Merlin (she is magic)

Took some shots of a friend that visited from Germany. I needed practice and she was willing so here is what we got.

I used one AB light with a PLM and used the 85mm lens with the Singh Ray Vari ND filter to get the DOF in the very harsh afternoon light (only time we could shoot).

We did a couple at the house too. C&C welcome!!

1

Sorry for the borders, I did these for her FB page

I'm not experienced to criticize. However, I like the monochrome pic the most.

I'm not an expert either (in any way lol)...feel free to give your thoughts! I don't have much practice with outdoor portraits, so I am learning.

Thanks!!

I see a lot that is wrong with each photo, Maybe there is something I don't see, or advise of what I should do different

Well, I guess not many comments means they are middle of the road which is not bad

The series is mostly excellent.... the last one is the weakest....to me it needed a hairlight to provide more separation from the background and her expression makes it look like she was surprised.

In the first two photos her white top appears a bit hot but that can be fixed in post production.

Thanks!! I was not showing any blown highlights, but I will sure go back and check as in tweaking it I may have done that.

I was really unsure about the last one. I have some with the bg light on, but I think I had it a little to hot which is why I did not like them. This was my first time trying this lighting style. Live and learn


Thanks for the input!!!!!

I didn't say the highlights were blown, just that they were a bit hot. I measured them in Photoshop and the whites were around 252 in some areas. I guess it depends on where you want the viewer to focus attention....bright highlight invariably draw the viewer's eyes so in this case it draws the eyes away from her face to her clothing.

Also, have you thought about minimizing the scar? Don't remove it; just tone it down a bit.

pprice wrote in post #12489026
I'm not an expert either (in any way lol)...feel free to give your thoughts! I don't have much practice with outdoor portraits, so I am learning.

Thanks!!

I see a lot that is wrong with each photo, Maybe there is something I don't see, or advise of what I should do different

i have very lil outdoor practice too. i feel like i need several years to get to where i want to be with that. it's much trickier!

however...i think you did awesome! love all of them except the last one and the b&w one.

I think you knocked these straight out of the park man! Love #6 best but all of them are very good!

Thanks for the feedback!!

I think these look very good. The only thing I would fix is the WB of #3. It is definitely cooler than the rest.

Of these and even with a few nits, I like #3 the most. My nit is the color (she looks a bit too red) and the tree that has fallen from her right arm.

Thanks Lori! Yes, she was sun burned and I tried to fix it the best I could...may need to work on it more

Jm, yes I did cool the WB to try to correct for red skin. I will revisit that photo

Does she want to keep the scars?

Dan K.