First Attempt at a portrait

[Poster Of U]

My girl friend wanted to try on her new dress! So I thumb tacked a blanket to the ceiling, set up two lamps and got my 10D and you can see the rest. Let me know what you think.

1/45 f 3.5 ISO 100 35mm Lens 28-80 10D


1/20 f 3.5 ISO 100 35mm Lens 28-80 10D

[JaertX]

I like them. . . she is turned a bit much to her right keeping you from seeing the edge of her right eye, but the lighting and pose is great on the first. If you turn her head a bit more, you also get the "Rembrandt" lighting, which you are very close to.

[laurenn]

great photos, theres too much shadow on her nose in the first one i think.

[Poster Of U]

great photos, theres too much shadow on her nose in the first one i think.

Now that you say it I might agree, even in the second one too.

[cargo123]

Great shots. How did you make the BW photo with a colored flower?

[vinnyveez]

love the second shot, really nice, how did you get a shot off in such low lighting? i didnt notice the nose shadow till you mentioned it, but the picture stillw roks for me. like the colored flower too.

[MichaelE]

Like the second one!

[cmM]

#2 is awesome
Great job on your first portrait!

[Dimitry]

So where's the dress? LOL. I haven't read the posts yet, but it seems if she wanted to try a dress, you should have shot the dress as well. ;) :)

[welshphreak]

I like them both! Want to try this myself but I lack a willing model. Did you just use basic desk lamps?

[Alan B]

Love the 2nd pic :cool:

[Alan Neilson]

I quite like the photo's number two more, but they seem to my mind a bit to dark, and too much in shadow, also as Dimitry said, where's the dress, since she wanted to try her "New dress", you might as well show us a pic of it!

[NothingmanPhotos]

If thats your first attempt keep us posted on the even better things to come!

[Poster Of U]

Great shots. How did you make the BW photo with a colored flower?

First I shot the photo in RAW, then imported into Photoshop. After adjusting I desaturated it(changed it from color to BW), then I use the history brush and brought the color back to the flower.

[TSEE]

I like the mood of the first one personally. Great shots, but where's the dress?

[Poster Of U]

I like them both! Want to try this myself but I lack a willing model. Did you just use basic desk lamps?

I had 1 floor lamp and I took the shade off, and the other was the kind with the moveable heads to point the light were you wanted. So had the moveable one on the left pointed at the background and one at her face and the other infront on the right.........................I think!!!!!!!!!

[Poster Of U]

Allright, Allright the damn dress. I didn't post one because non of them look great. You know how it works 100 pictures and only 5 good ones. And this isn't one of them, but it is the dress.

[TSEE]

Nice dress. =o) Gosh I'd give my right arm to be able to fit into one of those kind of dresses. ;o)

[Dante King]

LOL, you got "messy house". I like #2 best.

[Poster Of U]

LOL, you got "messy house". I like #2 best.

Thanks, she read your post and I spent all afternoon today cleaning. LOL

[Barb42]

Use something to reflect a bit more light on the face. The dark shadow on the nose enlarges it. And a slight turn of the head to get both eyes. Reflectors are a wonderful tool, anything can be used, posterboard, foil, or purchased pro items. What you are doing here are in the hollywood style of the mid-20th century and can be quite nice, but I think they used multiple light sources. Do you shoot in RAW? If so, you can use photoshop to fix it by using layers. One layer for the lights and one for the selected dark areas you want to draw detail out of. RAW would give you additional tools to work with if you are short on lights, reflectors, etc. Will not fix all, but quite helpful.

Why would such a lovely girl mar her body with a tattoo on her shoulder? Any idea how that will look when she is 50 or 60? I have been told that you can't get into an MRI machine with a tattoo - something in the dyes.