020 15:23:52   #
Jaackil Loc: Massachusetts
 
GDJSTL wrote:
Yes the brown spot is natural, her fiends would have notice it missing. I will look for some instruction on sharpening the eyes. I did see that stare in the 2nd photo. I shot these as she and my gal were going to the theater, although I had taken may snap shots of her in the past it was a little uncomfortable for her in front of the lights. I only had ten minutes so did not have time to get her to relax. I did see the fly away hair but was not sure I could correct this in LR without it showing in the back ground. Probably should have gone to PS to fix. Yes she is quite slender so I did not do her justice in the 2nd photo. I will take care to try some better body positions in future attempts. Thank taking the time to help.
Yes the brown spot is natural, her fiends would ha... (show quote)


You really can’t deal with flyaway hair in LR. You need to take it over to PS. There are a ton of ways to clean up hair. But for those images simple spot healing tool or clone stamp tool will clean them up nice and easy. As for the eyes. You can enhance the color in light room. But the color looks pretty good. The sharpening tool in photoshop works really good for making the eyes pop. If you are not familiar it is the triangle shape icon. Just pass it over her eyes a couple of time and it really makes a difference. You can also use it on the lips eyebrows and eyelashes when needed. Just don’t over do it. A pass or two is all you need. Have fun.

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Apr 8, 2020 13:45:04   #
GDJSTL Loc: Missouri
 
Jaackil wrote:
You really can’t deal with flyaway hair in LR. You need to take it over to PS. There are a ton of ways to clean up hair. But for those images simple spot healing tool or clone stamp tool will clean them up nice and easy. As for the eyes. You can enhance the color in light room. But the color looks pretty good. The sharpening tool in photoshop works really good for making the eyes pop. If you are not familiar it is the triangle shape icon. Just pass it over her eyes a couple of time and it really makes a difference. You can also use it on the lips eyebrows and eyelashes when needed. Just don’t over do it. A pass or two is all you need. Have fun.
You really can’t deal with flyaway hair in LR. You... (show quote)


It took me a while to find sharpening tool because it was hid behind blur tool. I don't get in PS much anymore. It worked great. The clone stamp also made short work of the fly away hairs. Really helped my photo. Thanks so much.

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