By Jove... I think he's got it.

[scootermcq]

I think I am finally getting the hang of lighting, pose, composition and focus for a portrait. I realize I am by not way a pro, but I am kinda proud of this one I took today at my in-laws 60th. This young lady was quite the model for me. Please tell me what you think. Only thing I would like to change is to have thrown a hair light on her, but I am waiting on a optical trigger that I ordered, so this is a two light portrait.

The critique I am looking for is on lighting, pose and composition. Since I am happy with this shot, I now need to learn to see what mistakes others pick up on, so let me know.

D90
Sigma 70-300 @ 135mm
F/4.2
1/200
ISO 200

Main light, reflector & background light.

[edbayani]

with or without hairlight, it looks good. a little tighter crop, perhaps.
by jove you got it and you must have danced all night!

[natek313]

I hope I don't rain on your parade...

The lighting looks good. The two things I noticed, though, are the focus and crop. I wouldn't leave so much empty space on the left side of the frame. As far as the focus goes, the image appears soft. Your shutter speed was plenty fast for the focal length, so I think you may have just mis-focused, but I can't tell where the focus fell. That might just be because it's 2:30am here, and I am tired.

[srt]

I think it looks pretty great too, but I think that Natek313 is right the focus is soft on her face...I'd say the sharpest focus is on the collar of her shirt.

[scootermcq]

Originally Posted by natek313

I hope I don't rain on your parade...

Um, go with the theme we have here....

Maybe something along "I hope I don't rain on your plain"... or something with "The rain in Spain"

OK, kidding aside, thank-you. This is why I posted it to get feedback. After you pointed it out, I can see the focus is soft on the face and sharper on the collar. I guess I would be better off with single point focus and locking it on her eye, then framing the photo.

If you didn't "rain down on me", then I would have been happy in my ignorance.

[natek313]

Originally Posted by scootermcq

I guess I would be better off with single point focus and locking it on her eye, then framing the photo.

This is generally the technique I use when shooting portraits. I use my camera's center focus point, focus on the eyes, then reframe the shot, if necessary.

Also, it might help if you use a smaller aperture (greater depth of field). Is there a particular reason you chose f/4.2?

[scootermcq]

Originally Posted by natek313

Also, it might help if you use a smaller aperture (greater depth of field). Is there a particular reason you chose f/4.2?

Well, in hind site you are right. My thought at the time was to have my background blurred out to create better separation because I did not have a way to fire my hair light. The subject was about 5' in front of the background and I was about 15' from the subject (which was all the room I had). The room lighting was also fugly and I did not want any ambient light coming in, which was the reason for higher shutter speed and lower aperture. Using only the DOF preview on the camera and reviewing the images on a tiny 3" lcd told me I was getting the result I wanted.

Now I can see the focus is a little soft and I would have been better off a step or 2 higher and turning up the speedlights.

[Benji]

The first thing I noticed was her large left shoulder due to the fact she is turned about 80 degrees away from the camera rather than 45 degrees. Also turning the body at that great of an angle leaves a "dead spot" at the lower left side of the image where nothing of importance occupies that area. A 45 degree turn of the torso takes care of both of these problems.

Benji

[kgb224]

Outstanding capture.