Alana by Window Light (7 Portraits)

[Spoonford]

Portrait shot from today. Lighting is all window light. Shot with my 20D with the 50mm f/1.8 wide open. ISO 400. Keeping the set up simple! PP is contrast, minor blemish removal, some skin softening and sharpening.

Comments and critques most appreciated!

1.
http://www.spoonford.com/images/20060423174416_natlighti.jpg

2.
http://www.spoonford.com/images/20060423174449_natlightii.jpg

3.
http://www.spoonford.com/images/20060423174522_natlightiii.jpg

4.
http://www.spoonford.com/images/20060423174553_natlightiv.jpg

5.
http://www.spoonford.com/images/20060423174630_natlightv.jpg

6.
http://www.spoonford.com/images/20060423174650_natlightvi.jpg

7.
http://www.spoonford.com/images/20060423174712_natlightvii.jpg

[ctymom]

I love the coloring. I dont care for the crop on #6..just seems like too much empty space below. But it's a nice photo in general. And with #5, because of how black everything is, her hand appears out of nowhere and is distracting.

That would be my only critiques. Otherwise... nice shots.

[jbkalla]

I think I like 4 & 7 the best! Very cool!

[saad]

1st, 3rd and 6th work for me, especially the 6th. just my opinion. great shots, did you just use a black cloth as the background?

[Spoonford]

1st, 3rd and 6th work for me, especially the 6th. just my opinion. great shots, did you just use a black cloth as the background?

She's lying on a bed with black sheets.

[DwightMcCann]

If you get any better at these with her I will shriek! That first one is fantastic! I love available window light portraits. It may be her makeup in combination with the light angle but in several her skin seems a bit unnaturally bumpy. And while I don't care a whit about the piercings, that hair color is glorious and the texture/lay of it is stunning ... must cost a fortune and worth every penny. :-) I Also love the eye color. Good stuff, glad I caught it.

[Skip Souza]

Wowsers! Quite stunning. She has a new stud in her upper lip, doesn't she? This one stands out more and casts a significant shadow. The old one looked like a dark crater. You are doing a wonderful job.

[Jim G]

Very,very nice... I'm still amazed at what good shots that 50mm 1.8 can pull out when people use it right. Absolutely love the black/red/white of the background/clothes, hair and skin.

[Spoonford]

that hair color is glorious and the texture/lay of it is stunning ... must cost a fortune and worth every penny. :-) I Also love the eye color. Good stuff, glad I caught it.

She does the hair herself! Costs under £10 for the bleach and dye but she does have to touch it up every 2 weeks or so!

She has a new stud in her upper lip, doesn't she? This one stands out more and casts a significant shadow. The old one looked like a dark crater. You are doing a wonderful job.

You'll like this - just before we started taking the pictures she said "Hang on, let me just put some different jewelery in because those internet people don't like this one!" It does look between when it is more clearly a piece of jewelery rather than a hole in her face! :D

Thank you all for the enocouraging comments :D

[DwightMcCann]

Ten pounds? I don't know the current exchange rate, but that is NOTHING! Getting my hair cut is more than that! My wife has "highlights" done and it costs a king's ransom. And I'd be willing to "touch up" the few strands of hair I have left every two weeks if I could have hair that magnificent, but I'd have to dye my scalp, too! :-) She must be an angel!

[condyk]

She looks happy and you captured a beautiful gentleness in her personality. Wonderful work with light and lens ... and both almost free ;-) Just like your last shots of her these should be set up as examples that the art and craft of photography don't need much money to develop.

[Spoonford]

She looks happy and you captured a beautiful gentleness in her personality. Wonderful work with light and lens ... and both almost free ;-) Just like your last shots of her these should be set up as examples that the art and craft of photography don't need much money to develop.

Thanks! That's a wonderfull compliment!

[PEACHMAN]

Wow...great colors and these compositions are terriffic!...She is a beautiful model, but a few too many piercings for my taste in this photo as I find my eye pulling away from hers and onto the cluster of mouth jewelery...

[Familia]

cool shots, I really liked #7

[Spoonford]

... I find my eye pulling away from hers and onto the cluster of mouth jewelery...

To those more familiar with them they are less distracting.

[DwightMcCann]

To those more familiar with them they are less distracting.
I was just thinking that! Once the initial "shock" wears off they become just another version of jewelry, they are simply another piece of the costume or accessory the same as earrings or a necklace and can either contribute or detract. I now find Alana's piercings to be "normal" and think they work very well with the dramatic hair color and makeup. I do think she needs them in gold, and er, ah, um, perhaps something with a gem (small and elegant), and ... oh, hmmm, I don't want to preclude another 'L' lens so I'll stop! :rolleyes:

[Spoonford]

I was just thinking that! Once the initial "shock" wears off they become just another version of jewelry, they are simply another piece of the costume or accessory the same as earrings or a necklace and can either contribute or detract. I now find Alana's piercings to be "normal" and think they work very well with the dramatic hair color and makeup. I do think she needs them in gold, and er, ah, um, perhaps something with a gem (small and elegant), and ... oh, hmmm, I don't want to preclude another 'L' lens so I'll stop! :rolleyes:

No jewelery or L's for a long time, we are hoping to move to Australia in November so fashion and photography have to take a back seat finacially for now! Also she will only wear white gold... :rolleyes:

[Sean-Mcr]

One is the stand out one for me, i like the piercing in conjunction with such a tender look. People often have this images of people with piercings and tats as somehow less sensitive as the rest of us mere mortals

Shot says otherwise


Well done

[DwightMcCann]

Also she will only wear white gold... :rolleyes:

But, but, but, platinum is so much more elegant!

[Spoonford]

But, but, but, platinum is so much more elegant!

Alana tellsme that I should listen to the nice man and buy her some platinum! And I wanted some new lights.... Oh well.... :p

[DwightMcCann]

Alana tellsme that I should listen to the nice man and buy her some platinum! And I wanted some new lights.... Oh well.... :p
Oh, rats! I didn't mean for that to slip out:oops: ... but it would really work so well for her ... er, no, wait, just let me think about this a minute:o ... um, platinum's cheap over there isn't it? And it would look REALLY, REALLY good on her! :rolleyes:

I'm just sharing the misery! My wife bought herself $1000 worth of jewelry on a lark last week. Then, because we had been talking about it for a month or so she decided to go look at propane outdoor BBQs ... she loves to BBQ and does it even in the rain, sigh ... we wound up with a six burner, IR and smoker attachment model in stainless steel ... $2000USD! So, a few hundred pounds for some nice platinum wouldn't be all that bad. [My wife has an MBA and is the smart one in the family with a well paying job ... it's really her money she spends ... but think about the glass it would buy!]

[condyk]

... we wound up with a six burner, IR and smoker attachment model in stainless steel ... $2000USD!

Did it arrive on a brown truck :lol: :lol:

[DwightMcCann]

No, they will deliver it and set it up at her convenience which hasn't happened yet, sigh.

[Skip Souza]

Oh, rats! I didn't mean for that to slip out:oops: ... but it would really work so well for her ... er, no, wait, just let me think about this a minute:o ... um, platinum's cheap over there isn't it? And it would look REALLY, REALLY good on her! :rolleyes:


Dwight, you've got to stop moving your lips when you type. Sometime these things just pop out loud :lol: :lol:
Tell me when the ribs will be ready.:rolleyes: Not on my diet though, oh well :(

[DwightMcCann]

Tell me when the ribs will be ready.:rolleyes: Not on my diet though, oh well :(

Skippy, Marna would LOVE to grill up some salmon for you!:cool: I prefer swordfish or shark myself. I am going to try to put together a Southern California POTN gig off around summer that will include heavy use of this thing! It is a monster ... Probably Weber's top-of-the-line ... it truly is the "Platinum" model ... that's probably why that came up.:rolleyes:

[Titus213]

Wonderful color, light, and composition. I checked the gallery and really liked Alana in the Park... Lovely work with a very pretty lady.