Em & Tulips

You're getting too good at this photography lark, really very good
 
"Excellent" portrait style capture Gav, nuff said.
 
sirch said:
You're getting too good at this photography lark, really very good
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That's because he has a good camera :D

Very nice Gav (y)
 
ashishtamhane said:
That's a fantastic portrait. Nothing not to like in here!
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Thank you, Ashish.

sirch said:
You're getting too good at this photography lark, really very good
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Thank you Chris, just trying to put the crit' and feedback to use :)

G.K.Jnr. said:
"Excellent" portrait style capture Gav, nuff said.
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Thank you, George.

Cobra said:
That's because he has a good camera :D
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Not bad for an old tech DSLR :p

Cobra said:
Very nice Gav (y)
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Thank you, Chris.
 
Nice portrait but it seems as if the camera wasn't perpendicular when you took the shot.
It looks as though she's looking up at you which makes it look slightly odd.
A nice overall idea though.
 
lexidium said:
Nice portrait but it seems as if the camera wasn't perpendicular when you took the shot.
It looks as though she's looking up at you which makes it look slightly odd.
A nice overall idea though.
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Thank you for the feedback, I'll try and learn from this.
 
As someone who has never tried studio photography I really enjoy these sorts of posts to try and understand the process.

Firstly, cracking shot!

Secondly, could you advise what the lighting setup is please? I'm trying to teach myself to understand setups from the end image. I'm going to take a stab at a head-height softbox slightly angled down to her left, and some sort of additional light towards her face?

Many thanks and awesome shot!
 
LancsMak said:
As someone who has never tried studio photography I really enjoy these sorts of posts to try and understand the process.

Firstly, cracking shot!

Secondly, could you advise what the lighting setup is please? I'm trying to teach myself to understand setups from the end image. I'm going to take a stab at a head-height softbox slightly angled down to her left, and some sort of additional light towards her face?

Many thanks and awesome shot!
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Thank you.

Main light, 8 sided softbox around 45 degrees to camera left, bottom of the softbox around models head height, (ceiling stopped any more lift), tilted down to her face.

Some reflection from a white wall camera right from main light.

Fill/Hair light, strip softbox, camera right behind model, above head angled down to light back of the head/hair and just catch the shoulder.

This was taken in small bedroom and ceiling height is limited.

Hope this helps.
 
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Thanks, some I got right, some I didn't, and some I don't understand so will do some reading :). I'll let you get back OT now :). Cheers.
 
One tip for a lack of ceiling height is to sit the model down on a chair.

It prevents them moving around so much (my wife sees it as an annoying game to stand in different places) which can help with consistent lighting, and it also allows you to get height over the model and avoid the "camera slightly lower" issue without getting on a chair and banging your head on the ceiling and finally it allows you to have your lights higher if you need to. It can take a bit of work to prevent the model slouching though :)

That bit of bra strap is nagging my OCD and the pose isn't quite working for me. It may be because Em is looking slightly down at you which is pulling her eyelids down a bit. Could be rectified by a chin drop, or you getting higher. I tried messing around with a crop but couldn't really get anything I thought was better other than going for a more 4:3 or 1:1 ratio which would need to extend the canvas a bit...

Screenshot 2024-02-18 210647.png
 
Harlequin565 said:
One tip for a lack of ceiling height is to sit the model down on a chair.

It prevents them moving around so much (my wife sees it as an annoying game to stand in different places) which can help with consistent lighting, and it also allows you to get height over the model and avoid the "camera slightly lower" issue without getting on a chair and banging your head on the ceiling and finally it allows you to have your lights higher if you need to. It can take a bit of work to prevent the model slouching though :)
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We started with her on a stool, but it didn't work out for one reason or another, I think she enjoys testing me :D

Harlequin565 said:
That bit of bra strap is nagging my OCD and the pose isn't quite working for me. It may be because Em is looking slightly down at you which is pulling her eyelids down a bit. Could be rectified by a chin drop, or you getting higher. I tried messing around with a crop but couldn't really get anything I thought was better other than going for a more 4:3 or 1:1 ratio which would need to extend the canvas a bit...
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:runaway: I never noticed the bra strap!! That's ruined the image now.. thanks!!

:LOL: I'll open my eye's wider next time!

I think the pose/camera angle could have been because I was holding a heater fan in one hand (for lifting the hair), camera in the other and she was moving, I find she's far more relaxed and natural this way but I think this is where I'm going wrong, I'm trying to do too much.
(I should have mentioned this above after thinking about it)

Thank you for taking a look at a crop, I'll have a play with that.

Thank you for the feedback.
 
The perpendicular position of the camera (in portraits) should depend on whether it's a head shot, a head and shoulders or a full length shot and - to a degree - how far away your are from the subject. Each one requires a different height and not what's convenient for the photographer: i.e. standing up and holding the camera at his eye level.
This can cause foreshortening and odd looks.
The rules can be swayed when it's for a particular purpose. For instance, if you were doing a shot of a company director for the boardroom, you may want to do it from a lower angle so that when it's on the wall, he/she may appear to be looking down at the rest from a position of power. . . Ghastly, I know but that's the way they do it!
Fashion photography has it's own traits.
The point is, every portrait is not the same and each has it's own nuances
 
Gav. said:
:runaway: I never noticed the bra strap!! That's ruined the image now.. thanks!!
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Sorry. I do wonder whether I should just keep my yap shut sometimes. :)
Gav. said:
I think the pose/camera angle could have been because I was holding a heater fan in one hand (for lifting the hair)
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I wondered how you did the hair thing. Very nice touch.
 
lexidium said:
The perpendicular position of the camera (in portraits) should depend on whether it's a head shot, a head and shoulders or a full length shot and - to a degree - how far away your are from the subject. Each one requires a different height and not what's convenient for the photographer: i.e. standing up and holding the camera at his eye level.
This can cause foreshortening and odd looks.
The rules can be swayed when it's for a particular purpose. For instance, if you were doing a shot of a company director for the boardroom, you may want to do it from a lower angle so that when it's on the wall, he/she may appear to be looking down at the rest from a position of power. . . Ghastly, I know but that's the way they do it!
Fashion photography has it's own traits.
The point is, every portrait is not the same and each has it's own nuances
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Thank you for taking the time to reply, I'll take note.
 
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Gav. said:
:runaway: Nooo... it's worse, just found it's part of the dress liner!

:LOL:
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Oof... Then watch out for underskirts if you ever do full length stuff. They were a bane of my life for a while :)

Edit: I realise how that sounds out of context :)
 
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