Lady

[Digital]

C&C most welcomed.

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured, good control of the highlights and shadows.

[Digital]

John, thank you for your kind comments.



Bruce

[rpcrowe]

Nice shot but, I would try to heal the dry and red skin areas, especially around her eyebrows. maybe I am sensitive to this because I have the same type of condition...

[IzzieK]

I love the pose, the lighting, the bokeh...I like what John said too...to me this is a perfect shot...

[Manfred M]

Looks like a hot and hazy day when you took this shot Bruce.

I find that digital cameras seem to exaggerate some of the redness in the skin tones and I almost automatically try to desaturate the colour a touch in these types of images just to downplay that a bit. There are some hot-spots on the face and hair I might rework as well, depending on the subject's wishes and end-use of the image. The catchlight in the eyes and patten on the forehead suggest you used an on-camera fill flash (or am I mis-reading the image?).

f this was to be a more formal image (framed, for instance), I'd soften some of the lines on the face around the eyes and cheeks as these are a bit distracting. Some lines are caused by the way the head is turned and by the large smile and I would try to reduce / eliminate those while shooting by changing the pose.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Bruce I like the natural look of the lady a lot. IMO boheh is a bit too brigt on the left side of the frame and I would tone it down a bit.I would also clone the leaking black eye make-up around her eyes. I don't care about the redness and the wrinkles on her face for this particular image because IMO that's the way she is . I say so , may be it's because I'm not worried about the wrinkles on my face too Also her T-shirt indicates that she is not in a formal condition , so IMO it is better to keep the feeling of casualness in the image by not touching it very much. I would also try to give her eyes some more pop with PP.

Please mind that I'm not a portrait shooter and my comments are not based on my experience on portrait shots. I have commented with the help of my general photography knowledge and with my feelings

[Digital]

Thanks to Richard, Izzie, Manfred, and Binnur for viewing, and commenting on the photo.
Manfred, fill-in flash was used on this shot.


Bruce

[Manfred M]

Manfred, fill-in flash was used on this shot.

The fill flash is a bit hot. A couple of suggestions...

1. If you are using a Nikon Speedlight, and aren't doing so already, try shooting in TTL-BL mode. The BL (Balanced Light) and it does a better job as fill flash and it handles the flash / ambient light calculations a bit differently;

2. Use flash exposure compensation and dial down around 1 stop to start, that gives you a lower output that can be less harsh. I find that a 2:1 ratio on my fill light gives a more natural look;

3. Go with off camera flash (if you can) and use Commander Mode (I believe your D300 has it), with a light modifier (umbrella) to give you a softer fill light. That being said, that means you need a light stand, umbrella / flash holder and some sandbags. Umbrellas are not great outdoors in a wind.

[Digital]

Manfred, I used a Nikon SB-600 for this shot. I will check to determine if the flash has a TTL-BL mode.
Thank you so much for the suggestions you made.


Bruce

[Manfred M]

Manfred, I used a Nikon SB-600 for this shot. I will check to determine if the flash has a TTL-BL mode.
Thank you so much for the suggestions you made.


Bruce

I have the SB-600 as well; it has this mode. Check on page 33 of your manual.

Play around with flash compensation as well to get the look you want.

[Digital]

Thanks Manfred for the suggestion.



Bruce