50th birthday , 30th wedding Anniversary

[candleman]

title says it all.. i did some impromptu portraits for my parents as i wont see them again til february,

i went for the "elongated look" by streatching her hands forward like that to slim her arms out, but naturally as a traveller....she didnt have long sleeves whichis what i would have recommended. that would have helped

as for my dads arm all the way around... i told him to put it on her back or hold the back of the chair.. but he liked to cuddle and they are VERY close.
so i thought it was cute.
makes my marriage look like a failure in comparison.

one strobe high and right in gold brolly for edge/hair light
one strobe left in white shoot through for Key
white reflector held by sexy assistant (wife) camera right for fill

Exposure: 0.013 sec (1/80)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 48 mm
ISO Speed: 100


i used the gold high and right for some warmth, and WB set to 5600K (ever so slightly warm) to add to that.
in post this came out sligtly too warm so i reduced the yellows to compensate..

i did some basic skin re-touching.. but nothing drastic.. just reduced the lines.. didnt actually remove anything. brought back the pores, sharpened the eyes a touch.



please critique lighting/colour and the pose.
i'm happy with the crop, as i consider this a 3/4 ...but shoot me down if you like.
..anythign else you can notice.

[zona5101]

It looks fantasic to me. Nice job they will be very pleased. I like how her jacket and his slacks drift off into the background, it really places the emphasis on them.

[SusanH1970]

Jared, they're going to love this. Lighting and skin tones are pretty much spot on perfect, and even though you "posed" them, they look very natural and relaxed. Love it.

[Nicole]

Overall, great portrait. The only thing that sticks out to me is that his arm looks a bit awkward, so instead of looking like they're cuddling, it looks like his arm is almost floating just above her shoulders every so slightly. I'd probably try to find a pose where his arm is dropped down slightly more, but there's no reason he can't give her a cuddle (e.g. having him drop his hand down to her waist or having her cuddle into him a little more). But, that aside, I think the lighting, pose, colour, etc is all great on this. You're doing really well with the portraits and I'm sure they're going to love it!

[candleman]

thanks guys


good point Nicole.. his arm was resting on the back of the chair.
as you say, i probably should have dropeed his arm onto her back and then got him to dro phis other shoulder to keep that "angle".
thanks very much

[LoveDSLR]

You can choose A or B.

A:

It is a nice and warm portrait. It works well in showing their love between each other. Well done.

B:

Too complex (bottom half the photo)! I like to see a single point of interests instead of:
- their faces
- his left hand
- their hands
- the chair (color)

Hand over shoulder leads the viewers' eyes to follow along her arm down.

I found their hands part too complicate. He should cover hers.

Colors (excluding skin tone) aren't exactly complements each other.

Overall 4/10 (Nice but it lacks attention to details). Assuming 10/10 is master level. 8/10 wow etc.

[candleman]

thanks very much Sir,
B is where i want...

i see what you mean about the hands it definatley would have been better if his was on top. i think i was concentrating too hard on keeping tham giggling and not watching the details.
you're spot on with that.

the red chair is a bit of strange... i did fight to stop her from wearing a red blouse..
i think i should maybe do a hue adjustment on the chair and make it a bit more like acual cane.. we found it on the side of the road. it has "Character" but the wrong colour.

so in terms of colour co-ordination.. other than the chair. should her shirt have matched his. IE a Khaki/Beige colour?

[SandeeWig]

Hi Jared, I think this is a lovely portrait and I'm sure they are ecstatic!

My only nit is that there are a couple of hot spots on their faces from the key light that I find distracting; specifically on her forehead, cheek and chin and on his cheek. Easy to correct in post w/ a clone brush, set to darken, and low opacity.

Otherwise, I think it's great and you did really well with the fill and hair light. Nice work, my friend!

[candleman]

thanks Aime

thanks for pointing that out, i'll see what i can do

[AlphaBjerke]

Great job--what can I possible add that hasn't already been said. What wonderful critiques, especially LoveDSLR's. That is the type of critique I love and I can learn from. That said, that is for us perfectionists (nothing wrong with that) and I am sure most people would be absolutely thrilled with this portrait.