Portrait overexposed??

[Equilibrium8]

Hi
I think this is my first thread here after reading for a few months.
I did my 3rd model shoot a few weeks ago, and was reasonably pleased with the results, but I wonder how I could improve on the lighting and processing.

This was taken with the flash on the camera, and an umbrella reflecting the sunlight coming from behind the pillar.
Camera: 450D with kit lens
Tv mode with shutter at 1/20 and F4.5, ISO 100.




Rosie_NTU017 by ImagesByKenny, on Flickr

Any other critique would be welcome. Thanks! (As well as for any other photos on my flickr)

[Donald]

Hello there. Welcome to CiC. You don't tell us your proper name, which we tend to go with on here - makes things more friendly.

You can edit your profile and insert it under 'Real Name'. I hope you enjoy being part of CiC.

As for your image, I'll let people who know more about portraiture than I do come in with comments and suggestions. But I am just starting to learn about flash and the one message I think I've learned so far is that the worst place to put the flash is on the camera. All the advice is to get it off the camera either via the use of cords or electronic/radio triggers.

[jiro]

The size of the image is too small to comment if it is really overexposed. Normally, when we say an image is overexposed, the brightest area inside the frame loses any kind of detail or texture in it. In this case, the brightest area seems to be the right side of her upper chest. Looking at it I would suspect that it was indeed overexposed. Another interesting aspect of the image is that the natural light seems to come from the right side of the girl and yet the brighter side of the brick wall is on the left. I am not a portrait photographer too, but I would love to recommend an off-center positioning of the girl for a good composition.

[Equilibrium8]

Hello there. Welcome to CiC. You don't tell us your proper name, which we tend to go with on here - makes things more friendly.

You can edit your profile and insert it under 'Real Name'. I hope you enjoy being part of CiC.

As for your image, I'll let people who know more about portraiture than I do come in with comments and suggestions. But I am just starting to learn about flash and the one message I think I've learned so far is that the worst place to put the flash is on the camera. All the advice is to get it off the camera either via the use of cords or electronic/radio triggers.

Hi, thanks, I'll go and change that.
Sure, I try keep the flash off camera if I can. Just in this particular situation, I thought it would be best to use the light stand to reflect the sunlight. In retrospect, I probably could have handheld the flash on the other side for more even lighting.

[Equilibrium8]

The size of the image is too small to comment if it is really overexposed. Normally, when we say an image is overexposed, the brightest area inside the frame loses any kind of detail or texture in it. In this case, the brightest area seems to be the right side of her upper chest. Looking at it I would suspect that it was indeed overexposed. Another interesting aspect of the image is that the natural light seems to come from the right side of the girl and yet the brighter side of the brick wall is on the left. I am not a portrait photographer too, but I would love to recommend an off-center positioning of the girl for a good composition.

Thanks!
I used the standard Flickr link sizes, and chose the first one under 700 (Maybe I confused forums, is 700 maximum upload size here?)
Interesting, I didn't pick up on the strangeness of left wall being brighter. It must have been the angle of the umbrella.
Do you think off-center would be better than just cropping it tighter?

Any advice for further photoshopping?

[Chesil]

The face is clearly not over exposed. I'm surprised that you used flash as I don't see the catchlights in her eyes that I would expect. Overall, there is something a little unnatural about her eyes. I'd also be interested in seeing the EXIF data which has been removed from the image file.

[Equilibrium8]

The face is clearly not over exposed. I'm surprised that you used flash as I don't see the catchlights in her eyes that I would expect. Overall, there is something a little unnatural about her eyes. I'd also be interested in seeing the EXIF data which has been removed from the image file.

That's a new term for me. What do you mean by catchlights?
EXIF removed?? Now I am confused. I thought the only way EXIF gets removed, is if you remove it manually in PS...which I didn't do.. Here is the complete EXIF data set:
File Name Rosie_NTU017.JPG
Camera Model Canon EOS 450D
Firmware Firmware Version 1.1.0
Shooting Date/Time 2011/03/20 03:50:14 PM
Owner's Name
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/20
Av( Aperture Value ) 4.5
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation 0
ISO Speed 100
Lens EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
Focal Length 36.0mm
Image Size 3277x2820
Image Quality Fine
Flash On
Flash Type Manual Flash
Flash Exposure Compensation 0
Shutter curtain sync 1st-curtain sync
White Balance Mode Custom
AF Mode One-Shot AF
Picture Style Standard
Sharpness 3
Contrast 0
Saturation 0
Color tone 0
Color Space sRGB v1.31 (Canon)
Long exposure noise reduction 0:Off
High ISO speed noise reduction 1:On
Highlight tone priority 0isable
File Size 5753KB
Drive Mode Single shooting
Camera Body No. 1980531643
Comment

I remember seeing somewhere that Flickr shows EXIF data, but I cannot figure out where to find it!