Lisa (posed portrait)

[Alison]

What are your thoughts on this please?
TIA

Ooops! Forgot my info:-

Window light only. No Flash, no reflectors.
Manual Mode, 50mm 1.8 lens, f/4.5, SS 1/60, ISO 400

[AndersonCAA]

Very nice. Cute young lady, nice pose, good lighting, good skin tone and overall color. Maybe just a bit of light on the hair hanging down on her right side and the light points in her eyes, although very nice, appear rather broad. Overall, very nice composition.

[Kaelastreet]

Wish I could take portraits of such quality. Looks good.
If I had the skills, maybe I would remove some of the light in her eyes, and touch up a tad of makeup on her lip to the right to mask the tiny blemish.

[CLKunst]

So pretty Ali,

Is that a new backdrop I see? Very nice work. Lisa looks beautiful.

Regards,

[flowremix]

I wish i could of taken pictures like that when i was in elementary school for the yearbook.
Great job.

[Alison]

Thanks everyone.

I didn't pay much attention to the catchlights because they are from two windows either side of a glass door. I will try to watch for that in future.

No it's not a new backdrop. It's actually the first one I ever got (December 2005). And to be honest, being grey, I thought it was ugly lol.
However, put together with the right colours it looks quite nice

[Themage]

Looks pretty nice, I think the gold shirt makes her hair look less blond. Looks like some shadows under the eyes. Good framing.

[tony868]

I've only been reading these forums for a few days now but already I look forward to new portraits you post! For me it's the eyes...you capture such life and detail in the eyes of your subjects which, for me, is a major factor in what separates good from wow. Great use of natural light although I do agree that the catchlight in this picture is a bit distracting especially in her right eye where it covers the pupil. Keep it up!

[Alison]

Thank you for your comments (and compliments ).

I have worked on the catchlights and lips. I didn't want to get rid of the shadows under her eyes. To me, slight shadows and highlights are important to prevent lighting looking flat.

[yogestee]

Hi Alison,,I prefer your first post of Lisa....You have mastered portrait lighting techniques with very simple equipment..Exposure is spot on,its sharp in the right places...I don't mind the larger catclights in her eyes either..

Jurgen
Australia

[Kaelastreet]

Hi Alison. The revised image above looks good, but don't forget, I paised you genuinly on the original because I liked it, no, found it stunning.

Please Alison, take our critisism as potential tools to use next time around. The surprise comes, when the observer does not see the difference you made, just see's a stunning image. You might use all the tools we share, and spend hours on a photograph, but the final result is what you make of it, and the satisfaction, for me anyways, comes when people see the image and like it, not the image plus the dabs, smudges, touch ups et al.

Oh, I possibly put my foot in it now and will be told off for saying the above. My intention is not to upset you, but to help you acheive that which you beleive you can acheive.

A word of caution though. We can get trapped into producing result after result, as though we are chasing results for the sake of needing to do them. We can rework a picture out of existance and it becoems a chore.

Only do what you feel is right, then quit, stand back, close your eyes and let it go, look at something else for a whiles, then come back and if the image is good to go, then let it go.

Sorry, Mouth in over-run again.....

Kizz

[Alison]

Thanks Jurgen. I was happy with the catchlights originally too but with me, curiosity gets the better of me and I go back and carry out suggestions.

And Kizz. I'm not upset. I am ALWAYS open to suggestions. Her eyes have less sparkle and magic in my revised version but I try these things out to see how it looks.

IMO I prefer my original (although I like the revised lips)

Thank you everyone for the suggestions you made. I enjoyed working on them. It was fun.

[Kaelastreet]

Hi Alison

Her eyes have less sparkle and magic in my revised version . . . . .
IMO I prefer my original (although I like the revised lips) .

I think there is an 'art' to creating beleivable lights in peoples eyes, like adding that 'shiney' stuff to smooth surfaces. Maybe one of our dedicated professionals could share with us how it should be done, and what to look out for?

Like you, I still like the original , but the 'new' lips are good too :thumbsup:
Kizz