How's this for a Senior Portrait

[AlphaBjerke]

I am having some folks ask me to do portraits for them now and then and I am VERY anxious to learn to do it right. I am a perfectionist and that means I really want to know where I can improve. For this image I am interested in the following:

Is it an appealing/flattering pose?
Is the lighting good? (this can include critique of skin tones, but that's tough when our monitors differ.)
Are there distractions that I should have dealt with? (Hands, bracelet, etc.)

Personally, I don't like her smile. This is shot that she likes a lot. She doesn't like her smile/teeth. I have a version where I got her to smile and I did some photoshop dentistry, but I am not interested in having that critiqued as that is not the image she wants printed.

EXIF
3.5
1/80
200 ISO
35 mm on a cropped sensor

I was in a tree
Flash fired through umbrella to subject's left (more or less)



Thanks for your help!

[sabrina860]

I think the lighting is BEAUTIFUL but I don't like the composition of this. But if she likes this angle i would of tried to get her feet in the shot too. Also... something doesn't seem right with the subject and the background... was she cut out and pasted on this background?

[BigFuzzy]

Agree with Sabrina.. great lighting and good idea for the pose seeing as she's a heavier subject. The "from above" (though you went extreme haha) always helps.

having said that, I'd also not have cut off her legs from the image. But that's my only gripe to be honest. All the rest you (and she) should be very pleased with.

@ Sabrina - that's a result of the lighting. A well lit subject, combined with shallow DoF will make the subject 'pop' out of the background.. but I'm pretty sure (correct me if I'm wrong OP) there's no cut&paste magic here.

[sabrina860]

Originally Posted by BigFuzzy

Agree with Sabrina.. great lighting and good idea for the pose seeing as she's a heavier subject. The "from above" (though you went extreme haha) always helps.

having said that, I'd also not have cut off her legs from the image. But that's my only gripe to be honest. All the rest you (and she) should be very pleased with.

@ Sabrina - that's a result of the lighting. A well lit subject, combined with shallow DoF will make the subject 'pop' out of the background.. but I'm pretty sure (correct me if I'm wrong OP) there's no cut&paste magic here.

Oh ok! Thanks Fuzz... I had no idea. Good to know!

[SusanH1970]

Agreed with the others regarding composition - her legs look a bit odd. I do agree it was great to shoot from above, though, and it's also good that you had her angled, rather than straight on.

However, I'm not wild about the lighting. It's pretty flat, and that's usually not the best for someone a bit heavier. I looked at the original version on Flickr and judging by the catchlights, I think your flash was in front of her too much. Feathering the light would have helped and would have created some flattering shadowing. I wonder how it would have looked without using flash, just natural light and maybe a reflector?

That being said, your focus and clarity are excellent, and I like the clean post processing. Skin tones look good to me, too.

[AlphaBjerke]

Thanks so much for your feedback, everyone! I really, really appreciate it.

I did wonder about cutting off the feet, so I am glad to hear the opinion there. I was too focused on the placement in the frame of her face and I like the faces to be big.

And you guys figured it out: no cut and past. That is just the background as it was.

SusanH: Just to clarify, you are saying that I needed to pull the flash around to clockwise around her head further, right? I couldn't have used natural light as it was at dusk and there wasn't much to be had. I completely see what you mean and I would love to see it with the light coming more obliquely.

Again, thanks to all of you!

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by AlphaBjerke

SusanH: Just to clarify, you are saying that I needed to pull the flash around to clockwise around her head further, right? I couldn't have used natural light as it was at dusk and there wasn't much to be had. I completely see what you mean and I would love to see it with the light coming more obliquely.

Again, thanks to all of you!

By feathering, I mean by putting the light 90 degrees to her, and just slightly in front. I use this method quite a bit with my softbox - the effect may be different with an umbrella because of the spill. You'd probably have to play a little with placement. Hope this helps!