Vincent Massey Park Model Shoot

[Manfred M]

I spent a lovely mid-Autumn afternoon at Vincent Massey Park in Ottawa working with three wonderful models.



1. Claudia on the Rideau River





2. Frederique against a background of trees where the leaves have turned yellow.





3. Jennifer was getting a bit chilly towards the end of the shoot.

[dje]

Manfred I'm no expert on portraits but these shots look stunning to me, particularly the third. When blown up to full size, the image quality is excellent. I'd be interested to hear if there were any lighting tricks.

The separation between model and background works extremely well I think. Is it "good bokeh" ? - I don't know but it works for me.

And yes the models themselves are quite stunning.

Dave

[rpcrowe]

Manfred, Great shots as always...

[mugge]

Bautifully executed. I think portraiture is the most difficult thing a photographer can do and yet we see people wandering about with their selfie sticks in their hands taking photographs of themselves. This is how a portrait should be done. Oh grumble grumble.

Cheers Ole

[Manfred M]

I'd be interested to hear if there were any lighting tricks.

The first one was shot with on-camera fill flash with a FEC of -2.0 and the flash set to TTL BL (Balanced Light); purely a "Gun &* Run" setup. I was shooting at flash synch speed (1/250th sec) using a wide open aperture (f/2.8). The other two shots were ambient light only in open shade, so nothing special there. The last shot was taken during "Golden Hour", so the lighting was nice and diffuse.

The separation between model and background works extremely well I think. Is it "good bokeh" ? - I don't know but it works for me.

A fast lens shot wide open with the background far behind the model to get shallow DoF is how I got the separation.

And yes the models themselves are quite stunning.

That I can agree with. Jennifer has been modeling for 6 years, Frederique for about 2 years. Claudia was fairly inexperienced. Working with experienced models makes it a lot easier to take strong images.

[Manfred M]

Bautifully executed.

Thank you!

I think portraiture is the most difficult thing a photographer can do

Cheers Ole[/QUOTE]

I think I'm getting the hang of portraiture. I personally find nudes are very challenging to do, although I guess they are portraits too.

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[FootLoose]

Nice set, Manfred. I think this is possibly the best you have posted here. The models appear friendly and relaxed - maybe they are more comfortable with their clothes on

I think the first shot could use a tiny bit more head room. It just feels a bit like she is sitting down in order to fit under the top frame.

The 3rd one has a problem with the background. There is a gap in the golden foliage which makes it look to me looks like she has rabbit ears popping out of her skull. Maybe it is part of the grey object behind her left shoulder which might be better cloned out. And the light grey patch near her right elbow might also be better cloned out.

All your efforts in this genre are paying off so kudos to you.

[Manfred M]

I think the first shot could use a tiny bit more head room. It just feels a bit like she is sitting down in order to fit under the top frame.

I agree, but this was in the background, so I had to be quite careful to keep distractions out of the top of the frame. Yes, the crop is tight, but in my view, not too tight. Standing on loose rocks in the water kept my framing a bit on the conservative side.