portraits and fashion Louise

comments appreciated

Simple and direct and clear and just plain wonderful! It's almost like looking at her in person - great light and pose and model. Thank you for sharing this with us.

Hi Amit,

I have no experience at all in studio or portrait work but I like the simplicity of this shot. In all your shots of Louise you have her hands in the frame and I like this simple direct pose the best.

I suspect that the lighting could be slightly improved but I'm not sure is this is true or how. I just notice that both sides of her face (at the temples) and hair are in slight shadow.

Best wishes,

Mike

I hope the outcome of this first studio session will encourage you to do more. You have really created a beautiful image here.  The light is perfect, soft and caressing, which makes your subject look gentle and delicate.  Her expression is engaging (as if she wants to communicate with the viewer) and inviting.  My only (VERY minor) comment would be that her eyes are a bit dark, and i would probably consider brightening both the iris and the area around the eye ever so slightly.  Otherwise excellent image and portrait.  Regards - michel

This is a wonderfully expressive portrait of a beautiful subject. I agree with the previous poster about the eyes, however. I have cropped in on the face and opened up the eyes so you can see the effect.

Thank you everyone for your critique and words of encouragement. I really enjoyed my first studio experience and will be going back to the studio this Saturday for some fashion photography. I hope the next time the pictures are better when it comes to lighting and composition.

Its a good shoot of lovely model, the light is coming from a pretty high angle it does a great job for sculpturing her face in a nice way but the eyes gets a tad bit dark. I would like to try this one with a reflector positioned just under the line where you cut this one, a piece of white cardboard or similar will do the job if you want to try.

Great work.

Best regards Tore

Amit,

Louise is a very pretty girl. You have focused well on her eyes. Her make-up looks quite good. I like her expression. She has good eye contact with the camera (viewer).

Her skin tone could be a bit less warm. It appears the background is gray and if that is true it is a little off, too.

Her complexion is quite good, but you would want to remove the imperfection on her left index finger.

If you are going to show her hands make sure her manicure is very good. I think it could be improved. 

The pose of her hands is nice, in that it shows the hands from their sides which is thinning and graceful, but it looks quite posed and not a very natural position for her hands.

Your left and right compositional balance is excellent. If you leave her a little more headroom and crop just a smidgen off the bottom the top and bottom compositional balance would be better.

She does need more light in her eyes. They are too dark. The whites of her eyes should be white. They are a little off and dull.

She has a good catchlight in her left eye. It would be better if it was more pronounced and had a matching one in her right eye. 

Her pupils are quite dilated. If you use brighter modeling lights or have a brighter area to shoot her in, her eyes will not become so dilated.

A hair of backlight would help to separate her from the background. If you don't have an extra light or don't want to use one you lighten the shadows a little. That will also help separate her better from the background.

Nice shot,

Mark