Country Girl

My 4th attempt at a portrait session. We found a great old farm with stables and a couple barns. All were taken using only natural light. Looking forward to feedback as I'd like to get good at this one day.

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One of the best things you can do is get away from the walls. There is a natural tendency to get close to interact with them, I do it ALL the time, but in reality we don't want to see models interacting with walls.

Pull her away and learn to work in ways that don't involve these subconsciously inane gestures that we don't relate with any particular emotion. Granted, there are exceptions, like, "the cool guy" leaning against a wall, and other things of this nature. Gentle portraiture though, is best when you can vary between both distances to the environment.

^ Agree.but man o man, that first photo is stunning of her. I think its beautifully lit.

I think these are all very nice Doug. Some of the best I've seen in the cc section. I know what EnsitMike means by using the walls as props, however she looks really comfortable in these captures so they work for me. It would be great to see some variety without her leaning on a wall though

#1 is awesome. Lovely model, lovely capture.

I'm also a "get-the-model-away-from-the-wall" type of guy. It doesn't take much...just a step or two away with that f/4 and you'll get great separation.

#2 has some hasps pointing toward the top of her head...once again I'd vote for 4 feet of physical separation between her and the wall. The peeling paint would become blurred as a bonus.

#3 I really like how you used the diagonal board (with all the peeling paint) to frame her. Lots of distracting peeling paint on the diagonal.

These notes are nits of course...you got some great shots of her.
Thanks for sharing!

Lovely country girl and very nice and sharp captures of her. In #1 and #2 I don't like the multiple catchlights in her eyes and her teeth seem overly-white - did you do some PP here or does she have naturally radiant teeth?
I'd really like to see her in some short cut-off jeans and a plad blouse tied at the waist in this setting.

Thank you all for the helpful comments. Yes, I need to work on pulling away from the walls and figuring out poses that work that way. Her teeth are THAT white. Absolutely no post processing on them.

I really like the 1st one and I think having her against the wall in this photo not only helps to relax her but places her in an environment that could be relevant to her.

For those who like the lighting in #1, sometimes luck is on your side. We walked in this old large workshop building, stepped around the junk, and found this spot. I knew instantly the light was perfect. Almost like huge door across from us was acting like a soft box when we moved into the shadows just away from the sunlight.

Excellent job on all but number 1 is perfection. Great work Doug.

For using a wall and using natural light, you did a very good job.

Qbx wrote in post #14655507
Lovely country girl and very nice and sharp captures of her. In #1 and #2 I don't like the multiple catchlights in her eyes and her teeth seem overly-white - did you do some PP here or does she have naturally radiant teeth?
I'd really like to see her in some short cut-off jeans and a plad blouse tied at the waist in this setting.

This ain't Daisy Duke...She looks just at home in this dress. Just because it's a rural setting doesn't mean they have to get "Countrified"..

Come on Flo the title is "Country Girl" after all.

Nice series. What allows the walls prescence to work in this series, is they are part of her natural enviroment. #1 is my favorite.