PDA

View Full Version : First portrait attempt: Xandie at Christmas

gkuenning
26th of December 2006 (Tue), 00:57
I've never done a posed portrait before in my life, but Benji's recent tutorials over on photocamel have encouraged me to get brave. This is the best of a not-very-successful shoot with my daughter. The original was badly underexposed; I've boosted it quite a bit, as well as cropping and resizing/sharpening for posting.

Comment/criticisms are welcome. Feel free to be harsh; my skin is WAY stronger than my talent! :-D

http://www.cs.hmc.edu/%7Egeoff/friendpix/potn/P2006.12.24-17.23.04-2179-forweb.jpg

Lighting was two Sigma EF-500s, one high up to the right of the image, bounced off a white ceiling using A Better Bounce Card, the other below and a bit to the left of the camera, narrowed to her face using a coroplast snoot. Both flashes were filtered through Rosco CTO; an incandescent bulb far to camera left provided background lighting for the tree. (Gee, can you tell I've been reading Strobist?) White balance was set to incandescent; nevertheless I think it looks a bit reddish.

I think the catchlights are so small (nearly nonexistent) because the fill flash wasn't on-camera. However, she really doesn't like having flash in her eyes. Any suggestions on how to deal with that problem with kids?
gkuenning
26th of December 2006 (Tue), 01:01
Wow, it wasn't until after I posted that I noticed those horrible tendon lines in her neck. They're not in all the shots, thank goodness. What the heck did I do wrong in posing her, to get that effect?
eos_o_eos
26th of December 2006 (Tue), 01:21
I think they are shadows from her hair not tendons
gkuenning
26th of December 2006 (Tue), 02:13
I think they are shadows from her hair not tendons

You called it. I zoomed in on the original and saw that they exactly match the curvature of her hair.

That makes me feel at least slightly less stupid... ;)
MALI
26th of December 2006 (Tue), 12:02
You need more fill flash.
VFTT
26th of December 2006 (Tue), 12:04
Could use more fill in lighting and you need to try to reduce the glares in the background - they are distracting.

- d
Benji
26th of December 2006 (Tue), 14:56
Glad to you liked my tutorial!

The harsh shadows on her neck were caused by the main light being too far from her. The further the main is from the subject the harder it gets, and the harder it is the more defined the shadows are.

The pose is pretty good but we don't really need to see anything below about 2 inches below the embroidered flowers on her blouse. Crop it there and it will strengthen the composition.

Benji
robertc
31st of December 2006 (Sun), 12:27
Can you point me in the direction of Benji's tutorial please
gkuenning
1st of January 2007 (Mon), 06:19
Can you point me in the direction of Benji's tutorial please

http:///www.photocamel.com/index.php/topic,16842.0/all.html (http://www.photocamel.com/index.php/topic,16842.0/all.html)
Alissa Morris
1st of January 2007 (Mon), 08:26
Cute shot.
robertc
1st of January 2007 (Mon), 10:46
gkuenning - thanks
Alissa Morris
5th of February 2007 (Mon), 12:42
Adjust white balance.
Tungsram
5th of February 2007 (Mon), 15:21
I guess I would have had a little more distance between her and the tree. The ornaments are a bit distracting I think. The incandescent works ok on the tree, considering it's mostly green and all. The overall appearance seems rather dark to me though. For me, portraits are about the details, and those are real hard to see at this exposure. Less bounced light and more direct would have illuminated her pretty face a little better IMO. Focus seems a tad soft too.