Samantha, fashion...(5 shots added)...

[lenron]

Samantha and Syed came out tonight for their shoot, and it was a stunning success. Here is the first few that I liked. c&c welcomed as usual...(Syed shots tomorrow)...

#1


#2


#3


#4


#5

[lenron]

4 shots added tonight...more tomorrow...

[texxter]

Nino, good job photographing this pretty woman! I am partial to the more informal style and expressions on images #3 and #4, and I also prefer the Rembrandt lighting you've done with these - broad lighting on the first two is not as pretty, imho. In general I'd suggest moving the key light closer to the camera and up a little. I like the camera height you've chosen for #3 and #4 also.

If you're shooting fashion you may want to direct the model to pose her eyes differently. Not that contact with the camera is wrong, but your images will look more "fashion" if you have some images where the model has her eyes focused elsewhere. Take a look at this pretty Zara 2010 campaign to see an example of what I mean.

Zara Spring 2010 Campaign | Toni Garrn | Fashion Gone Rogue

[lenron]

Originally Posted by texxter

Nino, good job photographing this pretty woman! I am partial to the more informal style and expressions on images #3 and #4, and I also prefer the Rembrandt lighting you've done with these - broad lighting on the first two is not as pretty, imho. In general I'd suggest moving the key light closer to the camera and up a little. I like the camera height you've chosen for #3 and #4 also.

If you're shooting fashion you may want to direct the model to pose her eyes differently. Not that contact with the camera is wrong, but your images will look more "fashion" if you have some images where the model has her eyes focused elsewhere. Take a look at this pretty Zara 2010 campaign to see an example of what I mean.

Zara Spring 2010 Campaign | Toni Garrn | Fashion Gone Rogue

I totally agree. And we did do some where she was looking various directions after she got more accustomed to shooting. This was actually Samantha's first studio shoot as an "aspiring model". She did extremely well for the first time out, and with some guidance from Jenny (MUA) and Tara (coordinator/wardrobe) she got into a groove pretty fast. I'll post more soon, as I was very pleased with many of these. (and Syed did amazing as well...he shoots so well its hard to get a bad shot of him!)

[tukaniray]

Nice green eyes ... I like the lighting on shot 1.

-Ray-

[lenron]

Originally Posted by tukaniray

Nice green eyes ... I like the lighting on shot 1.

-Ray-

Thanks...

[srwatters]

You might consider a larger light source or take more care to properly expose the clothing for 'fashion' shots. In most of these images the jeans and black skirt/jacket appear to have very little detail to them. Most noticeably the black skirt. I often find this when using smaller light sources. For full length fashion, a 4x6' rectangle or 7' octobank is my key light choice.

IMHO, the headshot could be improved by adding enough ambient light so that the subjects pupils aren't so large. You lose too much of the iris when shooting in such low light. I use an additional bare bulb strobe's modeling lamp to help shrink the pupil.

Finally I'm seeing a fair amount of 'spill' from your kicker falling on her face. Flags or more careful placement behind the subject can help avoid unwanted light falling on the subject's face or clothing.

I like the last two best in this series with the above caveats. Thanks for sharing.

[lenron]

Originally Posted by srwatters

You might consider a larger light source or take more care to properly expose the clothing for 'fashion' shots. In most of these images the jeans and black skirt/jacket appear to have very little detail to them. Most noticeably the black skirt. I often find this when using smaller light sources. For full length fashion, a 4x6' rectangle or 7' octobank is my key light choice.

IMHO, the headshot could be improved by adding enough ambient light so that the subjects pupils aren't so large. You lose too much of the iris when shooting in such low light. I use an additional bare bulb strobe's modeling lamp to help shrink the pupil.

Finally I'm seeing a fair amount of 'spill' from your kicker falling on her face. Flags or more careful placement behind the subject can help avoid unwanted light falling on the subject's face or clothing.

I like the last two best in this series with the above caveats. Thanks for sharing.

Agreed on all points! I have been rather self-critical about the first 2 shots today, and may not 'keep' them after all. Thanks for the input!

[doctahjones]

Originally Posted by srwatters

IMHO, the headshot could be improved by adding enough ambient light so that the subjects pupils aren't so large. You lose too much of the iris when shooting in such low light. I use an additional bare bulb strobe's modeling lamp to help shrink the pupil.

+1

i'm big on making sure the pupil is relatively small. doesn't have to be pin point small, but i always try for no more than 50% open.

and +1 on using an additional bare bulb. i use one of these (usually, i do forget sometimes) with a 60 or 100w to help shrink the pupils. the 100w bulb usually doesn't show up as a catch light unless i'm wider than f/5.6, but i usually shoot around f/9 or above.

[lenron]

5th shot...

[lenron]

Originally Posted by doctahjones

+1

i'm big on making sure the pupil is relatively small. doesn't have to be pin point small, but i always try for no more than 50% open.

and +1 on using an additional bare bulb. i use one of these (usually, i do forget sometimes) with a 60 or 100w to help shrink the pupils. the 100w bulb usually doesn't show up as a catch light unless i'm wider than f/5.6, but i usually shoot around f/9 or above.

Yep, great call! I am generally f/8 and above as well. I will consider that option, dude.