Greg, Thanks for posting the shots for us to see and critique. You've done a good thing in recognizing the weak spots in the shots already. Agreed, your light isn't coming from the best angle but in the first shot (head only) I don't think it looks horrible. It may help if you darkened up one cheek a bit. Since the window was at her left, I would have had it be the main light and dialed down the stobe to act as fill. In this shot you clearly have two competing light sources..and it confuses the brain. I think her pose and expression are good. I'm distracted by the placement of her hand in the second portrait; I think it would look better if it were below the level of her eyes. She looks crowded in the frame. It would appear her hand is blocking the window light which gives a nicer looking ratio but you're still hot on the strobe side. Did you happen to shoot any shots with just window light and a reflector on the opposite side? That can be some of the most beautiful light you'll ever find for head shot work. Depending on the window location, it can blow out your highlights so a diffuser on that side, too, can be a necessity. You didn't mention what this shoot was for and if it's one you can easily redo. She seems like a willing participant and I wouldn't hesitate to ask her if you can shoot her again now that you know the area you'd be working in. She'd most likely be flattered and you would have the opportunity to make some minor adjustments and learn quite a lot by comparing the results of the two shoots. My 2 cents worth. Lea ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gregory Fraser" <Gregory.Fraser@pwgsc.gc.ca> To: "List for Photo/Imaging Educators - Professionals - Students" <photoforum@listserver.isc.rit.edu> Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2003 9:07 AM Subject: First portrait session > I've posted 2 shots from my first location portrait shoot at http://users.imag.net/~lon2251/temp/. > > I did the shoot in her house. I had never been there and I was hoping to use the walls and ceiling as reflectors. She told me the ceiling was white and the walls beige. I interpreted 'beige' to be 'off white' but it turned out to be more like coffee with 2% milk in it. A sort of medium gray and useless for my purposes. I did have a sheet with me which I draped over her entertainment center which was to her right. I bounced a strobe off the sheet. > > Problem 1: The resulting angle of the light striking her face was with relation to the camera was around 60-70 degrees. Not a flattering angle. > > To her left was a large window. > > Problem 2: Now I'm well aware that the temperature of sunlight changes all day long but for some reason I ignored that and assumed it would match my flash since you use daylight film for flash and daylight. > > Please feel free to add to the problem list. > > Greg > > >
