Lighting and posing critique wanted

Hello everyone. I threw in some off camera light at camera left (24 inch softbox with 580exII) and used a gold fill reflector as well on the right, in the first photo....

What do you think? I am new to off camera light and to posing in general... Please point out any flaws and ways you think the images could be better.

Thanks!

Ann1

One is good. two is meh. Three is OK. don't like the hands in pockets in number three.

Nice balance of the light on all of them. Colors are nice too. 1) horizon through the head isn't usually ideal. 2) wrists are broken toward camera and squared shoulders. A slight variation to these could make it better. 3) wrist broken that way looks awkward. Also it's usually better to have the hands at different levels. Makes a picture dynamic.

Also maybe ask for different expressions. Just my humble opinion.

Number 1 is my favorite. 2 and 3 has a lot of potential.

i don't know much about portraits. To me these look beautiful. what was your lighting
setup?

First off I think you did a good job of balancing the ambient lighting with flash.

In the first photo there's a fair amount of specular highlights visible in her face especially the center of her forehead; I'm guessing it was caused by the reflector but you should be able to adjust that in post processing. The framing could be improved; its never a good idea to crop at a subject's joints since it makes them look like amputees.

The third photo is the best of the set to me in terms of lighting, composition, and posing. You need to work on getting you subjects to pose as you want; in all three it looks like she posed herself.

Thanks for the constructive feedback! So many little details to think about.

As a general rule, tell the models to detach their elbows from their body, so that there's some 'air' in between. Doing so makes them look slimmer.

Even a thin model looks boxy when posed square to the camera like in #2, its accentuated by the black mass of her shirt that hides her curves. Some variety in expression would help as well. I think the third would have been helped by a slightly higher camera angle.

Alveric wrote in post #16933815
As a general rule, tell the models to detach their elbows from their body, so that there's some 'air' in between. Doing so makes them look slimmer.

good point,i like image 2 if her arms were apart a bit,in the pockets is fine for me but she doesn't look natural like she is,image 1 is great,

Thanks again everyone, I really appreciate the feedback. Good stuff here!

Ditto on what everyone has already said on the posing.. but your lighting and exposure are great!

I'd suggest softening her forehead in #1 by reducing clarity - maybe even her entire face.
My main criticism is the choice of wardrobe. The shirt with the wolf cross really competes with the model for attention.

Lovely model btw.

Thanks, always more to learn

Thanks, for the feedback. I'll give it a shot regarding the forehead. I didn't have any control over her wardrobe, but agree that the shirt was not the best choice for her