katarina

Ger, great portrait. I like the way she stands out with the way you've lit her compared to the background. You could probably have held back the light on her body a little more imho. Regards, O

Ger, extremely interesting lighting here - so strong on the model while the background appears like an evening shot. I'm guessing that you illuminated artificially from both sides of the image. For me her face with its beautiful expression and her hair make this shot, especially contrasted with the dark background. My taste would be to crop down to a head (and maybe shoulders) portrait. Well done!

Such porcelain skin and you have done it justice in this image. I like the posing - very natural and I like the natural outdoors setting also. Really fine crop - nice to see you included the hands. This is a very flattering and appealing portrait.

Thanks Jan and its in such stark contrast to todays fashion shoot, the way this girl positioned herself (naturally) had such a classic look about it.

The face will do well as a face shot or this shot. I can see it working both ways. The green is excellent next to her coloring. WOW!

Comments and Suggestions Wanted

I liked this whole series when first posted. Nice work! Regards...

I had to really look at this one. You are trying something different :) The composition is nice & the pose very natural. The DOF is perfect. But, I am not so sure about the lighting. I am not fond of the large shadow across her neck, the white spot on her forehead & the extreme color contrast between her skin tones on her left & the background. It seems unnatural to me.

 

I'd be interested in knowing how you setup the lighting for this one. The light on the camera's right seems just a little too bright. It does create a nice hair-light because of it's height, but it washes out her left arm & left shoulder a little too much. Maybe using a light modifier would solve this problem. It would make her left arm slightly darker & blend in more with the darker background. Just a thought :)

Jaymem

 

Thank you soooo much for that..once you mentioned what you didn't like I saw them as well..funny how that works.

 

Lights were unmodified as this is what I normally use outside, Ireland is windy and brollys and softboxes tend to fall in the wind. I can't remember where the lights were exactly or the lighting ratios as i took this shot a few months ago..Guess I should keep notes..

Thanks once again

I use to do the same. But..... I now use a piece of graph paper & quickly sketch in the lights & position of the victim :) It helps for future reference in trying to re-create the same scenario sometime off in the future:)

 

I have visited Ireland, & you are right, it is windy :) Nice kind of windy though. Absolutely beautiful country! The people were all so friendly & fun. I shall return someday :)

Just as it is.

 

I'd never seen this one and am glad I found it.

 

It's a classic.

 

Can you feel something different about it than a lot of your other portraits?

 

Life meets art.

 

She's totally engaged and, more than that, totally alive. There's just a bit of a smile on her face. It's that sense I was talking about on your previous submission, re Judy Garland and Jane Russell, that she's in the middle of something. This is, of course, a more natural and less dramatic shot, but it's the very right moment to have clicked the shutter. The only one.

 

The pose is classic, beautiful. I'd call it "casual statuesque," and the expression and her bearing is something along the lines of sophisticated innocence. And I love the way her hands are folded. I would never crop this. I do understand the comment about the lightness of the clothes but don't find it to be that much of a problem. If that does wind up bothering you, the light on her blouse could simply be toned down. Don't get me wrong, I totally agree with Roger that the face is what makes this shot (and the backlighting on the hair), but that's no reason to crop away other things. For me, it's a good thing if some things in a photo simply support the main event. And for me, everything you've included (except maybe the back of the bench) makes the shot only richer. I think her pose adds a lot of depth and dimension to her expression. I don't think you mind a bit of photoshopping and I'd think about (mind you, think about, because nothing is really "necessary") cloning out the back of the bench. She would then almost feel suspended in air and also the composition would be a little more graceful with only her form in the foreground.

 

This feels so good, Ger. Spend time with it and figure out what is that special something that it has. There's something that feels very much "her" about it (and I don't even have to know her nor do I care whether it really is her as long as it makes me feel like it is) and something that feels very much you. Try this kind of setup more. It is likely that you can develop your own unique style and stamp if you pursue this kind of image. I haven't seen much like it.

Thanks Fred,

 

I can say the following that might give you some insight into why this shot has a different connection than the new ones I have posted.

1. This was toward the end of a session with the lady and we had spent quite a bit of time together during the day so obviously had a much stronger connection than I had with these other people.

2. I prefer working on location to working in a static sterile studio. I really don't feel any connection between myself and a studio setup and if I did it would gravitate towards the mush less commercial low-key and strong light and shadow work.

3. The shots I took the other night, I only took about 6 - 10 shots of each person. So the amount of time to get a shot that stood out was quite small.

 

I think my ratio the other night was the wrong choice. It was the first time I tried high key. I think all the lights were in the right place. I had never worked with more than 2 lights before, there were 4 here and that aspect I am happy with. My ratio the other night was almost 1:1 with only .5 stop difference between the two lights with the less powered light a little lower than the other one to help fill the shadows.

I think a full stop difference might be better and give a more moulded look.

 

My main issue with studio is there is nothing for the subject to do or look at. Its just sterile and my mind does not like to work in a sterile environment like that.

 

I like the strong contrast between the model and the background, the light and colours make a strong difference in a very good way.

 

Cheers Tore