Critique invited

CarnalSigh

I am working on my low light skills. What I'm trying to do is capture as much detail without using a lot of light, while keeping the skin tones pretty even, focus sharp, and shadow to a creative minimum. Any suggestions as to how I might make a shot like this even better would be appreciated. Settings for this were handheld @ 1/4 shutter, f/16, ISO400, 85mm using a 28-135mm IS Canon lens. Used one umbrella flash to the photographer's left.

nightowlphotography

I don't see much to critique. I think you did a great job. Lips and eyes are sharp. You can see the freckles clearly. Just a little bit of shadow. It looks great.

NeilL

Very beautiful work, CarnalSigh! And that's a nice lens!

I miss more details in the hair. I would really like to see it framing her forehead upper left, and behind her face. That is only a matter of lighting/composition, however.

Skin tone gradation a little too abrupt in places, eg between nose and R eye. More light would have helped, maybe.

Pleasantly affecting portrait.

Thanks!

CarnalSigh

Thank you for the comments. The photo looks heavily photoshopped, but actually it's not. All I did was some touchup for zits and a slight levels/contrast adjustment and that's it. It came out of the camera looking pretty much finished.

NeilL

CarnalSigh wrote:

The photo looks heavily photoshopped

It didn't strike me that way at all, but I think judicious pp would enhance the beautiful capture that you have. Maybe a very little color filter also??? Maybe not!

Scott_Quier

This was sent to me via PM

CarnalSigh wrote:

When you get a moment could u check out this photo and let me know what, in your opinion, I might do in the future to make this type of shot even better? Thx.

I've implemented a policy of not directly responding to question that have been sent to me via PM/E-Mail but rather to post my answer in a thread. So, ...

In general, I really like this photo and there's not a lot that I would change, especially given your objective of working low light

However, if I were to shoot this, I would have used more light and adjusted my ISO and shutter speed to compensate. Shooting handheld at 1/4 second is not, IMO, a route to success when shooting portraits.

For improvements, what I would like to see:

• Choice of ISO is up to you. If you want grain, increase it. This photo is well served with some grain - I think it does/would add to the mood of the shot.
• Usually f/16 is beyond the sweet spot of most lenses, f/8 or f/5.6 is usually a better choice. Taking a guess at your focal distance, according to my handy-dandy DOF Master calculator, an aperture of f/8 with a focal distance of 8' gives a DOF of roughly 7.5' to 8.5' - more than enough to get everything in this composition in sharp focus.
• Detail of her hair, next to her head is lost in shadow. A bit of fill from camera left would solve that and, I think, improve the shot a bit.
• I would apply some skin softening to remove/mitigate some of the skin blemishes (freckles and what looks like unflattering hair on her upper lip).
• You have some stray hairs across her left ear that I would clone out.
• I'm not really liking the dark shadows/lines under her eyes. That could be make-up - hard to tell in the B&W. However, there's a strange "additional" shadow/line under her left eye that I don't see mirrored in her right. Hmm

Swartzy

I'm with Scott on these points
1/4 second handheld....heck, even on a tripod is not advantageous with close up portraits...it does work pretty good for wider scenes (wedding receptions, etc.) for a particular look.

The shadows around the eyes can be lifted a bit with the highlight/shadow adjustment so the racoon effect isn't present. Other than that, it's lovely, nice pose/look/angle.

CarnalSigh

Thank u so much for your critique, and for the most part I agree with you.

The reason I used iso400 at f/16 was....I am scheduled to do a shoot sun of a woman (nude) and her baby, in black and white, with that high contrast look. Only thing is, I've never had any luck getting a lot of detail without using a ton of light, and that ruins the skin tone I want. I simply have never been able to get the skin the right color, such as that you see in fine art shots. That's not even mentioning the fact that with more light, I'd get a background that's lit up. This technique gave me a completely reflection-free background.


So last night I started playing with the dof to get the darker skin tone, more details and focus on the lips/eyes, and entire subject. In the up close shots something is always blurry. However, when I jumped up to f/16, it all came into focus, I got the skin tone I wanted at 1/4, and I am happy with the results. I just wanted to be nit picked, as scott did, so I will think about these things when I go do the shoot on sun. I don't have a problem hand holding even up to a whole second, but I agree, it's not something I'd do on a regular basis. This particular look is what I wanted, and that was the most logical way for me to get it. Thanks to all who commented.

Here is another sample from that same shoot at Iso100, 1/40, f/7.1. The model is a 13 yr old who would pose daily if I wanted her to. Comes in handy when you need a guinea pig to practice on. The fact that she has great eyes also helps.

Icebear

CarnalSigh wrote:

The model is a 13 yr old

Whoa! I don't know I've ever seen that kind of maturity in a thirteen year olds facial expression.

Swartzy

Just a thought
You mentioned a shoot in b&w.....upcoming....are you looking to keep the background black? If so, a higher shutter speed will give you that against a black backdrop (keep subject out away from it by say 6 feet or so). Here's an example of f/6.3, ISO 400, 1/100 sec. Used flash on camera with bounce card (ETTL), small florescent on camera right, reflector camera left.

dadwtwins

Basic set up points that I have learned with limited light sources in low light shots.

1) Use a diffused light source like your umbrella but use it as a shot through instead of reflecting back to the subject. Of course if you have a soft box, life gets much better with diffusion control.

2) the closer the light source to the subject, the more diffusion you will achieve. It may seem backwards but it works. Also keep the light source as far back from the umbrella as possible but not so far to get "spill over" light. Keeping the light source further away from the umbrella will help diminish but not completely rid of the hotspot. This technique will also give you a bigger and more flattering catch light in the eyes

3) a little fill flash will help with the high contrast on the skin and help with the "black eye" look. I have used a off camera flash turned down to at least 1/8th power with good results. You only need a little fill to go far.

4) Try to keep your histogram favoring the right side to maintain clean shadows and to limit noise.

5) During post process, bump up your blackpoint a little to prevent your shadows from going to complete black. This will also help you keep details in the shadows.

Good Luck and post your results

Jeff_Milo

The first image you posted honestly did not do much for me. I am not crazy about the conversion, and her expressions just looks empty.

The second shot on the other hand I love!!! Great portrait, A very powerful feel to it. I would have never guessed that she was only 13.

KED

CarnalSigh wrote:

Thank you for the comments. The photo looks heavily photoshopped, but actually it's not. All I did was some touchup for zits and a slight levels/contrast adjustment and that's it. It came out of the camera looking pretty much finished.

I've got teenage kids and now you've got me looking everywhere in my CS3 for the "zits" paintbrush!

Phyxius

CarnalSigh wrote:

I am working on my low light skills. What I'm trying to do is capture as much detail without using a lot of light, while keeping the skin tones pretty even, focus sharp, and shadow to a creative minimum. Any suggestions as to how I might make a shot like this even better would be appreciated. Settings for this were handheld @ 1/4 shutter, f/16, ISO400, 85mm using a 28-135mm IS Canon lens. Used one umbrella flash to the photographer's left.

CS, I really like both shots that you posted! In the first she really reminds me of Rachel Weisz. The only suggestion I could make would be more light for the eyes.

The second shot however... I love the catch light and subtle light in the "shadowed" eye. And the tone is great!

CarnalSigh

KED wrote:

I've got teenage kids and now you've got me looking everywhere in my CS3 for the "zits" paintbrush!

I also have 2 teens, and of course have photographed them and all their friends. In my portrait and modeling work I'm shooting a lot of teens, and of course, they all have zits. I kinda taught myself photoshop and slowly, I'm getting the hang of it using my own techniques. This girl, Paige, who btw JUST turned 13 in Nov, had 2 or 3 big zits on her forehead and on her lip. If you want to know how I get rid of them, PM me.

This is the same shot after a little curves action in raw converter, but before PS.

CarnalSigh

Swartzy wrote:

You mentioned a shoot in b&w.....upcoming....are you looking to keep the background black? If so, a higher shutter speed will give you that against a black backdrop (keep subject out away from it by say 6 feet or so). Here's an example of f/6.3, ISO 400, 1/100 sec. Used flash on camera with bounce card (ETTL), small florescent on camera right, reflector camera left.

Thx for the advice Swartzy, but the skin tones I want are deeper, darker, without losing detail. Look at any fine art nude online and you'll see the feel I'm wanting. After the shoot on sunday I'll post a shot of two and get graded on the results. It should be interesting.

zoomer

According to your description, I would say you accomplished your goal.
I really like the photo!