Beautiful girl.
Maybe try a couple with her head tilted slightly upward?
Those are beautiful - good job.
Dahveed wrote:
Please critique my first home studio portraits taken this Christmas with an actual human being and not a mannequin head. These high-key portraits of my niece were shot with a Canon 80D, EF50mm f/1.4 USM lens, and 2 Flashpoint speedlites: one key and one fill triggered by a Flashpoint R2 Pro. The speedlites were attached to a Godox 32x32 inch softbox diffuser and a 30-inch silver umbrella. I also used a 32-inch round reflector, to fill the shadow under her neck, in the shot where you can see 3 catchlights in her eyes. A JTL 160 strobe blasted the white seamless paper background. PortraitPro Studio 18 helped smooth her skin tones as I'm not yet up to speed on related Photoshop techniques.
Be as brutally honest as you care to be. As a retiree, I'd love to channel this hobby into a small business.
Please critique my first home studio portraits tak... (
show quote)
Very nice job, all the way around. On portrait one, the first thing that caught my eye was the specular highlight over her left eyebrow (our right as we view the image). You want to avoid that. Also, the tip about the side of the hand being more attractive than the back was a good one. You are off to a great start! Keep it up!
Picture #1 and 2 are very nice, great work. Picture #3 needs work in MHO. There are too many reflections in the eyes which make her look weird. Since a viewer is first drawn to the eyes, it ruin the shot for me. MHO
WJH
Annie-Get-Your-Gun wrote:
First - how 'bout a different handle - Schliemannski is a bit too long.
. . . .
seems like an 18-character user name calling out a 13-character user name is like the pot calling the kettle ......
Stan
phlash46
Loc: Westchester County, New York
I don't think it gets much better than these!
Your portraits of your niece are wonderfully done, Dahveed! The only thing I would criticize is the choice of background - it is too stark and plain for this beautiful subject. If your intent was to do a high-key portrait then the subject would work best if dressed in much lighter or even white clothing. With subjects dressed in dark clothing, a darker background would be a better choice, I think.
Stan
You have some minor flows with the posing but nothing that could not be fixed. To me the first shot is the one that looks more natural and I refer to posing. The quality is excellent.
Begin to understand flash ratios, using them you will have drama in many of your portraits.
vicksart
Loc: Novato, CA -earthquake country
I think you did very well and have nothing to add.
Very well done Dahveed, I think the portraits need some kind of background though.
A10
Loc: Southern Indiana
Most of the suggestions have been said so, I will say well done for your first live person attempt. Watch You Tube for posing and lighting suggestions. Look forward to more portraits from you, no matter what the "handle".
Earnest Botello wrote:
Very well done Dahveed, I think the portraits need some kind of background though.
They have a background...it's white!
tnturk
Loc: Gallatin Tennessee
Great job. Not crazy about second pose but posing in general is a personal thing. Lighting is pretty spot on. Really consider that small business thing. Many years ago I did a wedding that bloomed into a 23 year undertaking. I also did kids sports and art fairs. When I quit it was because it became work. Now retired I shoot what I want when I want. I will always love photography but this new approach is so much more satisfying.
I’m just getting in to photography again after 40 years so I have nothing technical to say. However, for my personal taste, the white background was too bright and it felt like it distracted me from the subject. I thought the lighting on her was perfect and brought out her beautiful skin tones. If you could soften the background a little the shots would be great.
If you want to reply, then
register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.