Philly Beard and Mustache studio portraits

Yea baby. I brought my whole rig to the Philly BMC. Everything was set up so people would come up, get shot (lol), and walk away. I even hired an assistant for this, which I've never done before but was incredibly worth it.

We had: Alien Bee b800 on boom with beauty dish above subject, two 430ex's bare and behind subject at 45 deg. angle for rim/hair, one 530ex with tinfoil snoot for background, 32" white reflector for fill. Also brought my computer to view images as shooting, backdrop and stands (in case this beautiful brick wall wasn't there), and a whole bunch of miscellaneous like gaff tape and cords and whatnot. Even a posing stool, which was nice. What a blast!!

Few more:

Very well done sir! The lighting is so smooooooth yet shows depth in their features.
I love the comedic presence in the photos too

good light, but i think working on your composition is a must now. The crops are odd, cutting out limbs in the most unexpected places. You should either get closer to your models or take a step back. These are somewhere in the middle and again the way they are cropped makes them hard to look at.

korrektor wrote in post #9844640
good light, but i think working on your composition is a must now. The crops are odd, cutting out limbs in the most unexpected places. You should either get closer to your models or take a step back. These are somewhere in the middle and again the way they are cropped makes them hard to look at.

I feel ya. But that's part of my style. I made sure not to cut off limbs at any joints (wrist, elbow, etc). I prefer having a crop that is "awkward" and unexpected it makes you come back to figure it out

korrektor wrote in post #9844640
good light, but i think working on your composition is a must now. The crops are odd, cutting out limbs in the most unexpected places. You should either get closer to your models or take a step back. These are somewhere in the middle and again the way they are cropped makes them hard to look at.

I feel ya. But that's part of my style. I made sure not to cut off limbs at any joints (wrist, elbow, etc). I prefer having a crop that is "awkward" and unexpected it makes you come back to figure it out But I do agree that the crops need some work, at least creatively speaking.

And actually, after posting that and going back and looking, I don't even know what you're talking about. Nothing is cut at any weird angle in these images. There is one on my flickr that has that, but none here. Not for nothing, but you attempted to say that my last work wasn't high key (when it was, check the histogram), now you criticize the nature of the crop when clearly it follows the "don't cut off at the joints" rule. What gives? I'm all for feedback, provided what the person says holds weight.

SonicZoom wrote in post #9843148
Very well done sir! The lighting is so smooooooth yet shows depth in their features.
I love the comedic presence in the photos too

Thanks man! I'm much more suited to do funny portraits. I feel like it would be tough for me to do something serious with a lot of emotion. For now, anyways.

#3 in the first set is a little disturbing.

I think they're awsome, I love the lighting and the poses. #'s 1 and 2 made me lol

bbvdm wrote in post #9846272
#3 in the first set is a little disturbing.

Right on. As long as you feel something I did my job.

very nicely light, some very funny ones in there

I cant tell you what creative route to take, it is solely up to you. Im basing my opinion on personal experience only... Anyway... As for high key: a hixogram alone doesnt make an image high key. The absence of darker shades of color does. Just thought id share..

I LOVE these

korrektor wrote in post #9847417
I cant tell you what creative route to take, it is solely up to you. Im basing my opinion on personal experience only... Anyway... As for high key: a hixogram alone doesnt make an image high key. The absence of darker shades of color does. Just thought id share..

"High-key lighting is a style of lighting for film, television, or photography that aims to reduce the lighting ratio present in the scene." Lets see, white shirt, white background, white skin, little bit of brown hair in Dr. Franko photo. High key or not?

Not again, had his mask been white, hair dyed blonde, then, yes. High key has a lot to do with what you are shooting as well. But you know what though, it doesnt matter. What matters is how good the overall pic is.

Misha is right. High key is where a majority of the tones are higher than 18% grey. There should be very little contrast or shadows. This is a lovely example.