My first submission

[Jimerson]

Hello. I've just recently started shooting studio photography and this is a shot from my first studio session. I did a little PP in lightroom. I'd like any advice you all can offer!

Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XSi, 1/250, F/9.0, 46 mm, ISO 100.

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2010/048/9/3/What_is_Glamorous__by_Phiros.jpg

[ianh]

Far too much red, especially in the shadow areas, and contrast in areas where you should be avoiding it. In general you want to avoid reddish skin tones. Skin smoothing in beneficial for portrait shots as well. You can use a clarity brush for that.

I played around with the image a bit and made some adjustments. If you turn on image editing I can post it.

Are you shooting in RAW by any chance?

[Jimerson]

I turned on image editing. Thanks for the advice about reddish tones. I did shoot in RAW.

[ianh]

Awesome, that should give you more room to play with the tones. I felt a bit restricted by the JPG.

Now, this is a quick edit and the skin is a bit yellow (was hard to push away from the red in the original), but hopefully you see what I was going for.

Less darkness under her chin and on the right shoulder, smoother skin, a more neutral skin tone, etc. I boosted the contrast on the eyes a little but it's rather subtle.

Now, I may have murdered the reddish blonde hair you might like, but you can use adjustment brushes for that.

http://icanhasupload.com/uploads/2010/02/what_is_glamorous__by_phiros2.jpg

[mattaura]

To be honest I sort of like the reddish tone. I dialed it back a wee tad...but overall I think it adds to the photo...just my opinion. I think your on the right track just maybe some minor touch-ups. This edit took all of about 4 minutes....ran noise removal on face which softens the whole image....play with the levels a bit, dodge the eyes, resharpen the whole thing and resoften the hair.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/mat987/OTHERS%20EDITS%20-%20NOT%20MY%20PHOTOS/phiro.jpg

[disjecta]

I'm not usually a big fan of skin softening but in this case, I think mattaura's edit has vastly improved the shot although I would have eased the effect a little to maintain some of her skin characteristics.

[Robbierob]

I'm not usually a big fan of skin softening but in this case, I think mattaura's edit has vastly improved the shot although I would have eased the effect a little to maintain some of her skin characteristics.


agreed....

nice job in the studio

[heathermarie]

Here's my 2 minute take on the image. Hope you don't mind! I think you did great in the studio, but had a little trouble on the post end of things. I see that the image may have been oversharpened? Is there any way you could post the straight out of camera image?

[Jimerson]

Thanks everyone for the great advice! Here is the requested pre-PP original.

http://www.nextsunrisephoto.com/original.jpg

[AlphaChicken]

I am surprised no one has mentioned that the eyes look really red. Over here on my side, they look bloodshot in every single person's edit to a varying degree.

[HappySnapper90]

Thanks everyone for the great advice! Here is the requested pre-PP original.


Yeah, the original is under exposed which leads to red/orange skin tones. What is your lighting setup? The light looks rather flat - direct.

[Jimerson]

That studio was using an alienbees B800 in a large octagonal for the main light, a B800 in a medium softbox for key, and a B400 in a medium for the hair. Should I have shot at a 7 or 8 instead of 9?

[HappySnapper90]

Should I have shot at a 7 or 8 instead of 9?

Are you referring to aperture value? Why not use iso 200 or are you limited to 1/250 shutter speed with your lights? Do you understand exposure? Your question makes me wonder.

[heathermarie]

Lol..okay so I had way too much fun with this original picture, but i thought i'd post it.