Great advice whas give to me here..am I on the right track?

[Lorry]

Hello again,

I posted a couple of weeks ago regarding some portraits that I'd done and got some wonderful tips about time of day, DoF etc and have put them to use.
I'm hoping that this advice has shown in my photos.

Can you please give me advice on whether the lighting was correct.

Thankyou.



f5
1/13 shutter
ISO 500
Focal Length 18mm

Thank You
Lorry

[tyasa81]

Hi lorry,

"Can you please give me advice on whether the lighting was correct."
- can you explain what you are trying to do with the lighting? when i see such a scene my target lighting might be different from yours... however seeing as this is a classical pose of a lady in front of window, are you going for the light dreamy look? if you are, then the lighting is too harsh... you've lost the subjects eyes into the darkness and her hair has lost the details... (my this monitor is notorious for being darker than my calibrated laptop though)... i'm sure most will tell you to get a reflector to bounce back the light... i've no experience with reflectors prefering to strobe instead if i want to adjust the lights... and getting a window with white shades might help diffuse the light some...

hope that helps...

[Lorry]

thanks Tyasa81,

I just wanted to achieve a relaxed look of her thining about the baby and a little day dreamy on a relaxing afternoon...I did have to lighten the photo a bit because of how dark the shadow was but on my screen the eyes and hair are pretty much in view...I did have a reflector but had no one to hold it for me, bummer as I agree that that would have helped alot.

I am so new to portrait photography and I want to produce beautiful images...I know what's in my mind but producing it is a different story.

I just bought the book from here "Portrait E'Book" to learn how to position people.

Thankyou for replying to my post...:-)

[tyasa81]

Hi lorry, its not that the eyes cant be seen.. I can see them.. But they r too dark n got lost compared to the rest of the photo.. What u did here is almost 90degree lighting... Contrasty as well.. When u said day dreaming, i imagine u want a soft like effect.. Try this next time... Angle her so shes about 45deg to the light.. Press yourself against the wall or max 1 hand length so she doesnt need to turn around away from the window so much like in the picture.. And this time, use your reglector or choose another time of day when the light is less contrasty.. Or another window in the house.. Hope that helps with your lighting.. I dont pose ppl much so i wont comment on that

[phaither]

i agree about needing to see the eyes more prominently. also, i am distracted by mommy-to-be's right hand hanging in an awkward way. it's ok to use direction for hand placement. i might have preferred to see it paralell to the sill of even on the side of the belly. just my 2 cents...

[LeeR]

We all love window light because it has a soft natural quality that is hard to duplicate in the studio. However, it is usually best not to include the window in the frame, and you usually need some sort of reflector to help get some light on the shadow side of the subject. Window light falls off very quickly (remember the inverse square law from high school: double the distance and you get 1/4th the amount of light?) It doesn't have to be anything fancy, even a white sheet hung from the ceiling would suffice. You are on the right track; with a bit of practice you'll make these look almost as good as a studio shot.

[shauncunninghamphoto]

Originally Posted by Lorry

thanks Tyasa81,

I did have to lighten the photo a bit because of how dark the shadow was but on my screen the eyes and hair are pretty much in view...I did have a reflector but had no one to hold it for me, bummer as I agree that that would have helped alot.

Hi again Lorry.

It's great to see you persisting and this isn't far off being a good portrait. You're getting good advice from the other posters here, some of which we've spoken about before if you recall. Do you remember me saying that one of the earliest tips I had, one that I've never forgotten and one that I use almost constantly is the benefit of a bounce disc/reflector? Not having someone to hold it for you (or a stand to fit it to) impacted you here.

Two things that would've got you what you needed without any other position re-adjustments are a reflector and a window dressing (my choice would be a voile. They are awesome for window shots). The reflector would've given fill to your subject's face (and body), put a twinkle in her eye and reduced shadows. With so much light coming in, you may only have needed to use the diffuser side which may have cast a nice soft light across your subject. That alone would've stopped you having to lighten up the shot. Also, without a window dressing, about a third of the photo (the left third) appears over-exposed. Where's the histogram in this area? Off the chart probably. Being able to see the washed out tree and fence outside is also a major distraction that would've been prevented by a voile.

Incidentally, did you choose the ISO500 or did the camera select that from Auto? It seems high given the amount of natural light.

All that said, you're definitely headed in the right direction. Keep shooting!

Shaun

[commongrackle]

I think the rest has been covered, but I just want to interject with something to consider for future maternity photos...just pulling her shirt up and exposing the belly doesn't automatically equal a good maternity photo. This looks more like the belly photo of the week and less maternity photo session, catch my drift?

[Lorry]

Thankyou all for your feedback, it is muchly appreciated. I will definately be using my reflector next time without a doubt and the window dressing sounds so much better..will do that too, thankyou Shaun...I think I used auto ISO.
This was a picture of my daughter to practice on...I should have paid a little more attention to her top..will take that on board thanks Commongrackle and I will try different angles also.
Thank You Thank You.

Lorry...:-)

[ctcook]

Try putting her in that corner behind the window. The light will be softer and will wrap around her a bit:

Window Shoot - Scott Kelby