First studio shots

[heather4279]

Several of my first studio shots with my daughter as my model
Sorry they are so small. This is an email the company sent me and they send them at an unprintable size. All CC welcome and encouraged.
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11.

[heather4279]

When doing the minimal pp that we do, I did crop out my boyfriend's foot on image #2

[heather4279]

46 views and no c&c

[Colin Southern]

Hi Heather,

Probably the thing that struck me the most was how dark they're all looking -- just wondering what your thoughts were on that?

PS: Is that you in #7?

[heather4279]

Hi Heather,

Probably the thing that struck me the most was how dark they're all looking -- just wondering what your thoughts were on that?

PS: Is that you in #7?

Hi Colin,
That is me in #7.
They don't look as dark in print. These are from an email sent to me for reordering purposes. Unfortunately, I have little to no control on the lighting except on whether to use side lighting or not. Each muslin has magnets that are placed in different sequences which control the lighting. I don't have much creative control

~Heather

[JK6065]

My personal favourites are #3 and #11.
It's a nice looking series but what makes 3 and 11 interesting for me is your daughter's face. The expressions makes my smile immediately

Just a beatifull daughter you've got there and showing that utterly in pictures does
need a lot of practise.

and the black-white in #7 looks very nice. The different skincolours do contrast nicely.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Heather,

Firstly, a very good choice of clothes colour for all of you and a pleasant enough series.

I think Colin's thought on them being dark was a suggestion to have a go at PP'ing them before presentation here (or printing from masters) - I'm unclear who would do that. The origin and purpose (i.e. proofs) of shots is irrelevant if presented here for critique, we can only go by what we see, but it clearly helps to know these things upfront, as you did.

Warning: I'm going to be brutally honest here , so stand by (I think/hope that's what you want and I appreciate you're not responsible for the shortcomings in them)

I have had a 'glass half empty' day at work today, when normally I try to be a 'glass half full' kind of guy, so these are looking quite negative, sorry Still I hope they are helpful.

#1 - doesn't really work for me; your daugther looks uncomfortable and there's something in the background, one to leave on the cutting room floor, so to speak.

#2 - quite a good pose, would have been improved if your hand were same height as your boyfriend's. Well spotted on the BF foot, I agree it should be removed (but not literally ) looks a bit under exposed

#3 - pretty good, might be improved with a bit more forehead in shot, but I see there's a highlight there waiting to cause trouble, best exposed in my view

#4 - needs a closer crop, but I like the pose and expression, quite a lot under exposed though

#5 - needs a bit more on the bottom edge and a bit less at the top?

#6 - same as number 5 cropwise, but also very under exposed

#7 - very nice pose, probably my favourite, a little tightly cropped for my taste, a little more on left, top and right sides would help, you make a very photogenic family group

#8 - I like this pose too, if slightly under exposed, crop OK though

#9 - hmm, maybe I like this one a lot too, needs a tad more exposure. Slightly unfortunate positioning of BF's blue bracelet right on edge of frame, but it is a good crop

#10 - Good pose (again), but I'd like to see the edges of both elbow and foot in shot, the belt flare is a slight distraction, and it needs more exposure.

#11 - very nice expression, pose and lighting in this one, I would love to see the missing little finger though (and slightly more exposure). Am I allowed to say this is another favourite?

Your daughter does seem to have enjoyed herself though, which is important.

Once again, my apologies if the above reads a little overly 'negative'.

Do keep posting pics and hope the new job is working out for you.

I hope I haven't put you off,

[Colin Southern]

Hi Colin,
That is me in #7.
They don't look as dark in print. These are from an email sent to me for reordering purposes. Unfortunately, I have little to no control on the lighting except on whether to use side lighting or not. Each muslin has magnets that are placed in different sequences which control the lighting. I don't have much creative control

~Heather

Hi Heather,

I'm wondering if they're inadvertantly eMailing them using Adobe RGB? At my end they're looking VERY dark (to the point where I would have thought that they'd be putting people off more than encouraging them to buy).

I've given #7 the famous Photoshop 30 Second Makeover (TM!) to show you what I mean (mostly just midtone adjustments) (I've upsampled it, but still a lot of jpeg artifacts showing from the low-res original, which I can't do much about) (really just trying to highlight the levels issue) ...



PS: Keep in mind too that when you have dark reflective objects and light reflective objects (be it skin or clothing) then exposure and subsequent levels adjustment in post-processing are fairly critical as you'll have up to a 4-Stop difference in reflectivity, which is pretty much at the limit of what you can print, and still retain detail. In the above example you can now differentiate between the dark skin tones - the dark shirt, and the dark background.

[heather4279]

Dave,
Thanks for all of the comments. That's actually exactly what I was looking for. It's a pain reading comments and scrolling up to match it with the picture I posted them to get honest responses such as yours. My daughter did have a blast, she was so well behaved. Number 1 is not a favorite of mine either.

The bracelet-----There was one picture where I had asked him to take off. It's actually a bracelet for for siblings of cancer. He never takes it off. We also didn't plan an doing a shoot, just kind of happened when my boyfriend brought the baby in during my lunch break.

Once again, thanks for all the constructive critisism

~Heather

[heather4279]

Hi Heather,

I'm wondering if they're inadvertantly eMailing them using Adobe RGB? At my end they're looking VERY dark (to the point where I would have thought that they'd be putting people off more than encouraging them to buy).

I've given #7 the famous Photoshop 30 Second Makeover (TM!) to show you what I mean (mostly just midtone adjustments) (I've upsampled it, but still a lot of jpeg artifacts showing from the low-res original, which I can't do much about) (really just trying to highlight the levels issue) ...


PS: Keep in mind too that when you have dark reflective objects and light reflective objects (be it skin or clothing) then exposure and subsequent levels adjustment in post-processing are fairly critical as you'll have up to a 4-Stop difference in reflectivity, which is pretty much at the limit of what you can print, and still retain detail. In the above example you can now differentiate between the dark skin tones - the dark shirt, and the dark background.

Thanks Colin,
I do see and understand what you are talking about. I really wish I did have more control (but then again, I would have to uderstand much more of all of this technical stuff )
~Heather

[heather4279]

PS. I really like number 6. I could have cropped in a bit more but I like the original. Not sure what it is about it but I really like it.
~Heather

[Colin Southern]

Thanks Colin,
I do see and understand what you are talking about. I really wish I did have more control (but then again, I would have to uderstand much more of all of this technical stuff )
~Heather

We'll just have to help you go "above and beyond" outside of "the studio"!

If you want to be inspired (and cry a little at the same time), take a look at the sample images in this short clip on fantasy images.