More Portrait Practice...

rwells · October 7, 2007

Hey guys/gals,

As I've mentioned here before, I'm trying to get shooting portraits down, so I'd like a little feedback if you please.

Please comment on the lighting, posing, and PP.

My poor wife is really getting tired of this... But, she's a trooper :thumb

Shot w/30D: 70-200L f/2.8 @ ISO 100 - 1/250 - f/5 - 70mm
Lighting: 1 monolight w/32" umbrella (key) - 1 monolight (bg) - 1 reflector

This shot was made with same camera and lens, but with completely different light setup. (f/4)

Lighting: Two Canon 580EX speedlights. One on camera (fill) and the other on stand (key) - 580EX in master/slave mode and ETTL

Thanks for looking...

Seneca · October 7, 2007

Her head is tilted to high up...she needs to lower her head and tilt to the right. JMHO. Beautiful lady.

rwells · October 8, 2007

Seneca wrote:

Her head is tilted to high up...she needs to lower her head and tilt to the right. JMHO. Beautiful lady.

Thanks Seneca,

I tried that, but didn't like the resulting issue, which brings up my next question:

How does one go about posing, so that if the chin is lowered and head tilted/rotated, that the neck does not show the deep lines/wrinkles?

That did not look well and she was definitely not pleased with those showing. So, I tried to find a pose that eliminated them.

I don't want to re-invent the wheel, as I know this issue has been around for ages, I just need to know how to deal with it.

Don't get me wrong, she is beautiful, but there are issues to deal with, and I'm quite sure I'll need to know how to handle this on others as well.

Any additional info appreciated.

Thanks again.

Scott_Quier · October 8, 2007

On the B&W:

The pose is all lright. It's the camera perspective that could use a little help. If you had been a little higher you would not be looking up her nose. I'm not talking about raising the camera by feet - just a bit above the level of the tip of her nose will probably do it. This would also have encouraged her eyes to look up just a bit - this would open her eyes up just that little bit more.
Lighting - You almost have loop lighting going here. I might move the key light a little further to camera left and a touch higher.
Fill - if you move the light as suggested above, the shadows on her left side will become stronger. To mitigate, move the reflector closer to her.
I really like how you have used the light to seperate her hair from the background, especially on the very far right.
Hand pose is very nice - edge-on is usually very flattering.
What's that just behind her right shoulder (on the left side of the photo)? Looks like the top of a chair something. Whatever it is, it's a bit distracting.

As for dealing with neck wrinkles, one solution that I've read about is to pose the model thrusting her head forward a bit. Of course, in this instance, I'm thinking that a little bit of this will go a long way and you don't want to over-do it. I've not tried this, but that's what I've read.

Overall, and FWIW, I'm seeing some huge improvements in the lighting and posing.

rwells · October 8, 2007

Scott_Quier wrote:

On the B&W:
The pose is all lright. It's the camera perspective that could use a little help. If you had been a little higher you would not be looking up her nose. I'm not talking about raising the camera by feet - just a bit above the level of the tip of her nose will probably do it. This would also have encouraged her eyes to look up just a bit - this would open her eyes up just that little bit more.

Lighting - You almost have loop lighting going here. I might move the key light a little further to camera left and a touch higher.

Fill - if you move the light as suggested above, the shadows on her left side will become stronger. To mitigate, move the reflector closer to her.

I really like how you have used the light to seperate her hair from the background, especially on the very far right.

Hand pose is very nice - edge-on is usually very flattering.

What's that just behind her right shoulder (on the left side of the photo)? Looks like the top of a chair something. Whatever it is, it's a bit distracting.

As for dealing with neck wrinkles, one solution that I've read about is to pose the model thrusting her head forward a bit. Of course, in this instance, I'm thinking that a little bit of this will go a long way and you don't want to over-do it. I've not tried this, but that's what I've read.

Overall, and FWIW, I'm seeing some huge improvements in the lighting and posing.

Thanks Scott,

As always, I appreciate your detailed review and suggestions.

I think your right on the camera perspective. Not only would it eliminate the "up the nose" pose, (as Seneca also alluded to), but this would allow the neck to stay as is, to keep from having neck wrinkles.

I'm surprised you didn't get me again on the head tilt "masculine", but as stated, I'm having real issues dealing with the neck.

That chair

, when am I gonna' learn? I have to get a sitting stool.

As for improving, It's hard to tell from this end, that's why I need critique and appreciate feedback. I'm certainly glad that you'r seeing some improvement.

I hope this gets easier with practice, right now it seems I'm bouncing all over the place trying to get all the pieces in the right place.

Thanks again, I appreciate it.

Come on folks, don't be shy, give me some feedback. I'm trying to get better at this. I need your help...

Scott_Quier · October 8, 2007

rwells wrote:

Thanks Scott,

As always, I appreciate your detailed review and suggestions.

I think your right on the camera perspective. Not only would it eliminate the "up the nose" pose, (as Seneca also alluded to), but this would allow the neck to stay as is, to keep from having neck wrinkles.

I'm surprised you didn't get me again on the head tilt "masculine", but as stated, I'm having real issues dealing with the neck.

That chair , when am I gonna' learn? I have to get a sitting stool.

As for improving, It's hard to tell from this end, that's why I need critique and appreciate feedback. I'm certainly glad that you'r seeing some improvement.

I hope this gets easier with practice, right now it seems I'm bouncing all over the place trying to get all the pieces in the right place.

Thanks again, I appreciate it.

Come on folks, don't be shy, give me some feedback. I'm trying to get better at this. I need your help...

Head-tilt - It's a rule of thumb, not cast in stone or anything. Besides, I mentioned it once, you remembered it. Enough said.

Sitting stool not required. I've found that a small wooden step latter, $14 at a hardware store works well and is more useful - you can use it as a ladder!

Bouncing all over - Try this idea on for size: Mentally, break a photo down to it's elements (using the B&W as an example), you have three light sources (the two monolights and the reflector), the background, posing, etc.

In the following, you may need to bribe someone to sit through all this as it will entail multiple sessions and each will be a little long

Experiment with just the background light - vary it and see what results you get.
Take these photos and analyze them on your computer
Now, set the background light where you like it best
Now work with the key light - vary it (distance from subject, height, brightness - that sort of thing).
Take these photos and analyze them on your computer
Set it where you like it
Now, work with the reflector. Distance from subject/key light, angle, height, etc
Take these photos and analyze them on your computer
Now work with your loving wife and work on the posing. Get a good book on posing to work from - one with lots of pictures and diagrams so that you can copy someone else's work. Once you have figured out how someone else has done something - then you can intelligently go down your path and develop your style.

As you can see, this is something that will take 4 or 5 sessions and each session will likely be an hour or more. You will need to figure out how you are going to bribe your wife into submitting to all this. Sometimes, you can use neighbors (if you are friends with your neighbors) and bribe them with "Time for Prints" they sit for you and you offer to do a real portrait session for them once you are happy with your progress - throwing in some number of free prints.

Something else that may help is to STUDY (not just look at) the work of other portrait photographers. One place to look is here - but be warned, there is some nudity there, but it's all very tasteful. Some of the photographers there have a really good grasp of lighting people and some of the lighting is very subtle.

How many light sources are being used?
Where's the light coming from?
How's it being modified? How's the model being posed?
What makes that pose so attractive? Where are the shadows?
Why are the shadows so effective in this photograph?
What would happen to the effectiveness of the photo if the shadows were reduced/eliminated?
Would that improve or reduce the photograph and how/why?

OK, now I sound like I know what I'm talking about. Not so true. I'm, maybe, only a little further along the path we are both traveling and I'm trying to share what I think is true (YMMV).

More Portrait Practice...

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