Red-Headed Annabelle

[SusanH1970]

Hiya, folks! I posted another portrait I'd done of this little girl in SYS yesterday and got some great feedback, but I thought I'd like to post another of her here for some more detailed critique.



Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Exposure: 0.05 sec (1/20)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off
Exposure Program: Aperture-priority AE


I would like to know what you think of:

A: Lighting. She was sitting by a big bay window, all natural afternoon light. My son was holding a big white posterboard for reflection on her left (camera right)...he's only eleven, but my only "assistant" at the time, so I know the lighting is not perfect on that side. On her right side, is it too blown out?
B. Composition. I know it's just about dead center horizontally, but does it work vertically?
C. PP...Photoshop. I utilized lens blur to blur the background a bit, healing brush to get rid of crumbs on her upper lip and forehead, and the dodge tool and burn tool to bring out her eyes. The original is here, if you care or dare to compare: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3380/...4a4cf01f_b.jpg . Did I do too much? Not enough?

This was just a fun, quick shoot with a little girl I watch a few days a week for a friend, not anything trying for pro, just trying to get some practice on kids other than my own. I emailed this to her grandfather and he went nuts over it, loves it, but I'd like some technical opinions. My background was a blue sheet hung behind her and a white blanket on my kitchen table that she sat on next to a bay window.

By the way, the quizzical look on her face is because I told her "I want to be a photographer when I grow up, will you help me practice?" She said, "You're already a grown-up, Susan, but I'll help you anyway." Can't get a more willing model than that. ;-)

Thank you in advance...and please feel free to be brutally honest. Any and all constructive criticism is a good thing. Also, on this photo, if you want to edit it that's okay, too, for reposting in this thread, as long as you tell me what you did!

[WooD]

First thing that jumps out is the blown out area on the right side of her face.

Might have came out more even if you had shot around 1/120 and used something to reflect the light on her left.

It's a really cute shot, love her hair, and eyes.

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by Dr. WooD

First thing that jumps out is the blown out area on the right side of her face.

Might have came out more even if you had shot around 1/120 and used something to reflect the light on her left.

It's a really cute shot, love her hair, and eyes.

Thanks, Dr WooD....Like I said, I thought it was a bit blown out, too. I did have some reflection, if you read my info, but not the best (but he tried like heck!)

Thank you so much for your input! :-)

[Midwest Sunset]

I don't know if this is at all what you were hopeing for but I gave my hand at PP on this one. I'm not a lighting expert so I often have to try to "fix" my mistakes.



This is what I did. I opened the photo with Camera Raw & adjusted in levels the highlights by -10, darks +15 & shadows +20 then opened to PS.

In PS I worked in layers adding a 50% grey layer & using a soft brush set at 9% opacity 100%flow painted with black over the blown out area & with white over the darker areas to lighten them.

I then flattened & added a warming filter @ 25% opacity, then copied the layer & added a gaussian blur at about 20% & 20% opacity on the layer. I removed the blur from the eyes & mouth with the eraser & changed the layer type to soft light to try to add some of the contrast back into her hair.

I hope this helps some, next time maybe try hanging a white sheet between the model & the window to help avoid the blown area, that or move the subject further away from the light source. I love natural lighting, but it definately has it's own difficulties. Great shot too BTW, beautiful model & I think your assistant did fabulously!

[ttosifa]

Originally Posted by Dr. WooD

First thing that jumps out is the blown out area on the right side of her face.

Normally I am right there with you on blown highlights, but there are practically no blown highlights in this picture. An itsy-bitsy-teensy amount of blown reds, but certainly nothing that would jump.

This picture is right at the edge of exposure on the camera-left side of the girl's face. The only issue is the camera right side. Personally, I think your 11-year old boy did a fine job. I'd tell him that, and I'd prove it to him by prominently and proudly displaying this great picture!

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by Midwest Sunset

I don't know if this is at all what you were hopeing for but I gave my hand at PP on this one. I'm not a lighting expert so I often have to try to "fix" my mistakes.



This is what I did. I opened the photo with Camera Raw & adjusted in levels the highlights by -10, darks +15 & shadows +20 then opened to PS.

In PS I worked in layers adding a 50% grey layer & using a soft brush set at 9% opacity 100%flow painted with black over the blown out area & with white over the darker areas to lighten them.

I then flattened & added a warming filter @ 25% opacity, then copied the layer & added a gaussian blur at about 20% & 20% opacity on the layer. I removed the blur from the eyes & mouth with the eraser & changed the layer type to soft light to try to add some of the contrast back into her hair.

I hope this helps some, next time maybe try hanging a white sheet between the model & the window to help avoid the blown area, that or move the subject further away from the light source. I love natural lighting, but it definately has it's own difficulties. Great shot too BTW, beautiful model & I think your assistant did fabulously!

Hi Midwest Sunset,

Thank you so much for all the work you did! I love how you were able to even out the lighting. Unfortunately, I'm not only a novice in photography, but even more so in PP, so a lot of what you said is Greek to me - but I am going to print out what you did and play around, see if I can duplicate it.

I think moving further away from the window will do it. As I said, she was sitting on my kitchen table right next to a huge bay window - perhaps moving the table a foot or two away will help. I could try the sheet too, never thought of that. Thank you so much for your hard work and compliments, I really appreciate it!!!

Originally Posted by ttosifa

Normally I am right there with you on blown highlights, but there are practically no blown highlights in this picture. An itsy-bitsy-teensy amount of blown reds, but certainly nothing that would jump.

This picture is right at the edge of exposure on the camera-left side of the girl's face. The only issue is the camera right side. Personally, I think your 11-year old boy did a fine job. I'd tell him that, and I'd prove it to him by prominently and proudly displaying this great picture!

Hello ttosifa,

Thank you very much for your input. I really couldn't decide if her right cheek looked blown out or not, but I didn't like how dark her left side looked. I'll let my son know what you said, he'll be thrilled! He loves playing "assistant", and his critiques of my shots are pretty good - I'll show him one that I post here and he almost always points out issues that are discussed in this forum. He'll probably end up being a better photographer than me by the time he's 12! ;-)


Again, thank you to everyone who took the time out to give me their thoughts.

[ReflectingGrace]

i dont think it looks blown out on her face. there are no brighty/shiny spots and no detail is lost. Its nicely lit on that side. as you know it needs more light on camera-right but its still a very sweet picture. ive heard you can cover it with aluminum foil to get more reflection???

the vertical crop looks ok except for printing purposes you need an extra quarter-inch - if you printed this it may be too close to her hair on top? it just depends on your preferences.

great job!

[swilliams61]

What makes this photo so great is that you can't help but smile when you see it! She's adorable. The background looks nice; good job with the sheet! The natural light is great, and I see where you've gotten some advice on reflectors so you can try that more next time. Keep up the good work!

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by ReflectingGrace

i dont think it looks blown out on her face. there are no brighty/shiny spots and no detail is lost. Its nicely lit on that side. as you know it needs more light on camera-right but its still a very sweet picture. ive heard you can cover it with aluminum foil to get more reflection???

the vertical crop looks ok except for printing purposes you need an extra quarter-inch - if you printed this it may be too close to her hair on top? it just depends on your preferences.

great job!

Thanks! I've heard the aluminum foil trick, too - until I can get a proper reflector, I'll cover one side of my posterboard with some and see how that works out.

I actually did print out a 5x7 of this for her Mom and it looked fine - in Photoshop I had cropped it to be that size. I can always go back to the original and re-crop for additional sizes.

Thank you so much for your input!

Originally Posted by swilliams61

What makes this photo so great is that you can't help but smile when you see it! She's adorable. The background looks nice; good job with the sheet! The natural light is great, and I see where you've gotten some advice on reflectors so you can try that more next time. Keep up the good work!

Thank you! My husband said my Valentine's Day gift will be a real backdrop stand and my choice of a few backgrounds. I can't wait till I have something other than a sheet rigged between my china cabinet and window!



And an update...my friend was so happy with the CD I gave her that she wants me to do a formal sitting, and she's giving my name out to friends! I'm so excited! I did tell her she only got a high-res CD because she's a good friend - not gonna be passing those out to just anyone.