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Another redhead (or "the shoot that nearly wasn't")

divamumdivamum Registered Users Posts: 9,021 Major grins
edited June 10, 2013 in People
C&C always welcome!

This was the one where it nearly came unglued....

  • MUA is getting married and was impossible to get hold of. Dates kept changing to accommodate her.
  • Weather has been wildly capricious with everything from severe tstorms to 100* to cold and cloudy - we all knew it was very likely we'd get weather-ed out one way or another.
  • Issues with the location we wanted to use due to some ambiguity over their photo and permit policy (in the end we wound up not going there, but I still had to figure it out)
  • Got to the site and realised I had forgotten to pack the CF cards after uploading the previous shoot to the computer. THANK GOODNESS I still had a few 2g cards stuffed in the corner of my bag, or the whole thing would have fallen apart.
  • Got to the site and realised I had forgotten to put my flash stand in my location bag (although I had packed 2 umbrellas and a softbox ::facepalm::). This meant that all I could use was on-camera flash and natural light in the bright late-afternoon sun...

Seriously, I have NO IDEA how or why my head was stuck so far up dark places prepping this shoot, but apparently it was :smack

And then we got there. MAGIC! Weather was PERFECT and the light super-yummy. MUA, once arrived, did her usual wonderful job. Client was an amazing sport about everything we tried and we had SO much fun!



1. I am REALLY proud of that Jessica Rabbit S-curve :)

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(NB About That Railing: I have already been taken to task for it by somebody I don't even know when I posted this as a teaser on FB lol. I like it there; to me it anchors the shot. Yes, I know she's centered - it was composed lined up between two railings, but I couldn't get the perspective square so I cropped one of them out. All that said, if my trusted colleagues *here* hate the railing I'll consider trying to clone it out again, but because of the shadows it looks really stupid , and when you take the shadows away, the shot looked flat to me....)

2. We were shooting between about 5.30-6.30. It had been cloudy earlier in the day so we backed up our times... and then the sun came out. The light was even nicer 30 minutes later, but I really enjoyed working in this pre-Golden Hour sun - since were were right on a small lake/reservoir, it really was pretty :)
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3. What was really neat was that depending on where we were relative to the water, adjusting the WB dramatically changes the shot... As for her eyes, all I did was brighten them a bit - they are an incredible shade of bluey-green.

i-8cLWDJj-L.jpg

4 Flash bounced off white stone building to camera left.

. i-bSkTJNt-L.jpg
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    MitchellMitchell Registered Users Posts: 3,503 Major grins
    edited June 7, 2013
    Bravo #4!!!

    #3 is a close second for me.

    Any thoughts on the forehead wrinkles? Quite prominent and unflattering in #3. Something about #3 has an almost masculine feel. I can't quite put my finger on it.
    Mitch
    http://clearwaterphotography.smugmug.com/
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    Gaby617Gaby617 Registered Users Posts: 218 Major grins
    edited June 7, 2013
    I agree w/ Mitchell. I like #4 the most. #3 Does have strong features, coul be the almost profile angle chisels out the face a bit, Her eyes are gorgeous but she's staring w/ a pierceing stare which makes it real almost agressive If that makes sense. Sometimes when jammed in tight situations you come out w/ something better then what you would have gotten if it was all planned.
    www.gortizphotography.com
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    divamumdivamum Registered Users Posts: 9,021 Major grins
    edited June 7, 2013
    These have only had nominal retouching; forehead etc can all be addressed when she's chosen her shots.

    I absolutely LOVE the intensity of that look - it's why the shot was one of my first picks - but then again, strong connection is always the first thing that grabs me about an image. Interesting (to me) that you guys find it a bit off-putting. :)

    What's the feeling on the railing in #1, yay or nay?
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    MitchellMitchell Registered Users Posts: 3,503 Major grins
    edited June 7, 2013
    I don't like #1. That commercial type of piping/railing always bothers me. The daytime setting and that evening gown just don't work for my brain.
    Mitch
    http://clearwaterphotography.smugmug.com/
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    divamumdivamum Registered Users Posts: 9,021 Major grins
    edited June 7, 2013
    Fair enough. The gown-in-informal-settings is a very "in" look for singer websites at the moment*, and she specifically requested to go that route. My only regret is that we weren't just a tad later in the day; I'd actually have liked actual sundown for that, but there were a lot of reasons that wasn't practical, even if we had chosen to wait. :-/

    *Although not as cliche as the ever-popular "diva in gown on fire escape" which seems to have been the NYC go-to for the last 5 years. It's a neat look, but it has become completely overdone!!
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    Gaby617Gaby617 Registered Users Posts: 218 Major grins
    edited June 7, 2013
    divamum wrote: »
    Interesting (to me) that you guys find it a bit off-putting. :)

    Personnely Im not put off from the sharp eye contact here or in general photos cause I like that. I was just trying to maybe point out on how her features may come off strong/masculine using that one specific feature. It made sense in my head! lol
    www.gortizphotography.com
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    Bryce WilsonBryce Wilson Registered Users Posts: 1,586 Major grins
    edited June 7, 2013
    Like the set, but I do agree, she does look VERY masculine in number 3.

    I hope I don't offend, but I looked for an Adam's Apple in that one.
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    divamumdivamum Registered Users Posts: 9,021 Major grins
    edited June 7, 2013
    No offense at all! It's so funny because I just don't see it - I guess because she is soooo feminine in person that I'm seeing what I know to be there in real life instead of what the image *shows*. So interesting how people respond differently thumb.gif
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    divamumdivamum Registered Users Posts: 9,021 Major grins
    edited June 8, 2013
    Here's another one I've been working on - this was in the woods around the lake, but by blowing out the background..... :) Been experimenting with some different processing for fun :)

    i-2FhgCv2-L.jpg
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    StueveShotsStueveShots Registered Users Posts: 544 Major grins
    edited June 10, 2013
    Divamum, your #4 at top was wonderful, as was #3. I am absolutely not put-off by #3. Back during my director days, I would have responded really well to that image (I don't know if these were for professional purposes or not--but when I see your shots, I think drama!) She projects strength, intensity and confidence. (And, man, that hair...what I wouldn't give for that hair!!)
    StueveShots
    stueveshots.smugmug.com
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    divamumdivamum Registered Users Posts: 9,021 Major grins
    edited June 10, 2013
    StueveShots wrote: »
    Divamum, your #4 at top was wonderful, as was #3. I am absolutely not put-off by #3. Back during my director days, I would have responded really well to that image (I don't know if these were for professional purposes or not--but when I see your shots, I think drama!) She projects strength, intensity and confidence. (And, man, that hair...what I wouldn't give for that hair!!)

    Absolutely for professional purposes - prime directive was website promo shots, but we for sure got some decent headshots! She's an up-and-coming Carmen-type mezzo, so that is JUST what needs to be projected. Yay!

    ETA I think your comment also demonstrates what I've believed for a long time: what you need and want to project in a headshot isn't necessarily what you would expect (or even want) in a personal portrait. As a portrait, it's too intense and - as the others have said - seems masculine. As a headshots, the connection makes you want to find out more about her. Horses for course, I guess! thumb.gif
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    QarikQarik Registered Users Posts: 4,959 Major grins
    edited June 10, 2013
    I LOVE the way the light plays with her gorgeous hair!
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    StueveShotsStueveShots Registered Users Posts: 544 Major grins
    edited June 10, 2013
    Your comment about headshots vs. portraits is absolutely correct. In a headshot, I always want something compelling. In portraits...well, sometimes I want compelling and sometimes I just want beautiful or handsome or pretty (which is not automatically or even often the same as compelling, at least from a theatrical perspective).

    Carmen, yes! I can see that!
    StueveShots
    stueveshots.smugmug.com
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