Trying my hand out at some portrait work, what do you think?

Duckys54

Basically I just set up the lights to remove the shadows from the background as much as possible and then shot away with a few poses in mind. All I've done to them is fix the WB and remove blemishes.


On this picture, though, I tried to give him sort of a glowing halo around his body so I put the main light behind him then a softer light in front (so you could still make out details) but it didn't come out too well. Should I have used a stronger light behind him and a weaker in the front or something else? Tips and c&c are more then appreciated.

Also, do you guys sort of see where I'm going with this picture? A lot of people I've shown it to don't really like it but I do :dunno Maybe it's just preference?

ShepsMom

I like #1 the best. #2 and 3 have some crop issue, i think, especially number 3, may be that's why not many like the shot.

gregneil

Hi Trevor...

I think #1 looks good as a traditional portrait shot. Good pose, catchlight in the eyes, good expression... some of the shadows on her face are a tad harsh, especial the chin and nose shadows... putting a second light camera left at a lower setting would help reduce the shadows.

#2 is a good idea. As far as the pose goes, it's a "straight on" pose, which often doesn't work for portraits. Not that it can't, but typically it's better to have your model turn one way or the other a little bit, and then turn their face towards the camera. I think you could have done with a stronger backlight. The "rim" is only really visible a little bit on the left. Maybe put it directly behind him, and get more power out of it. Or significantly reduce the power of the light in front, and adjust your camera settings to compensate. The shadow behind him is a little distracting, too. Anyway, keep playing and you'll come up with something cool.

I think I know what you're getting at with #3, but it's not quite there. I like the "cool" feel of the picture which compliments the subject's expression. I think the shot either needs to be tighter, or pulled back some. The "rule" is that you'd want the subject looking "into" the photo (to the left, in this case), but sometimes I like to break that rule. Perhaps if it were more blatant, it would work better... a full body shot on the far right of the frame with just a blank grey wall on the left, with the subject looking off to the right might be kinda cool. Anyway, keep playing, and experiment with more rule breaking, see what it gets you.

Duckys54

Thank you very much for the tips! I am still very new to studio work because before I shot film and I wasn't the most studious in recording how I shot everything. Now with didgital I took those shots yesterday and I'm now able to get critque and work while everything is fresh.

Scott_Quier

gregneil wrote:

I think #1 looks good as a traditional portrait shot. Good pose, catchlight in the eyes, good expression... some of the shadows on her face are a tad harsh, especial the chin and nose shadows... putting a second light camera left at a lower setting would help reduce the shadows.

with this. The second light might be set 1 or 2 stops lower than your main light. I'm not so sure about putting it camera left. I would probably put this right next to the camera to more act as a fill and, thus, avoid cross shadows. This will fill in the shadows a bit without entirely destroying them - as you have very evidently figured out, shadows are our friend just as much as light - they help define and add depth to the photos.

In all, these are well done but I do like the first the best.

1pocket

Isn't there an overall blue cast to #3? I don't mind the framing, but like someone else suggested, maybe accentuate it by cropping tighter at the right and the top, so he is even more pointedly looking out of the frame...

1pocket

Scott_Quier wrote:

with this. The second light might be set 1 or 2 stops lower than your main light. I'm not so sure about putting it camera left. I would probably put this right next to the camera to more act as a fill and, thus, avoid cross shadows. This will fill in the shadows a bit without entirely destroying them - as you have very evidently figured out, shadows are our friend just as much as light - they help define and add depth to the photos.

In all, these are well done but I do like the first the best.

Or a reflecter to the left -- if you have only the one flash