Basic portrait

The color kind of bothers me on her face. Anyone know what all I

could do to improve it?

Although this is just my opinion I think you should have her turn a little more toward the window or use a small reflector to get a little fill lighting in her left side.

I agree with the previous comment. If you have a spotmeter, make sure the lighting difference between the two sides of her face is about half a stop. Certainly not more than 1 stop. Keep an eye on the background too.

I agree with the others, a silver or white reflector (use tin foil if you have to) to the models right would fill in the shaddows and give a much better portrait.

You can use tin fold if tou want a shiner light or a piece of white paper if you want a soft one. You can consider the use of fill flash but i prefer the reflector.

bounce light off of a gold reflector on the girls left ( facing her ). Also light her hair from behind to create some rimlighting...

 

antiquecameras.net

Justin, First it IS a nice shot, a keeper. I agree that her head could be turned a little more to the right (still keeping her eyes locked onto the camera) to get a highlight on her (camera) left cheek. A little fill from a reflector (newspaper, bedsheet, whatever) would help open up the shadow area. Don't limit yourself to just one shot. Try a series, changing the pose just a little for variety & expression. You have a beautiful face to work with so experiment. Best, LM.

Most of the previous comments address lighting. I would emphasize focus. Always focus on the eyes. The eyes are the connection with the person. Crystal clear focus makes the photo.

They have been a real help.

 

As for the reflectors, I am assuming as big as possible? And are there any adaptors for tripods or light stands that I can put reflectors on?

I think in addition to a reflector, a softer (larger) light source would be helpful.

 

For a head shot, you don't need a big reflector. Something 25% bigger than than what you want to light is usually adequate, but bigger minimizes the amount of adjusting you have to do.

What about cropping? Don't forget this aspect. You have a lot of space over her head. Either crop it out or, better yet, tilt your camera down a little more.

 

Also, I see the sort of shot you may have been attempting. Instead of a white or gold reflector you could try a black reflector to what little light reflection you are getting. Also, since you are going for a bit of a mysterious look, have your model tilt her head down so that she is almost looking up at you. This gives a bit of a sense of slyness.

 

And certaily, without question, always make sure the eyes are razor sharp.

 

Good start, keep at it!

Pretty girl! What I would do differently:

1. Have her body at 45 degree angle to camera so that her left shoulder is closer to camera and right is further away. The light would fall from her left across her body toward her right. Women seldom look good with shoulders square toward camera.

2. Have her place weight on right foot and raise left foot up onto her toes so that her left shoulder is slightly higher than her right shoulder.

3. Have her turn her head to her left toward light source until I see just a small area of skin behind her left eye and I can see catch light in her right eye and light triangle formed on her right check. Also, I would look for her nose shadow to fall toward the right corner of her mouth but not extend past her upper lip.

4. Use a reflector on camera right to bounce light into shadow area of her face. Having reflector on right of camera allows for shadows to be filled by the same light source and direction.

5. Raise camera so that it is slightly above her eye level. This normally gives a more pleasing view of subject.