Maïté

[Manfred M]

We had a photo club shoot scheduled for downtown Ottawa yesterday afternoon. The plan was for 2 model and 6 photographers. Unfortunately one of the models cancelled out 90 minutes before the shoot, so we only had a single model and this was her first shoot. Unfortunately, she seems to have had an unfortunate encounter with too much sun exposure and some of her skin was not too happy about that, so more retouching than usual for someone this young.

Just to complicate things a bit more, the outside temperature was 32°C / 90°F, so that added to the complexities of the shoot. There was a fair bit of construction going on, so some of the favourite sites were blocked off and inaccessible. In spite of the poor conditions, everyone pushed on and I'm reasonably happy with the results.


1. Maïté Riel





2.





3.

[Shadowman]

Nice series, you've seemed to have gotten some ideal areas for controlled lighting.

[Manfred M]

#1 is in closed shade and I used fill flash with -1.7 FEC dialed in;

#2 the area behind her is open sky, so she is back lit, but there is enough concrete around for the light to bounce from and to act as a fill light; and

#3 is in open shade. Lots of open sky above and in front of her. She is facing north.

[Round Tuit]

HI Manfred,
I don't know why I'm commenting on these because I certainly wouldn't be able to come close to what you did but here goes anyway.
#1 is by far my favorite mostly because of the beautiful smile. She seems more natural than in the other two poses. If it were mine, I would be tempted to crop the bottom approximately level with her left armpit. She also has strange brown circles centered in her eyes when viewed in lytebox. Do you know what they are?
I think that #2 could also be cropped closer to her knees.
André

[Manfred M]

HI Manfred,
I don't know why I'm commenting on these because I certainly wouldn't be able to come close to what you did but here goes anyway.

Thanks!

#1 is by far my favorite mostly because of the beautiful smile. She seems more natural than in the other two poses. If it were mine, I would be tempted to crop the bottom approximately level with her left armpit. She also has strange brown circles centered in her eyes when viewed in lytebox. Do you know what they are?

I cropped where I did to give some continuity to the way her dress flows along the bottom of the frame and where her hair falls. I do play around with the crops until I get one that looks good to me.

The dark spots are a result of her working on her tan a bit too aggressively in combination with how the light is falling (the hot spots on the cheek) an how she applied her makeup. I spent a lot of time cleaning up her skin along her forehead and hairline and chin to cover up sunburn damaged and peeling skin and should have been a bit more careful around her eyes. There is a reason I haven't posted more closeup head and shoulder shots...

I think that #2 could also be cropped closer to her knees.
André

Generally the rule in photographic "amputations" is to make the above the joint as this tends to give the most pleasing look. Cutting off below the knees does not work particularly well, so I did the crop above the ankles and let the lines of how she positioned her legs fall the way they do in the image.

[FootLoose]

Like Andre, I am a viewer not a do-er. But I do think this is one of the better sets you have presented here, Manfred. The first shot oozes personality (though I am not sure that is an acceptable part of the genre) and the lighting seems to complement that well.

I understand you are shooting in a group situation, so does anyone tell the model how to pose or does she just go through a set of poses she has learned? I ask in relation to the 2nd shot because I don't think the crease in her right armpit is particularly attractive. I wonder if a more experienced model would have posed like that. Apart from that, I think the background works well in this composition.

[Rick50]

I like #1 the best but I tend to like closer in shots as it's all about the person then rather than the environment. It just pops for me!

[Round Tuit]

Thank for your reply

Thanks!
The dark spots are a result of her working on her tan a bit too aggressively in combination with how the light is falling (the hot spots on the cheek) an how she applied her makeup. I spent a lot of time cleaning up her skin along her forehead and hairline and chin to cover up sunburn damaged and peeling skin and should have been a bit more careful around her eyes. There is a reason I haven't posted more closeup head and shoulder shots...

The spots in her eyes that I am curious about are right on her pupils. I wondered if she was wearing colored contact lenses that were either defective or used for special effect. By the way, you did a good job on the skin because I can't see any trace of sunburn damage.

[Manfred M]

Thank for your reply


The spots in her eyes that I am curious about are right on her pupils. I wondered if she was wearing colored contact lenses that were either defective or used for special effect. By the way, you did a good job on the skin because I can't see any trace of sunburn damage.

The spots are light sources that are being reflected.



The shot was taken near the Sapper's Staircase on the south-west corner where Wellington St and Elgin St meet. If you look at her eye in Lytebox, you can make out some of the details, including the steps.

[Manfred M]

Like Andre, I am a viewer not a do-er. But I do think this is one of the better sets you have presented here, Manfred. The first shot oozes personality (though I am not sure that is an acceptable part of the genre) and the lighting seems to complement that well.

I understand you are shooting in a group situation, so does anyone tell the model how to pose or does she just go through a set of poses she has learned? I ask in relation to the 2nd shot because I don't think the crease in her right armpit is particularly attractive. I wonder if a more experienced model would have posed like that. Apart from that, I think the background works well in this composition.

I think part of the reason it is better is that I am getting a bit better(?)

All that aside, she was a completely new model and spoke very little English; not much better than my French...

This meant we had to tell her / show her how we wanted her to pose on every shot. At the beginning of the shoot, it was impossible to get her to smile and show any teeth at all. The #1 shot was the first one of the sequence and I did something goofy, which brought out the smile, so I took it. It definitely shows her personality much better than when she strictly tried to "model". Somehow the current fashion seems to be something that we refer to as the "f**k you!" look, so that is what the girls try to deliver.

As for the crease in the arm; it's quite a bit less noticeable in the original, full-size image and I have dodged it a bit. This is part of the problem with the downsampling algorithms; they tend to accentuate some of these areas. That being said, highlights and shadows define shape and muscle structure, so the more I shoot the less heavy-handed I get in my retouching as these areas start looking retouched quite quickly.

[george013]

I think part of the reason it is better is that I am getting a bit better(?)

All that aside, she was a completely new model and spoke very little English; not much better than my French...

This meant we had to tell her / show her how we wanted her to pose on every shot. At the beginning of the shoot, it was impossible to get her to smile and show any teeth at all. The #1 shot was the first one of the sequence and I did something goofy, which brought out the smile, so I took it. It definitely shows her personality much better than when she strictly tried to "model". Somehow the current fashion seems to be something that we refer to as the "f**k you!" look, so that is what the girls try to deliver.

As for the crease in the arm; it's quite a bit less noticeable in the original, full-size image and I have dodged it a bit. This is part of the problem with the downsampling algorithms; they tend to accentuate some of these areas. That being said, highlights and shadows define shape and muscle structure, so the more I shoot the less heavy-handed I get in my retouching as these areas start looking retouched quite quickly.

Ah, you learned some jokes! You see the difference?
Take care of the shadows of the flash. To close to the wall.

George

[Manfred M]

Ah, you learned some jokes! You see the difference?
Take care of the shadows of the flash. To close to the wall.

George

1. The model is inexperienced so it was possible to make her smile. Trained models, sometimes it is impossible because they are trained to not smile.

2. The place where the shot was taken was a small niche and there was not enough light there to get a good shot. We tried a reflector but could not get enough light in, so I went to a very light amount of flash (FEC -1.7) as a fill light. I totally removed the shadow in retouching, but brought some of it back in. The image does not look right without it and in my view it has been minimized enough so that it does not distract.

In my (current) view, the photographer has to leave enough hints regarding the lighting in the shot, otherwise it starts to look fake.

[RBSinTo]

Manfred,
I agree that the first photo is the best of the three because the subject is very attractive and has a beautiful smile.
The lighting is well controlled except for the slight shadow that rims her head and back that I find bothersome.
The second shot also has lovely light, but the corner stones at the bottom right, as well as the background black and blue elements at the top right are unnecessary distractions, which could have been eliminated by slightly changing the subjects position, and simplifying the composition.
Robert

[Round Tuit]

The spots are light sources that are being reflected.



The shot was taken near the Sapper's Staircase on the south-west corner where Wellington St and Elgin St meet. If you look at her eye in Lytebox, you can make out some of the details, including the steps.

Thanks for the close-up of her eye. I can see now that she is wearing blue contact lenses and that the natural brown colour of her eye is what is showing through the clear centre of the lens.