Beth - Part II (C&C Welcome)

Scott_Quier

Well, I figure if Nik can do it, so can I.

1.


2.


3.


EDIT:
3a. I rotated her just a bit - I agree this looks much better


4.


As usual, C&C is most welcome!

divamum

Ummm... total WOW?!?!??!?!?!?!? My favorites are 1 and 3 - LOVE.

#2 is the only one with a tiny nit, in that her head looks disproportionately large to me - maybe the lens, maybe the angle? Not sure. But the other three are FAAAAAAAbulous!

(Oh, and I meant to say regarding your rework that the "hidden mouth" one to me works so much better with the processing change! I can't quite figure out *why*, although I'm guessing that altering those highlights balanced up the photo right to left differently, and her eyes in the new version were just soooo intense and sooo blue that I was mesmerized! Go figure - guess it goes to show us how much of the devil is in the details... )

eL eSs Vee

And yer doin' it, too!

If her smile in number two was in photo number one, it'd be a perfect image.

Her right arm looks awkward in number two, and I agree with divamum about the perspective.

She's off-level in number three . . . it looks like she's about to slide out of the frame. WEEEEEEE!!

Number four . . . 'Nuff said.

Everything else is spot on, Scott! Nice series!

Agnieszka

Very cool! These have definitely more of a high-key feeling to them than your last set

roentarre

No 3 and 4 are stellar ones

Good camera angles and great expression

Glamour and glamour!

dlplumer

roentarre wrote:

No 3 and 4 are stellar ones

Good camera angles and great expression

Glamour and glamour!

Very nice

Nikolai

Scott_Quier wrote:

Well, I figure if Nik can do it, so can I.

You sure can! Welcome to the club:-)

1. Perfect as it is, nothing to change. Except maaaaybe extending her left leg juaaaast a bit longer or setting is totally straight. Remember the mantra "Long Legs Looks Lovely" (tm) :-)

2. This shooting enagle doesn't work on this pose for me (works only for the head part). Weird fingers position on her right hand. Cropped too tight on the bottom.

3. Good facial expression. The leg is finally fully extended. Needs more arch on her back and more bend on her right knee though...


4. Lovely. I'd have her locking her elbows together ("ABC: Always Be Closing". This century-old sales motto works wonders in model photography).

HTH

Shootin1st

Absolutely wonderful! Guess it's a good thing when the nits are little model position stuff instead of the lighting, etc, eh?

jeffreaux2

The pose looks a bit stiff/ uncomfortable in #3.....but I REALLY like the rest. The lighting and processing look great!

They are sexy...without looking sleazy.
Very nice.

Scott_Quier

divamum wrote:

Ummm... total WOW?!?!??!?!?!?!? My favorites are 1 and 3 - LOVE.

#2 is the only one with a tiny nit, in that her head looks disproportionately large to me - maybe the lens, maybe the angle? Not sure. But the other three are FAAAAAAAbulous!

(Oh, and I meant to say regarding your rework that the "hidden mouth" one to me works so much better with the processing change! I can't quite figure out *why*, although I'm guessing that altering those highlights balanced up the photo right to left differently, and her eyes in the new version were just soooo intense and sooo blue that I was mesmerized! Go figure - guess it goes to show us how much of the devil is in the details... )

That shot was done from about 6 - 8 feet away from her head, using my 24-105 at 32mm - so there's bound to be a bit of distortion. Even so, I really like it.

I did re-work the eyes a bit, but I really didn't do anything to the saturation of her irises (sp?). Most of the work was to whiten the whites of her eyes without going overboard.

eL eSs Vee wrote:

And yer doin' it, too!

If her smile in number two was in photo number one, it'd be a perfect image.

Her right arm looks awkward in number two, and I agree with divamum about the perspective.

She's off-level in number three . . . it looks like she's about to slide out of the frame. WEEEEEEE!!

Number four . . . 'Nuff said.

Everything else is spot on, Scott! Nice series!

After looking at it a bit, I see what you mean about #3. I'll re-work that a bit to correct it. Perspective is the issue there. Thanks so much for that catch and for your comments.

Agnieszka wrote:

Very cool! These have definitely more of a high-key feeling to them than your last set

That, coming from you, means a lot. Thanks!

roentarre wrote:

No 3 and 4 are stellar ones

Good camera angles and great expression

Glamour and glamour!

Those are my favorites as well. Thanks for looking and taking the time to comment.

Shootin1st wrote:

Absolutely wonderful! Guess it's a good thing when the nits are little model position stuff instead of the lighting, etc, eh?

Yup! Sure is. But, lighting is not my greatest weakness. That's pretty much math and math comes easy for me. People, on the other hand, are my greatest challenge - hence that's where I had my most glaring problems here. But, I'm so glad you liked them. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

jeffreaux2 wrote:

The pose looks a bit stiff/ uncomfortable in #3.....but I REALLY like the rest. The lighting and processing look great!

They are sexy...without looking sleazy.
Very nice.

Actaully, in #3 she was more relaxed and was in the middle of a good laugh at something that happened on set. The lighting was easy. The PP was quite difficult - taking me some 15 to 45 minutes per image depending on what problems I encountered.

As for the sexy/sleazy thing - that's exactly what we were going for. These are intended as a gift for her husband. With him being an Army officer, there's a limit to what can be done and/or posted before he encounters issues. We needed to stay within those bounds. It wasn't hard either. Her neighbor came with her (can you guess why?) and one of her most frequent comments was about the way she could turn it on and off like a light. She definitely didn't have any problems in front of the camera!

Thanks so much for commenting. You are near the top of the list of people here who's opinion I really respect. To get "but I REALLY like the rest" from you is like "two thumbs up!"

Swartzy

Well done Scott. I like them. The processing is very appealing as well. You done great.

Scott_Quier

Swartzy wrote:

Well done Scott. I like them. The processing is very appealing as well. You done great.

Oh boy! A from Swartzy! It don't get much better than that!

BTW - I mean that seriously as well. This is like the topper on the day and the day's just started.

Scott_Quier

eL eSs Vee wrote:

She's off-level in number three . . . it looks like she's about to slide out of the frame. WEEEEEEE!!

I've added another version of #3 to the original post - I think this gets it done.

urbanaries

These are incredibly lovely. The lighting and background are just right (simple, balanced, soft) the model is as gorgeous as she is a good model (two very different characteristics, and she's got both in spades!) and the posing is great. All that said, these shots are greater than the sum of their parts....they look mahvelous!!!

I like #1 best, with 2 close behind, the perspective works for me, lovin' it!

#3 and 4 poses are still "fine" but just not as natural and cute as the first two.

Would have loved to see some solid and/or colored outfits in this background...the pattern does distract somewhat from her stunning face and that ravishing hair color!

teensy nit: #1 skin tone needs to be ever so slightly warmed up to match the others...(heh, now I'm the one nitpicking skin tones, whodathunkit)

thumb:ivar

encore!

Scott_Quier

urbanaries wrote:

These are incredibly lovely. The lighting and background are just right (simple, balanced, soft) the model is as gorgeous as she is a good model (two very different characteristics, and she's got both in spades!) and the posing is great. All that said, these shots are greater than the sum of their parts....they look mahvelous!!!

I like #1 best, with 2 close behind, the perspective works for me, lovin' it!

#3 and 4 poses are still "fine" but just not as natural and cute as the first two.

Would have loved to see some solid and/or colored outfits in this background...the pattern does distract somewhat from her stunning face and that ravishing hair color!

teensy nit: #1 skin tone needs to be ever so slightly warmed up to match the others...(heh, now I'm the one nitpicking skin tones, whodathunkit)

thumb:ivar

encore!

Now that's the way to put the cap on the day! I've long said you and photogmomma are my artistic inspiration. To have you comment like this - well .... it just don't get any better than that!

The encore is coming - probably in a couple of weeks (scheduling time is a killer)! My DW has .... wait for it .... actually asked me to photograph her is a similar manner! When I heard that coming out of her, well you could've knocked me other with a feather.

As for the skin tones - yep, you're right. But, I'm not going to worry about it at this point.

And I'm happy to hear that someone else likes the perspective on #2 - I really like it!

afev0602

IMHO

---

#2 is my favorite, she has a really natural smile and looks very relaxed. The skin tone needs warmed just slightly. Number #1 is my next favorite and is obviously a very nice pic.

#3 & 4 I guess one is just gonna love em or not...I'm not a fan of those as she looks uncomfortable. But I can see what you are saying when you say she was laughing and comfortable--causing the angle of her head... I like the heels in those shots and her legs are beautiful in the shots...but the elbows on the ground and her head tilted at that angle are awkward. I actually think the skin coloring on #3 is coming through on my monitor better though so if I had to pick one of those I would say 3.

#5 is a very nice shot but her smile is not as open as 1 or 2.

I'm sure her hubby would be pleased with all of these Scott, I love learning from you all.

neastguy

wow great.. 4 is my fav

Trevlan

Scott, Scott, Scott. Wow. #2 and #4 totally do it for me. Don't really have much C & C to contribute, just personal nit picks. Lighting and poses are great. Nice work. MORE MORE MORE!

You and Nik are going to make me bring one of my friends in for a glamour shoot...

glennp

Very nice shots Scott! Really like what you've done.

glenn

kdspencer

Wow, great shots Scott! I love the highi-key look.

My fav is #4. She just looks so cute!

~Kathleen

Shima

Totally not your typical what I was expecting to see, but I LIKE IT!!!!!!!

GREAT JOB!!!!!!

Scott_Quier

Shima wrote:

Totally not your typical what I was expecting to see, but I LIKE IT!!!!!!!

GREAT JOB!!!!!!

Not quite sure how to take that first part But I clearly understand the second. Thanks for the comps!!

lisap

Wow! I haven't had a chance to get on here much lately and look what I've been missing!!

These are fantastic Scott.

-- Lisa P.

Scott_Quier

lisap wrote:

Wow! I haven't had a chance to get on here much lately and look what I've been missing!!

These are fantastic Scott.

-- Lisa P.

Thanks - I kinda like them too :lol :lol4

Elaine

Oh, more gorgeousness! I think 1 and 2 are my faves, although her expression/smile and head tilt in #4 are completely adorable and her hair is especially beautiful there. So very nice, Scott!

How long did this shoot take? Have you already listed what equipment you used somewhere? I'm inspired to try some indoor shots, but I'm very intimidated!

NeilL

Glad the shirt came off, Scott! She is a mature woman, and I really think you can have a lot more fun with mature women, far more latitude and outside the box options, than with young women, photographically speaking, of course.D

Scott_Quier

Elaine wrote:

Oh, more gorgeousness! I think 1 and 2 are my faves, although her expression/smile and head tilt in #4 are completely adorable and her hair is especially beautiful there. So very nice, Scott!

How long did this shoot take? Have you already listed what equipment you used somewhere? I'm inspired to try some indoor shots, but I'm very intimidated!

The shoot took something just over two hours, maybe three - don't remember exactly. I do remember that both Beth and I were exhausted at the end of it.

Equipment list:

• Canon 50D
• Canon EF 24-105 f/4L
• Canon EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS
• Sekonic L-358 light meter
• PocketWizard x 5 (thought I probably could have gotten away with just 2)
• Alien Bee AB800 x 4
• Lightstands x 4
• 24" x 36" softbox x 2
• 9' wide seamless white
• Background stand
• 4' x 8' sheet of white tile board x 3
• Bi-fold door for gobos x 2

You can see the setup I used in this thread.

The light on the backdrop was metered at about f/13 and on Beth is was about f/8.

HonoringMike

Scott - though I prefer being behind the camera - I loved modeling for you and I love the photographs! I feel confident that DH will as well. You did a superb job and I learned a lot - and had a lot of fun! Kudos!

Scott_Quier

HonoringMike wrote:

Scott - though I prefer being behind the camera - I loved modeling for you and I love the photographs! I feel confident that DH will as well. You did a superb job and I learned a lot - and had a lot of fun! Kudos!

Your words give me all kinds of warm fuzzies! Thanks!

Ed911

Scott,

These are really good...you are onto something here. Nice shooting.