Portrait with intense eyes

[stefantell]

I have been trying some clamshell lighting lately and this is one of the portraits that seemed new and fresh to me. I usually work with a lot more shadows, but this time it is almost flat, the light.

Or is it too flat? Too tight crop?

[LeeR]

I think you are onto soemthing here. Are you familiar with the work of Fransesco Scavullo? He was a very popular photographer a few years back and he used a similar set up with just slightly more shadows than you have here. He felt strongly that you should avoid shadows as much as possible when you are doing a portrait and as a result there was a long line of people waiting to have him take their picture. Look at the image of Elizabeth Taylor; only the slighest modeling of her cheeck bones, there is no shadow at all around her nose, and under her chin, where you would expect dark shadows, is only about a stop and a half darker. Your lighting is very similar and I think your clients should really appreciate it. I will admit I'm not crazy about cutting the top of your model's head off but I do really like the angle you used.
Please, check out Scavullo's site; while you are there you may want to pick up a copy of one of his prints of Barbara Streisand or Glenn Close; they're just $1,250 a peice!

[stefantell]

There are a lot worse photographers you can be compared to, so I thank you for the comparison even if my clients (yet) are not that famous. At least not outside Sweden

I love to crop really tight, but for this specific portrait it was simply because the background was not large enough, so I had to go in very close.

One of the main problems with this kind of lighting, I think, is that the absence of shadow under the nose can sometimes make the nostrils stand out too much if you have the wrong angle. Otherwise it is very flattering.