Mallory (senior), four images

Mrs F

This is my first try with studio lights and a backdrop. My niece Mallory graciously volunteered to let me take some senior-style portraits of her. She's going to use some of these for her senior pictures. Any C&C would be greatly appeciated.

1.



2. This image is one of her favorites and I cut her hand off (ugh).




3. She loves the following image too but I think it's a little soft. I snapped it during some down time. I also think the backdrop looks a little sloppy.



4.

GP Images

She has tears in her jeans Seriously though....very pretty girl. Great eyes and you captured them beautifully!

jeffreaux2

Hey Mrs F!!! I haven't seen a post from you in a while, but always look forward to it.

These are very nice, and your neice looks adorable.

Now...how about some critique?

1- The lighting isn't dramatic, but is well done. I like the photo, it is nice and sharp. I only wish her shoulders weren't so slumped. I think an improvement would be to have her sit a bit straighter, and to get the camera a tad higher. It is a very nice photo as is.

2- I like the angle. Again the lighting and sharpness are fine. I am not bothered by her hand being cropped. I am not so sure though that I like that arm in the composition at all. Still you have done a good job here, I just don't particularly like the arm in the pose.

3-I am not crazy about this one, but I do like the fact that she is having fun. Again the lighting is fine, and I don't notice any softness in particular.

4-Very pretty girl. I like that you did not try to eliminate shadows as they are as important as light. I have nothing to say about this one. The pose, expression, sharpness and lighting all look fine.

I think you have done a very good job, but........The outdoor Sr photos you shared awhile back were way over the top. Are you planning to get her to do some outdoors?

I hope so!!!:D


You can, of course, take my opinions with a grain of salt. I am not particularly fond of studio shots in general, and seldom comment on them. However, your outdoor work has inspired me to critique your indoor work.

Mrs F

jeffreaux2 wrote:

Hey Mrs F!!! I haven't seen a post from you in a while, but always look forward to it.

...Are you planning to get her to do some outdoors?

Thanks for the detailed commentary Jeffreaux2. I haven't been around for awhile because I've been busy with my other job (the one that pays, lol).

Mallory and I really wanted to do outdoor senior shots but she had a major jaw surgery, her jaws wired shut and braces for the last few months. She only had her braces off for a week when I did these. We thought we'd do some snowy outdoor shots, but temperature was -25 F that morning... I'm hoping we can do some outdoor snaps this spring.

Thanks GP images for commenting. Yeah, she probably paid a lot of money for those holey jeans

Scott_Quier

First, let me say that these are quite nice and I think there's much hear to be proud of (that sure does sound patronizing - but that's not my intent - I think you should be very happy with these). For improvements (I'm guessing that's why you invited C&C), here's what I see, FWIW:

1. For the most part, good light. The hair on the top of her head merges with the black background. For improvement - maybe some small amount of light on her head, from behind or from the side to better seperate hair from background. Lower down, there is no seperate of her clothing from the background. Light from behind and to camera right would have solved that a bit. Just a touch of skin treatment would go a long way here as well.
2. Same light issues as above. The arm pose is not working for me - it takes over the entire photo ... even stealing attention from her beautiful eyes.
3. I'll grant that this is an outtake. The photo, at least at this size, does not look soft. The condtion of the backdrop is a distraction. Solution - open the aperture and move her away from the backdrop. This will cause the backdrop to go OOF. Problem solved.
4. Without a doubt, my favorite of these 4. As Jeff mentioned above, cudos for NOT trying to eliminate all shadows. I like how you've seperated her top from the background. Before you go to production with this, I would attempt to smooth the depression in her back caused by her clothing. And, I really, really love how you've captured her beautiful eyes! Stellar

DavidS

I really like these!! Welcome to studio lighting. I am just starting with it as well.

spinfire

The fourth is my favorite. Awesome pose and the lighting is great.

I hope to get some AlienBees soon and experiment with some studio lighting myself

Mrs F

Scott_Quier wrote:

For the most part, good light. The hair on the top of her head merges with the black background. For improvement - maybe some small amount of light on her head, from behind or from the side to better seperate hair from background. Lower down, there is no seperate of her clothing from the background. Light from behind and to camera right would have solved that a bit. Just a touch of skin treatment would go a long way here as well.

Thanks for the detailed commentary Scott. I'm thinking I could use a boom stand and a 3rd light. I have two Alien Bees and a huge reflector. I ditched the reflector for this shoot, but now I'm thinking I should have probably used my reflector for fill and used my second light for her hair.

DavidS wrote:

Welcome to studio lighting. I am just starting with it as well.

Thanks for commenting! I bought studio lights because I was tired of shooting in front of my kitchen patio doors all winter.

spinfire wrote:

I hope to get some AlienBees soon and experiment with some studio lighting myself

Yeah, join the club spinfire, it's a fun challenge.