Esther

heatherfeather

<p style="text-align: left;">

Hello all! This is my friend Esther. As soon as I met her, I wanted to work with her. She is soooo naturally gorgeous. I finally asked her and we met up yesterday for a bit.
1.
<img class="p3-insert-all size-full aligncenter" title="undefined" src="http://www.ambienceak.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Esther-2701-webEdit.jpg&quot; alt="undefined" width="900" height="720" />
2.
<img class="p3-insert-all size-full aligncenter" title="undefined" src="http://www.ambienceak.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Esther-2712web-Edit.jpg&quot; alt="undefined" width="630" height="945" />
3.
<img class="p3-insert-all size-full aligncenter" title="undefined" src="http://www.ambienceak.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Esther-2733-web-Edit.jpg&quot; alt="undefined" width="900" height="720" />
4.
<img class="p3-insert-all size-full aligncenter" title="undefined" src="http://www.ambienceak.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Esther-2788-web-Edit.jpg&quot; alt="undefined" width="1125" height="900" />
5.
<img class="p3-insert-all size-full aligncenter" title="undefined" src="http://www.ambienceak.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Esther-2813-web-.jpg&quot; alt="undefined" width="315" height="630" />
6.
<img class="p3-insert-all size-full aligncenter" title="undefined" src="http://www.ambienceak.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Esther-2876-web-Edit.jpg&quot; alt="undefined" width="630" height="945" />
7.
<img class="p3-insert-all size-full aligncenter" title="undefined" src="http://www.ambienceak.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Esther-2951-web-Edit.jpg&quot; alt="undefined" width="540" height="810" />
8. Her little guy came in for a bit... And you all know how much I love kids. So of course I had to get one or two of him. :lust

<img class="p3-insert-all size-full aligncenter" title="undefined" src="http://www.ambienceak.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Esther-2888-web-Edit.jpg&quot; alt="undefined" width="540" height="810" />
9.
<img class="p3-insert-all size-full aligncenter" title="undefined" src="http://www.ambienceak.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Esther-2879-web-Edit.jpg&quot; alt="undefined" width="720" height="1080" /> </p>

Qarik

G-E-O-R-G-E-O-U-S-! 1 and 7!

divamum

You already know what I think of this set Heather, and I can only reiterate - perfection! They're all lovely, but that first picture is quite simply everything I ever aspire to in natural light ... and never manage to achieve. Stunning. Stunning. Stunning.

(PS I see the umbrella in a few of them, but what about #1 - some big windows in those catchlights - reflector too? Fill? Enquiring minds... )

heatherfeather

#1, 2, 3, 4 & 7 are natural light. She had some awesome windows. #3, I brought in my white brolly on a stand to use as a reflector on the shadow side so it would be a little more even.

divamum

Yeah, those windows do look amazing - I love complex catchlights so much!

One other question: how do you "see" the angles for your subjects? By which I mean... I can't believe that every person you shoot is as drop-dead-gorgeous as they appear in your photos. Which means that you're seeing something as you shoot that absolutely capitalizes on the best of them and brings out every good thing in them. Soooo.... do you analyze their faces as you shoot, or is it just your instinctve eye which lands on these perfect angles and poses as you're working with them? This is something I'm trying to get better at - some subjects just seem to know how to arrange themselves so they look good, and all I have to do is keep them talking and engaged (eg Andi in that most recent shoot I posted - I had to tweak the details for best light and camera angle, but essentially she posed herself and had a good sense of how to use her body in flattering ways). Others need tons of help, and I often feel like I don't really have any specific basis for helping them*! I wing it - and usually manage to grab a few decent shots - but I always feel like I could do better on this. It's not posing per se - although that's part of it - but being able to see what their faces and bodies need to bring out their inherent beauty.

Yeah, yeah, I know - big multi-million dollar question. But I figured I'd ask anyway. Discuss. (in another thread if more appropriate - don't mean to threadnap!)

*Above and beyond usual basic posing roles, eg if it bends bend it, no two limbs the same, vulture posture to slim necks, shortlight/slightly above to slim etc etc etc etc

heatherfeather

Well, for Esther... I don't think she had a bad angle. But as far as posing, she did need a lot of help. Though everything she did was absolutely graceful, there were a lot of times where things weren't complete and I had to move her just a bit to make it work.

A lot of times, I do a bit of a once over on the person and look for the flattering angles.. and then I try to shoot lots of angles and see what we come up with.So I guess it is a mixture of experimentation mixed with a bit of learning mixed with a bit of an educated guess. How is that for an evasive answer.

And no worries about chatting it up on here. Conversation sure beats crickets.

zoomer

Classy lady, very pretty.
I like 4 a lot, the personality is really shining through.
My favorite is the last one. If it were mine I would clone the door jam out of the left side by extending the door, maintaining your current crop. I would probably just clone out the door jam and make it more of a vertical.
Other than that I love that last photo...it is everything a great portait should be.
Very nice work!

briandelion

Those natural light shots are very inspiring. Gives me something to aspire to. Classy subject, classic captures.

Wachel

Wonderful photos! I really like the lighting on these. Niiiiiiiiicccccceeeeee.