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Isn’t natural light great :)

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Isn’t natural light great :)

  • ciaran
    Participant

    I haven’t shot a model in for quite some time, so I was feeling a little rusty, so much so I actually forgot about a shoot I had arranged today. Thankfully the model sent an email to me this morning reminding me it was on :shock: Up until today, any shoots I’ve done with models, I have paid them for their time. Today was my first shoot where it was TFP (Time For Print), so I’d like to make sure the prints are of reasonable standard to give her. All shots use available light. So.. critique away :)

    Ali
    Participant

    Awww these are gorgeous :). Claire looks so natural and relaxed in the shots. Cracking shots once again :)

    Valentia
    Member

    Relaxed and natural were the exact words that came into my head. Especially the second one. I’m not sure about the space on the left of the first one. I find it drawing me away from the subject.

    Beautiful use of natural light Ciaran.

    Not Pete the bloke
    Participant

    I think she will be delighted with these! The black and white conversion is top notch as usual Ciaran, particularly on skin tone.

    ciaran
    Participant

    Cheers everyone. I’ve sent the shots off to her, so the jury’s out for now :)

    Thanks for the comments.

    Allinthemind
    Participant

    Hi Ciaran,

    Very nice shots. Eyes are fab!

    A couple of minor things (I doubt these were spottable at the time of shooting).

    1st pic, I know that the sun is fixed in the sky, I wonder what the shot would have looked like with a darker background behind her blonde hair and a lighter background behind her dark top. (flip the background).

    Second shot, the triangle shape at the bottom of the frame is quite atention focussing, I think I’d crop the bottom from this shot to mid-forearm. Lovely shot.

    Si

    ciaran
    Participant

    Cheers for the feeback Simon. I definitely didnt spot the fair hair blending into the background at the time of shooting or even post editing. but it was pointed out to me on another forum last night, so I’m going to work on burning in the background a little, to give some contrast there. I did notice the triangle though and created a tighter crop shot yesterday (I’m gradually developing an eye for this), which will probably be the one I print off for her. Thanks for the comments once again.

    Anonymous
    Participant

    Hey Ciaran
    The second shot is really fab,love the relaxed expression on the model and the use of natural light. The pose is pretty cool too,u cant beat a a well composed arm pose. As for the first i cant put my finger on it,maybe its prob what the guys are on about with the background blending a bit wth the hair but especially when you use sun backlighting it will burn through the darkest of hair colouring,maybe a bit of burning as you said.All in all i would say she was chuffed! Oh the DOF is spot on in the first,think Si has given us a few pointers in the right direction..
    Ben 8)

    ciaran
    Participant

    Thanks Ben :)

    ben wrote:

    Oh the DOF is spot on in the first,think Si has given us a few pointers in the right direction..
    Ben 8)

    I think Simon converted me a long time ago. If you look at all of my portraits you’ll see that they’re shot with very shallow DOF

    FrankC
    Participant

    Lovely pictures – like the lighting and the poses.

    Now – this is just a personal thing, and doesn’t diminish the quality of the photos, but I would personally like to see the top of her head included. Is this something which was deliberate (I am just a beginner at portraits), or is it just the way they are ?

    ciaran
    Participant

    FrankC wrote:

    Lovely pictures – like the lighting and the poses.

    Now – this is just a personal thing, and doesn’t diminish the quality of the photos, but I would personally like to see the top of her head included. Is this something which was deliberate (I am just a beginner at portraits), or is it just the way they are ?

    It’s very much a deliberate thing. Cropping into the forhead, usually draws attention to the eyes and generally makes for stronger portraits. It really allows you to position the persons eyes on a sweet spot in the frame. Obviously it still comes down to a taste thing, some people like it, some dont. If you take a look at my website (http://www.thewonderoflight.com) , you’ll notice that the majority of the portraits are tightly cropped, for this very same reason. I’ve also done a “tutorial” on the forum which is about composition in portraits. If you’re starting out, it maybe worth a read. (https://www.photographyireland.net/viewtopic.php?t=155)

    Another tighly cropped portrait as an example:

    Eddie
    Participant

    Ciaran

    Two technically excellent images, A lovely range of soft tones that draw you into the image. You drew a great expression and i’m sure model will be pleased. You could look at a slightly higher shooting angle which may have put a little less emphasis on the elbow.

    ciaran
    Participant

    Eddie wrote:

    You could look at a slightly higher shooting angle which may have put a little less emphasis on the elbow.

    Thanks for the feedback Eddie. You’re bang on about the elbow.. the more I look at the image the more I see it dominate the shot and shooting from a slightly higher perspective would have helped. It’s amazing the things you don’t spot in the heat of the moment. Thanks again for the comments.

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