Takin' a "Walk on the DARKER Side"

[tilde531]

Only barely a year into a portrait photography business, I've only recently settled into defining a "specialty".
This series is NOT indicative of my specialty however...

(Model: Rachel
A previous boudoir/intimate portraiture client wanted to try a "darker" "tougher" more empowered feel.)

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Theresa,

The only one I feel able to comment usefully upon is the last, where I felt the white wrist in lower right corner of frame may pull the eye away from the subject.

Also, particularly in Rachel's left eye, the repetitive catch-light looks a bit odd (three dots).

The reason I can't comment on the others is that I'd feel compelled to suggest they ought to be level/vertical - and that, no doubt, was your artistic choice

You may call me fuddy-duddy

[chauncey]

This series is NOT indicative of my specialty however

I checked your website...you seem to be every bit as eclectic as am I...I assume showing your specialty would be somewhat tacky. Regardless, I like the "dark images" and your site.

[Shadowman]

How did the client like the images?

[rpcrowe]

Theresa I do like the style of your images. A small problem might be that parts of the subject were (IMO) awkwardly cut off...

[dragon76]

Theresa


I like your style. It's very interesting and different.

Without taking artistic Intent into account

Image 2 - Focus Region - Rachel needs a bit more sharpness
Image 3 - Shutter Speed - pump it up to 1/125 and it will eliminate the fuzzy flying hair

I like them

[Andrew76]

Hi Theresa,

I applaud your interest for taking these kinds of photos! I wish I could get a model to pose for me to practice for something like this.

For some constructive advice, besides what has already been mentioned about cutting off body parts in odd places, I find the lighting to be very, very flat. Without sounding overly critical, it almost looks like on-camera flash. Could you tell us how/what you were using for lighting?

Of the 4, #3 is my favourite, and would be even better if lighting was improved, and the girl's hand was still in the shot. Unfortunately, my eye is drawn right to the edge where it leaves the page.

Hope that helps??

[tilde531]

Hi Theresa,

I applaud your interest for taking these kinds of photos! I wish I could get a model to pose for me to practice for something like this.

For some constructive advice, besides what has already been mentioned about cutting off body parts in odd places, I find the lighting to be very, very flat. Without sounding overly critical, it almost looks like on-camera flash. Could you tell us how/what you were using for lighting?

Of the 4, #3 is my favourite, and would be even better if lighting was improved, and the girl's hand was still in the shot. Unfortunately, my eye is drawn right to the edge where it leaves the page.

Hope that helps??

______________________________________

Hello Andrew,

I appreciate all the comments to date (and will get to them in turn) but starting with yours:


Lighting: 1 alien bee with umbrella in a rather dim room with mixed light
I should have opted for the alien bee at full strength using the 4-ft softbox perhaps but didn't.

(It will be nice to own some speed-lights but for now, I'm not exactly working with the latest, greatest equipment and the setting was not ideal.)


Regarding the composition issues (the little bit of wrist still showing in the one photo.... I left it there on purpose thinking that it shows AT LEAST the crop was not at the wrists.

I didn't crop the image and unfortunately didn't leave enough room to avoid that result when I composed the shot, should I decide to crop it later. I wanted more to focus on the face without creating yet another close-up portrait (aka: "head without a torso") and this is what I wound up with in the cramped quarters, sans an ideal prime lens.

Honestly, I'm a bit surprised that bit of wrist has caused so much of a stir, but appreciate the comments because they show me I've missed my intention for the image entirely.

Back to the drawing board.

P.S.
The seated images were impromptu and directly on the heels of the main session, which was outdoors. I took them in haste and agree... it shows in the quality.

Thanks again,

T~

[tilde531]

Theresa


I like your style. It's very interesting and different.

Without taking artistic Intent into account

Image 2 - Focus Region - Rachel needs a bit more sharpness
Image 3 - Shutter Speed - pump it up to 1/125 and it will eliminate the fuzzy flying hair

I like them

_______________________________

Hello Dragon76,

I appreciate your comments/feedback as well and could not agree more with the image needing more sharpness.
I don't own a prime lens (which I KNOW will help in that area).
To speed the shutter up, I would also need to go into an ISO setting I didn't care for.

Additionally, it would have yielded a better result if I had a lens which would achieve a much lower f-stop (this... if memory serves... was somewhere around 4.5 or something. Sad but true and the best I could do under the circumstances).

Anyway, although I didn't ask for C&C specifically... I respect the impressions of other professionals very much and always welcome input designed to help me improve.

Many thanks to you for that.

T~

[tilde531]

How did the client like the images?

Actually, she loved them!
But it was the first time she'd tried this kind of thing... and as it is completely counter to her normal disposition... she found it a lot of fun and couldn't wait for the images to be shared.

Thanks for asking

T~

[tilde531]

I checked your website...you seem to be every bit as eclectic as am I...I assume showing your specialty would be somewhat tacky. Regardless, I like the "dark images" and your site.

_____________________

Hello Chauncey,

I'm glad to hear that you like the images and my site.
Regarding my specialty/style being "tacky" .... *blush* well... not sure what to say in response to that actually.

If you mean "not appropriate for this particular forum/site", I am inclined to agree with you completely.

"Tacky".... not-so-much.

(BTW- did you visit the other pages on my site? I do plenty of the mundane stuff... family, children, pets etc. *yawn* )

[tilde531]

Hi Theresa,

The only one I feel able to comment usefully upon is the last, where I felt the white wrist in lower right corner of frame may pull the eye away from the subject.

Also, particularly in Rachel's left eye, the repetitive catch-light looks a bit odd (three dots).

The reason I can't comment on the others is that I'd feel compelled to suggest they ought to be level/vertical - and that, no doubt, was your artistic choice

You may call me fuddy-duddy

_______________________________

Hello Uncle "Fuddy-Duddy",
*snickers*

I've missed you, especially! lol

Yep, I took a great deal of artistic license with these. It was the whole point of the shoot.... BUT: your comment regarding the levelness/straightness WAS helpful because, my whole vision for the series was to present the model as "hard", "tough" and a bit dark.

We had recently done a concept shoot in which she was all light and over-radiant. (This was a study of duality basically.) Additionally, she'd done a boudoir session with me .... a "softer" side of her if-you-will.... so we wanted to try something different.

Anyway, your comment was helpful because "hardness" is illustrated better by rigidly straight lines. Although the setting was applicable (hard textures, strong colors, exaggerated eye makeup, etc.)... I missed an opportunity by not being even more rigid in composition. The slight tilt was intended to give the feel of casualness, but had I thought through it a little more... I might have chosen differently. We didn't have the ideal choice of location under the circumstances either... just worked with what we had around us.
(If we could have changed locations; I would have looked for more urban "grunge", dark strong but COLDER colors and lots of rigid textures.)

Regarding the catch-lights... I'm wondering if that's related to the fact that she's wearing her contacts? I find it a lot while editing but never pick up on it during the shoot! (I'm really near-sighted lol) I keep forgetting to ask her to remove them before we start, too. *blush*.

Also, sometimes during editing, I choose to add catch-lights in images which need a little more life. It is very likely that I didn't edit this image properly... but honestly, didn't pick up on that issue. Thanks for pointing it out.

warm regards,
T~