A few portraits of my wife

I'd appreciate any feedback anyone is willing to give. I don't do much formal-ish portraits, especially with flash. I've debated getting some better umbrellas and stands. This is more of a 'po-man's' setup where the umbrella isn't even an actual photographic umbrella - it just happened to have a siliver lining and I clamped it to a tripod - and the reflector is an automotive reflector.

Here's the setup:

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I like the third shot. The first 2 she doesn't look comfortable. Maybe someone will provide a critique of your lighting but it look good to me.

DanThoman wrote in post #11926091
I like the third shot. The first 2 she doesn't look comfortable. Maybe someone will provide a critique of your lighting but it look good to me.

Thanks, Dan. In the first 2 she was trying to not be 'cheesin', but wanted to be a bit more serious w/o looking like a stiff.

the lighting is too low. its on her chest/body more so then face.

m.shalaby wrote in post #11926363
the lighting is too low. its on her chest/body more so then face.

Good point - I hadn't considered that before. I did have the tripod rather low - as you can see in the setup shot.

Thanks for the feedback!

IMHO, the crops are tight. Give them more "head room". Also, it may worth trying to make the background darker and less noisy.

colormaniac wrote in post #11929910
IMHO, the crops are tight. Give them more "head room". Also, it may worth trying to make the background darker and less noisy.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm not sure what I can do w/ that umbrella to control where the light goes... It seems to just spill everywhere when bouncing into the umbrella. I could stop down, but I was trying to get the nice bokeh. I can try to redirect the umbrella more towards the front so less light spills out to the back?

Thanks again!

The general principle is that the subject-light distance should be as short as possible. And the subject-background distance is then relatively longer. This way you can render the background darker. But this may be hard to do in a small room anyway.

I also like the last the best. Mostly becouse of here smile. A bit to tight crop above her head though.

There is to much contrast in the picture, becouse you have the picture a bit overexposed. I would PP the picture more, and started with a new picture directly from the RAW picture. To use layermask to get only the brighter part darker, would improve the picture alot, and soften the contrast without bluring the picture.

All three would have been improved with more sharpnes. You need to think through why you got blured pictures at 1/250. On the first, you have more sharpnes on the background. On the second, it seems like her hair is sharper than her eyes. You should point the autofocus directly at her eyes in a portrait.

kent andersen wrote in post #11934114
I also like the last the best. Mostly becouse of here smile. A bit to tight crop above her head though.

There is to much contrast in the picture, becouse you have the picture a bit overexposed. I would PP the picture more, and started with a new picture directly from the RAW picture. To use layermask to get only the brighter part darker, would improve the picture alot, and soften the contrast without bluring the picture.

All three would have been improved with more sharpnes. You need to think through why you got blured pictures at 1/250. On the first, you have more sharpnes on the background. On the second, it seems like her hair is sharper than her eyes. You should point the autofocus directly at her eyes in a portrait.

Kent, I apreciate the detailed feedback. I didnot notice any blurriness in the photo. I also always focus right on the eyes. If it looks oof, then either the lens back/front focuses or I leaned forward/back slightly between the time I focused and actually shooting the photo.

Thanks again!

I like the catchlights, nice work overall. Just wondering but what were your camera settings? and did you leave the ambient lights on during the shoot or is that the umbrella light that is lighting up the bg?

There is a lot going on in the lighting and the background. Although you may think wood warms up the room, it may be too much of it. Lighting for one person should be warm and inviting. The 3rd one is the best of the series, giving the subject more focus and a good angle view. Keep trying.

Pretty wife. As others have said, only half of her face is lit

Thanks everybody for the feedback & comments. I've been traveling for work and unable to reply until now.

disneydork06 wrote in post #11940190
I like the catchlights, nice work overall. Just wondering but what were your camera settings? and did you leave the ambient lights on during the shoot or is that the umbrella light that is lighting up the bg?

Thanks - I try to get good catchlights. The ambient lights were on, but I think that the umbrella is really what lit up the bg because the lighting in that room just isn't all that bright. There are only a couple of small, low-watt lamps in there.

1. and 2.
Focal length 34 mm
Exposure 1/250 at f/3.2
Flash Fired, compulsory mode
Exposure bias 0 EV
Exposure mode Manual
ISO speed ISO 100

3.
Focal length 43 mm
Exposure 1/250 at f/5
Flash Fired, compulsory mode
Exposure bias 0 EV
Exposure mode Manual
ISO speed ISO 200

SuzyView wrote in post #11941239
There is a lot going on in the lighting and the background. Although you may think wood warms up the room, it may be too much of it. Lighting for one person should be warm and inviting. The 3rd one is the best of the series, giving the subject more focus and a good angle view. Keep trying.

To me the first and third were almost too 'flat'. I liked the second because it gave more depth, but maybe it was too under-lit.

lhughey wrote in post #11942524
Pretty wife. As others have said, only half of her face is lit

I don't think anybody commented that her face was half lit, rather the comment was too much light fell on her chest. However, the 2nd shot might could have benefited from slightly more fill on her left. IMO the 1st and 3rd shots are almost too flat.

The shots are a bit tight, I like the 2nd shot the best for the lighting and the background. The other ones feel a bit cluttered. And your wife looks very uncomfortable/stiff in the first 2 shots.