"Glamour" shots I did for a friend...

[VPellascio]

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/photographybyveronica/1590646824/" title="FigPhotoShootCRW_0067 by Photographer Nica, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2092/1590646824_088fc789a1.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="FigPhotoShootCRW_0067" /></a>

Wanting thoughts as to composition, lighting, angle... hate it/love it etc. :)

The rest of the set is here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/photographybyveronica/sets/72157602457230487/).

Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/5
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV

[ELAY]

My first thought is to crop down from the top on the one you posted. The highly lit mountains in the back and the very bright spots along the shoreline (are they yachts?) detract from an otherwise good photo.

Help with me with your lighting here. I can't decide if I am seeing some post-production vignetting, or if you have a strobe at camera left with a tightish focus on torso/head?

EL

EDIT: PS -- I think your privacy settings are such that we can't see the rest of the set.

[VPellascio]

Oops! I changed permissions. So sorry about that!

RE: Lighting: I used my Speedlite 420EX, and focused on her head and torso. I wanted somewhat of the feel from an old movie headshot...

RE: Crop: I totally agree. The very bright spots are vacation homes/yachts etc. along the shore of Lake Tahoe.

[Nicole]

I'd also watch your horizons to make sure that the sea isn't "spilling". There's a fairly noticeable tilt along the water. Possibly try warming the picture up slightly in post-processing. :)

[ELAY]

The lighting is very nicely done. There are some where it looks like you dialed in a bit of underexposure on the rest of the shot (the one you posted is one), and this is very effective in those shots.

Three more comments. On the shot you posted, I don't think the long gloves work, as the one on her right hand gets lost in the sand, and on her left in the dress. Bare flesh would have stood out nicely on those backgrounds. Two, on the same topic kind of, I think the shot you posted might have been a bit stronger with a little more room at the bottom under your subject. Three, the strongest shots in the set are the ones where you framed out distracting elements of the background. There is no comparison between the shots which have beach/water only, and those that have beach/water/dock/shoreline/yachts/etc.

EL

EDIT -- Make it four. There is some kind of yellow plastic thing in the stones sort of in the triangle between right arm and body. Could be cloned out, but it is the kind of thing you should look out for when settig up.

[RussHeath]

I just flipped through the series on your flickr stream. Looks like it was a fun shoot, but I doubt the dress survived the water!

As for this particular shot? I agree with Elay about the crop, and I think it's a touch tilted clockwise, so if you're cropping and leave any of the horizon you should straighten that out.

You did a nice job with the speedlight. It seems well balanced with the ambient light to bring her out as the subject and expose well for the background. I would have also have liked to see one with a wider aperture for narrower DOF, but I can't promise it would be better -- just different.

Looking through the others, I particularly like 0068, which seems like the exact same spot as this one but more zoomed in. I also think 0042 is a great shot. Love the mask.

EDIT: It appears I was typing at the same time as Nicole and Elay. I guess great minds think alike? ;)

Elay makes a great point about the gloves, I hadn't thought of that.

[Celeste]

I have to agree with RussHeath. Photo 068 us a beautiful shot in my opinion.

[Tafnap]

There is atually a couple in the set I like the one posted here I don't really like the top as mentioned or the sinking boat but I do like the lighting. My favorite with a little work horizontal line, crop "FigPhotoShootCRW_0116" of the set.

[Dr. WooD]

I have to agree with RussHeath. Photo 068 us a beautiful shot in my opinion.

I also think 0068 was by far the best shot of your series.

[Robin Sarac]

For this shot, I would have mabe put a bit of light on her dress where her glove is getting lost in there. 68 is also my favourite. Nice and tight crop and well lit. Good job!

[clockdoc]

I can't add anything new to the comments already posted except to say "Nice work" and thanks for sharing your shots with us. Hope to see more of your work .

[Sela]

I love your lighting and your model is gorgeous...my only issue is that some of the poses look unnatural (like the one you posted here) because why would someone lie down on a bunch of hard rocks like that? It looks kind of forced/dare I say..silly (and can I just say I have done the same thing in photos the past). However like the others here say the shots that are cropped closer work much better. I think you've done a beautiful job with your lighting and everything else. Good job.

[jujitsu1]

This photo never worked for me because from the moment I saw it I thought that it was 2 photos in one as the model just seems to be stuck there .

[NewDra24]

the lighting should be stronger on the subject, my eyes keep darting to the far horizon. unfortunately, the tone contrast between her clothing's colors and the ground isn't strong enough, so sometimes tone gets lost. try not to center your subject too much, it's more pleasing to follow the rule of thirds. try moving in closer to your subject, so you can focus on her rather than all of the background; you can crop more life into your pictures :) good luck!

[steve]

i know that people said 68 was nice, but i think 69 with a little adjustment could be the best shot of the series. on a side note, how the hell did you keep the sand off her dress, you must have had to break out the lint brush after every shot.

[mari_penguin]

agree that shot 068 was the best of this series. love the colors used and the lighting :)

[A Team]

Beautiful model....looks very uncomfortable on the rocks to me. I would do a tight crop in the a head and shoulder to capture her head and shoulders.

[CoreyS5]

I think these are great, and I agree with a lot of the comments above about the picture up top. Especially cropping some of the background out (the pier distracts me a little) and looking at a close-up on your Flickr site, you can see how the focus will change to her face.

I did notice (and I'm not sure if you necessarily wanted to discuss others on your Flickr site or not) the couple where she's lying on the log (FigPhotoShootCRW_0114, for example). I love the effect of this, but the arch in her back makes it look less relaxed than you're going for I'd say. I had this same problem with some photos I took of someone leaning against the wall. Keeping an eye out for a tiny detail like that will really give the full effect you're going for, I think.

[CoreyS5]

On another note, I love FigPhotoShootCRW_0145. The gracefulness of her versus the roughness of the water and broken boat is great.