My best friend of 30+ years

Scott_Quier

It's not often I get the chance to share my purpose in life my major source of joy - my DW and SWMBO (obviously :wink). She's applying for acceptance into a class to further her profession and one of the application requirements is "a recent photo" .... and don't even get me started by questioning why. We just don't want to go there.

Anyway, I couldn't just let it go with a quick snapshot though that would have been acceptable. I pulled out the lights and a reflector, moved some things a round and came up with this. Oh, and I also figured out that I have a long way to go if I should ever want to change tracks and become a portrait photographer.

Anyway .... here it is. C&C is welcome - I know I have lots of room for improvement. And, yes, she really is that pale - of Nordic decent and it shows!


Oh, and any comments along the line of "Why would someone as stunning as she want to hook up with that guy?" will be ignored!

Swartzy

Hey...why would someone as stunning be hooked up with that guy? rofl Just could not resist Scott!

That's a very nice photograph. Her look/pose/lighting is very appealing. Good job!

Macushla

She is stunning and her eyes are such a beautiful color. I would love to see more / all of her hair but I suppose that is just my hair envy talking.

Lovely shot.

Foques

I find it beautiful, when people still think of each other that way, so many years down the road.

Great shot, too, btw.

Scott_Quier

Swartzy wrote:

I'm sorry, did you say something ?

Swartzy wrote:

That's a very nice photograph. Her look/pose/lighting is very appealing. Good job!

Thanks.

Scott_Quier

Macushla wrote:

She is stunning and her eyes are such a beautiful color. I would love to see more / all of her hair but I suppose that is just my hair envy talking.

Lovely shot.

And, those are her eyes - I helped just a touch because that day they were a little less vivid than usual.

As to the hair .... You will see more of it in a while as we are going to do a shoot focusing on her hair. Why? 'Cause she's planning on cutting it to very a very short length and then donating to Locks of Love (or similar). But that photoshoot will be when the weather gets just a bit better around here.

Foques wrote:

I find it beautiful, when people still think of each other that way, so many years down the road.

Great shot, too, btw.

Yeaup - that's me, just an old romatic softy.

Thanks for stopping by!

Foques

heh. I hope I'll be able to say that when I am there..

I'd be proud of it.

Macushla

Scott_Quier wrote:

As to the hair .... You will see more of it in a while as we are going to do a shoot focusing on her hair. Why? 'Cause she's planning on cutting it to very a very short length and then donating to Locks of Love (or similar). But that photoshoot will be when the weather gets just a bit better around here.

My son donated 11 inches to Pantine Beautiful Lengths there is also Wigs for Kids. Many people make mini documentaries on YouTube about their hair donating experience. My son's his here. Have your friend read this article from the NY Times before donating to Locks of Love. Their charitable status has been in question. You can also Google Locks of Love scam to read more about it.

Can't wait to see your friend's transformation.

D'Buggs

sweet caroline

So lovely. First of all, she is a beautiful woman. The light looks very soft and natural. Her skin does not look too pale. The skin tones actually look very nice to me. She also has a pleasant an natural looking expression. Well done. If I had to tweak something, I'd say the plant in the background is not ideal, but her eyes really draw me in so much that it's not so bothersome.

Caroline

heatherfeather

sweet caroline wrote:

So lovely. First of all, she is a beautiful woman. The light looks very soft and natural. Her skin does not look too pale. The skin tones actually look very nice to me. She also has a pleasant an natural looking expression. Well done. If I had to tweak something, I'd say the plant in the background is not ideal, but her eyes really draw me in so much that it's not so bothersome.

Caroline

I agree with all of that, but add this: the slight smile that is lurking just below the surface is enchanting. It is sneaking out in her sparkley eyes and in the little corners near her cheeks. So beautiful, and mona-lisa-esque! (And say hello to her from me!)

l.k.madison

The ONLY thing that stood out for me was maybe have her wearing a blue necklace (i.e. Hope Diamond) to bring out the blue in those eyes... of course, you'd have to get your hands on the Hope Diamond, and we all know how much photogs make....

And yeah, "need a recent picture?" hmm... I'll leave my suspicious alone, but it's probably along the lines of what you're thinking, I'm sure.

Sam

Married above your station did ya?

Sam

Scott_Quier

Sam wrote:

Married above your station did ya?

Sam

Just a bit. The nice thing is that she still, after all these years, hasn't twigged to the scope of her mistake!:ivar

Halite

heatherfeather wrote:

I agree with all of that, but add this: the slight smile that is lurking just below the surface is enchanting. It is sneaking out in her sparkley eyes and in the little corners near her cheeks. So beautiful, and mona-lisa-esque! (And say hello to her from me!)

Double agree! Her personality really shines through (which hopefully is why the program wants a recent photo).

Care to share your set-up in just a bit more detail?

Scott_Quier

Halite wrote:

Double agree! Her personality really shines through (which hopefully is why the program wants a recent photo).

Care to share your set-up in just a bit more detail?

The program is a very long-standing and reputable organization. There are organizational reasons for the recent photo - it's all very legit so no worries.

As for setup:

Lighting was two AB800.
Camera left - shooting through an umbrella, metered f/7.1 near her face
Camera right - Bare bulb in reflector (see this page), pointed up 45° and away from her, bouncing off white ceiling. This is what gave her those nice highlights in her hair. Metered f/8 at her face.
Camera center - A large silver/gold reflector at her hip, angled up a bit to reflect some of the ceiling bounce back under her brow-ridge, held in place by a voice-activated, self-propelled, carbon-based lightstand (AKA, my son ).

Camera - Canon 5DII w/ Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM (EXIF here).

She was seated at her desk (you can see a portion of it behind her) and I was standing on an elevated platform with the camera some 3' (1m) above her eye-level) and about 5' - 6' (1.6m - 2m) away from her.

Focus was, of course, on her right eye - not that it really mattered at f/8.

Schnauzer

Very nice work Scott.

And she is indeed as a nice a lady as she looks although, as I remember, she has difficulty with very early mornings . I should talk with all the problems I was having at the time. I even gave her a kiss on the cheek. Good memories.

My wife and I went through your area a week ago on our way back from vacation in Key Largo.

Hackbone

You are a very lucky fella. What eyes!!!!!

angevin1

What gorgeous Hair and eyes....!!! Sorry to hear she'll cut those locks...but then it is for a very good cause.

Beautiful gal~