Today's Portrait...

[megan]

A friend of a friend needed some informal shots. I started off with a gray background and a hairlight, but then she wanted some full body - and my only seamless big enough for full body (that went with what she's wearing) is black (and she was all in black.) Somewhere along the way I ended up turning the hairlight off, but I think they still turned out okay! (Would have been better with a hairlight, argh.) I present Althea...

[mn shutterbug]

The gray bg actually works. These shots look great. Also, a very pretty model.

[Byron Lentz]

What lights did you use? I've been trying, with little luck.

[megan]

Tech info - I used this kit:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...x_2_Light.html

On placed in front of her, and one at about 45 degrees on her right (my left.)

That's it. Camera (Olympus E300), portrait setting, ASA, white balance adjusted for 3200k, no noise reduction (which I should have turned on.) Only a very slight adjustment to levels in Photoshop. And a gorgeous model!

Megan

[Alison]

Beautiful Megan

[Liz]

Megan,

These look GREAT!!!!!!!! Your model is beautiful......the bg looks fine IMO....

Liz

[mtbbrian]

I like the saying on her shirt!
Good stuff as always!
:thumbsup:
Brian

[megan]

...do you find that when you photograph someone in the studio, you basically trash the first half of the session? The best photos come from the end when they have finally loosened up and relaxed.

[AmberC]

These are great! I also really like the background!

[schrackman]

These look great in my opinion. The hairlight probably would have helped but these turned out just fine. Good work.

[Frog]

I think she looks fine in all the shots.
The shirt works in the first two because we can read it.
It becomes distracting in the ones where the words are chopped off.

[skinnymachink]

i like the shots a lot and the model is beautiful the only thing that bothers me is in all but one her head and neck are angled to the right Why? i think you should get her to mix it up a bit and this is a bit of ocd in me but her t shirt is scrunching up a bit on the shoulder.

[megan]

Thanks! I did, actually - I didn't like the shots shot straight on and from the other angle. I didn't notice the scrunched shirt until later, but that's nothing a little photoshopping can't fix. I'll post a couple shots from the other angle...

[megan]

I tell my acting clients not to wear distracting shirts exactly for this reason! These weren't for acting, but I did want to practice taking horizontal head-shot style pics. (The current trend in acting headshots are color, horizontal shots.) If I incude one of these on my professional page, you bet the distracting letters will meet my friend the Heal tool!

[megan]

These are tighter shots without the distracting lettering on her shirt.
The first one is decent enough. I don't like the second shot with the hand under her chin for several reasons:
--I think the pose is silly and unnatural
--She naturally has shiny skin - she's not greasy or sweaty, she just shines. And the hair light ended up shining up her forehead
--I don't think it's as flattering as the angle in the first set of shots that I posted. These were from the beginning of the shoot, and I think she warmed up and became more comfortable later on.

Thanks for looking and commenting!

[skinnymachink]

These are tighter shots without the distracting lettering on her shirt.
The first one is decent enough. I don't like the second shot with the hand under her chin for several reasons:
--I think the pose is silly and unnatural
--She naturally has shiny skin - she's not greasy or sweaty, she just shines. And the hair light ended up shining up her forehead
--I don't think it's as flattering as the angle in the first set of shots that I posted. These were from the beginning of the shoot, and I think she warmed up and became more comfortable later on.

Thanks for looking and commenting!

I agree the first shots are better and a lot more natural looking the second one of the first set is the winner for me it is a strong shot and she means business.Nice work.

Skinny