1st Low Key Attempt

well i am trying to get more into portraits. this is a low key shot of my wife. i don't have any lighting so this is with 430 bounced off ceiling and a snake light coming in from the side. i am trying to do the best i can with what i have. critique please and let me know how i'm doing. appreciate it!

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I kind of like it. I think a reflector camera left would have helped to ease up on the very deep shadows on that side of the face but other htan that I like it.
I hope you don't mind the edit but I was thinking it looked very warm, I fixed the WB off the white of her eye, dodged the green twice and burned around the lashes and the pupil to make the eye color stand out. Then selected the blacks in the photos with magic wand, inversed the selection, new layer at 10% opacity and colored the top layer a dark brown to add some more warmth to the image (it looked cool when I fixed the WB with the whites of the eyes as a color point), erased the eyes to get rid of the brown hue on those. Saved.

If you don't like it I'll take it down.

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I agree with Sue, it's a very good shot but a little bit of reflected fill would have been nice. Your wife is very pretty.

^ Dito the above.

Great shot...like Sue says, a little warm... But my taste would probably find one in between the original and the edit. Either way, i think it's a nice shot.

The PP that Sue did really gives her dimension. I really like what you did, and I'm also glad that you wrote down what you did ... very helpful stuff!

thanks everyone for the comments and critique.

sue - i like what you did with it. it was not that warm in photoshop, but when i saved to web, it turned very warm....i don't know why this was happening. i had to desaturate the shot before i posted it.

i agree that a reflector camera left would have helped, but like i said, i did the best i could with what i have. i will have to look into getting a reflector.

I like it and Sue's edit does improve on a good shot. As to to a reflector, a simple piece of foam core would work. No immediate need to buy anything fancy.

akprice wrote in post #4948048
thanks everyone for the comments and critique.

sue - i like what you did with it. it was not that warm in photoshop, but when i saved to web, it turned very warm....i don't know why this was happening. i had to desaturate the shot before i posted it.

i agree that a reflector camera left would have helped, but like i said, i did the best i could with what i have. i will have to look into getting a reflector.

another cheao reflector is a car shade found in the automotive aisle at Wally world (or any auto parts place). They run less than $15 for a really good one.

BTW- depending on what type of portrait you were trying for, the shadows can be nicely done, or distracting. I like the image as you shot it but would like to see it with a reflector also.

Titus213 wrote in post #4948168
I like it and Sue's edit does improve on a good shot. As to to a reflector, a simple piece of foam core would work. No immediate need to buy anything fancy.

thanks for the input on the foam core. i will look into that.

hawk911 wrote in post #4948336
another cheao reflector is a car shade found in the automotive aisle at Wally world (or any auto parts place). They run less than $15 for a really good one.

BTW- depending on what type of portrait you were trying for, the shadows can be nicely done, or distracting. I like the image as you shot it but would like to see it with a reflector also.

i personally like the shadows, but i think the shot could be better with a reflector to bring out some detail on her left side. thanks again.