The Divine Miss V

I would like to hear any C&C you would be willing to offer especially in

regards to how I can improve this image. Thanks for your time and Happy

Shooting :)

Hello Peter

An elegant portrait. Dramatic lighting. I'm not sure what look you were going for. Since you're asking for feedback, I find it rather flat for my taste. I like punchy images. In this case the muted tones of the model to me make it feel like she is receding into the background rather than coming forward if you get my meaning. The lighting is giving modelling to the edges but the middle seems flat. I did a couple of edits to see what I might come up with to show what I mean for your consideration. Just my 2 cents.

Regards

Greg 

Gregory, Thanks very much for the feedback! You make a very good point and I agree. I will work on punching it up a bit. This is why I ask for and appreciate feedback. For me after looking at an image for so long I my view gets a little numbed and can't see what it needs any longer.

Thanks again,

Peter

Peter, Allow me to offer you two suggestions.

1. Your lighting is a little difficult to create a top notch image.  The usual technique is to establish a key light that illuminates the subject, a fill light that illuminates the shadows, so they are not too dark, and a kicker light to give shape and separate dark areas (like the hair) from the background.  Instead of that conventional lighting you have made a shallow key light hit her right arm (picture left) spilling onto her dress, a bright second light illuminating her upper left shoulder (picture right) and pretty much left most of her face in darkness.  A little light hits her hair but it does not completely separate it from the background.  There are various websites and books that discuss lighting and tell you about dozens of variations.  They are good reading.

2. Digital photography offers a lot of repair-work possibilities (after the image is recorded by your camera) but they are much harder to explain.  I played with your image to produce the second image and below it are two very important diagrams (called the histograms) The histogram on the left is what shows your print and the histogram on the right shows the image as I modified it.  Chances are that your camera generates a histogram and it can tell you much of the information about your picture the moment you have taken it.  Learning to read it is most important to see how to change your image exposure and lighting.  Good opening subjects to search for on the web would be "histogram" and "expose to the right." These two histograms were generated by Photoshop.

I hope you enjoy learning about photography and the never ending process of making better and better images.  It has been my pleasure for more than 60 years.

Regards,

Jerry

Lighten the shadows and remove the smudge over her right eye on her forehead.  Nice pose of a glamorous lady.  

Jerry, Thanks very much for the great advice! I appreciate the input and will definitely put it to use.

Sincerely,

Peter

I rather prefer the original.

Emmanuel, Thanks very much for your comment! It carries a lot of weight especially after viewing some of your brilliant work. Your words are causing me to rethink and follow my instincts on this one. There are still some changes I want to make but something grabbed me about this image. I think this is one that has to be worked a bit but eventually I will be able to cultivate what originally struck me about this photo. I am very grateful for your input.

Sincerely,

Peter

I would prefer something in the middle. The altered version is a bit too bright. The original version just doesn't have the "Punch" in the models face, especially the eyes. They are much to dark for the face's most important feature

Ken, Thanks so much for your input! I absolutely agree with you. It was one of my early attempts at artificial light with multiple sources. I will definitely keep your advice in mind.

Sincerely,

Peter