Portrait critique

[Dave Clee]

Well after hating all of my daughters school pics the last 2 years I decided to do it myself..I invested in a cheap Opus Kit. Not alot of room in my basement but enough to get the job done..

I am by no means a studio pro thats for sure, but after about 1/2 hour of shooting, this one seems to be my favourite. A small bit of PP but nothing to crazy...

I am quite happy with the results as I just wanted a decent school photo..

But feel free to critique....This is my first attempt and I would love to hear some pointers that would make me better.

http://dclee.smugmug.com/photos/233450002-XL.jpg

[Flyinggina]

What a wonderful smile. The photo looks great to me - much better than most school pix I've seen. I think you deserve to be pleased.

Virginia

[pyrtek]

Well if she isn't just the cutest lil thing ever. :)

The only thing I wish for in this photo is eye contact. Technically, I think you did
a fine job, especially considering that this is your first attempt at such a portrait.

[Scott_Quier]

She is such a sweetie (? can I, as a guy, actually use that word and retain my status as a guy?) Anyway, very nice photo. I'm not sure she's looking into the camera. It appears to me that she is looking just to camera right. But, wow, that smile! Gotta love it and I KNOW this is better than what you can get from school photographer (or the studio the school district has contracted with). Nice job, indeed!

[Carloskbco]

I'm with you in regards to the school pics, my daughter's are not even in focus !

Are those tungsten lights you are talking about?

I really like the skin tone...and of course your kid's smile !

:D

Carlos

[jdfaith]

Surely better than the school pics my girls had. Great job and wonderful model.

John

[Dave Clee]

Thanks for the comments..I'll try a few more with her looking at the camera as well.
I realise that the school photography service has alot of kids to photograph, but I cant bring myself to buy or support the process when I see that no time has been taken with them.
Which is why a spent a few $$ a bought the flash equipment. Problem now is I need a bigger basement :)

cheers

Dave

[Owen]

I would have moved the camera down lower and angled her just a bit...

[craftgirl]

she is lovely and you did a fantastic job.....i have the same complaints about my sons pictures....just terrible. i have also begun practicing portraiture for that exact reason....your shot is worth much more than they could ever offer!

[Dave Clee]

Move the camera down ?? I was a bit concerned about having it look like
an up the nostril kinda of shot...But worth a try..
Also when say angled, you mean have her sit turned to the side a bit and then have her look back at the camera ?

Any examples ??

Cheers

Dave

I would have moved the camera down lower and angled her just a bit...

[Cantfeelmyfingers]

The lighting, expression, skin tones, all that seems very nice; definately give her a bit of a "c" tilt, turn her shoulders just a tad, so she's not so square with the camera; prop her feet up on some boxes and get her to lean over a bit more.. and do a head & shoulders of her in that position.
I'm going to be a little bit picky with details, the stray hairs resting on her shoulders and around her ears- I definately understand small children aren't always as 'cooperative' as we'd like! But I wouldn't say those nit picks would destroy the photo.
I'm definately not one that supports the 30 seconds the stereo-typical school photographer takes with a kid, and ends up with something resembling more of a mugshot rather than a portrait..
I'm currently working for a company who is (thank God) changing that, getting a little more personality in school day photographs and getting to people to oogle over their children's portraits; and i've got to say I'm proud of what I do, so don't slam ALL school photographers- Yes we do have a million kids to do in schools that are VERY unorganized, but if I may say I do take some lovely portraits (NOT MUGSHOTS!!) of children! =) Overall very cute!

Here's an example of the 'c' tilt:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2181/2063530167_d3a440ef08.jpg

P.S. definately AVOID up the nostrils; for school day type portraits, keep your camera at or above the childs' head.

[Dave Clee]

Excellent feedback, much appreciated...and good to hear that someone out there is trying to make a difference in the school photography world..The way I see it, if the photos were even half decent we would of been more than happy to purchase the set.

Thanks again

Dave

The lighting, expression, skin tones, all that seems very nice; definately give her a bit of a "c" tilt, turn her shoulders just a tad, so she's not so square with the camera; prop her feet up on some boxes and get her to lean over a bit more.. and do a head & shoulders of her in that position.
I'm going to be a little bit picky with details, the stray hairs resting on her shoulders and around her ears- I definately understand small children aren't always as 'cooperative' as we'd like! But I wouldn't say those nit picks would destroy the photo.
I'm definately not one that supports the 30 seconds the stereo-typical school photographer takes with a kid, and ends up with something resembling more of a mugshot rather than a portrait..
I'm currently working for a company who is (thank God) changing that, getting a little more personality in school day photographs and getting to people to oogle over their children's portraits; and i've got to say I'm proud of what I do, so don't slam ALL school photographers- Yes we do have a million kids to do in schools that are VERY unorganized, but if I may say I do take some lovely portraits (NOT MUGSHOTS!!) of children! =) Overall very cute!

[Cantfeelmyfingers]

Excellent feedback, much appreciated...and good to hear that someone out there is trying to make a difference in the school photography world..The way I see it, if the photos were even half decent we would of been more than happy to purchase the set.

Thanks again

Dave

lol, why thank you!
I definately agree; I wouldn't be purchasing out of focus mugshots anytime soon either!

[gefillmore]

a cutie!-

looking forward to some more shots!-

[kombizz]

great portrait with good soft lighting and sharp details

[Icebear]

Unnecessarily spoiled by a wrinkled backdrop.

[joshhuntnm]

looks great. How did you lighting?

[Dave Clee]

Haha, I was wondering when someone would mention this. You should see the wrinkles before I Gblurred them out in PS..I just bought the backdrop last weekend. Fresh outta the bag to the wall. Other than iron the damn thing whats the secret ?? By some sort of handheld steamer ? Unfortunately this is hanging in my impromptu studio / basement and it is not on a roller..
The wrinkles were bugging me as well which is why I spent a bit of PS time to reduce them.
Any of you studio guys have any tips for keeping your backgrounds pristine and wrinkle free ??

Cheers

Dave


Unnecessarily spoiled by a wrinkled backdrop.

[Dave Clee]

Lighting was pretty simple. I have a cheap OPUS kit.

Softbox on her left side, Flash firing into an umbrella on her right side.

Directly behind her is another flash angled up towards the backdrop. This flash was set to lowest power.

Camera was wired into main flash which fired the rest of them.

Camera equipment

Nikon D200, 17-55 2.8 lens, f8, 1/125th shutter, ISO 100

Cheers

Dave

looks great. How did you lighting?

[time2smile]

:thumb Nice pic keep clicking.:thumb

Heard of a trick. I havent tried yet, is to use a slow shutter and have someone wave the backdrop. The backdrop blurs and the wrinkles disappear.

[Cuties02q]

Very Nice...She is a cutie =)

[kombizz]

lovely portrait with good soft lighting

[AaronNelson]

jeez dave, for your first time? that is beyond very good.

[Arkayem]

I am quite happy with the results as I just wanted a decent school photo..

But feel free to critique....This is my first attempt and I would love to hear some pointers that would make me better.


Dave,

That is a very nice picture of a beautiful young lady! Far better than most school pics!

One thing that might improve it slightly would be to have her turn slightly to her left or right, so she is not facing directly towards the camera. Then have her turn her face part of the way back toward the camera. Then have her turn her eyes the rest of the way to look directly into the lens. She looks like she is looking slightly up and to the photographer's right in this pic.

With her head perfectly level, like you have it, she looks like a cute little girl, which is probably what you want for a school pic.

But, for other effects, like to make her appear a little more glamorous, have her tilt her head just a tiny bit toward her shoulder nearest the camera. That's called a feminine pose. Tilt the head slightly away from the nearest shoulder and you get confidence or mischievousness depending on the facial expression.

Then, you could play with the light a little. It looks like you may have used a background light - that's good. Add another light (or flash) and place the main and fill a couple of feet to the right and left of the camera. Then, adjust the main light to be brighter than the fill. This will create slight soft shadows on the face that give depth to the facial features.

[Dave Clee]

Exactly the advice I am looking for as I prepare for my next set of shots.

Much appreciated.

Cheers

Dave

Dave,

That is a very nice picture of a beautiful young lady! Far better than most school pics!

One thing that might improve it slightly would be to have her turn slightly to her left or right, so she is not facing directly towards the camera. Then have her turn her face part of the way back toward the camera. Then have her turn her eyes the rest of the way to look directly into the lens. She looks like she is looking slightly up and to the photographer's right in this pic.

With her head perfectly level, like you have it, she looks like a cute little girl, which is probably what you want for a school pic.

But, for other effects, like to make her appear a little more glamorous, have her tilt her head just a tiny bit toward her shoulder nearest the camera. That's called a feminine pose. Tilt the head slightly away from the nearest shoulder and you get confidence or mischievousness depending on the facial expression.

Then, you could play with the light a little. It looks like you may have used a background light - that's good. Add another light (or flash) and place the main and fill a couple of feet to the right and left of the camera. Then, adjust the main light to be brighter than the fill. This will create slight soft shadows on the face that give depth to the facial features.

[dogwood]

Heard of a trick. I havent tried yet, is to use a slow shutter and have someone wave the backdrop. The backdrop blurs and the wrinkles disappear.

Interesting idea! The photo is fantastic-- really nice. The background is the only thing I don't care for, but I'm a seamless paper type of guy. Other than that, you nailed the lighting and the expression and all that is great. Nice job.

[pyrtek]

Heard of a trick. I havent tried yet, is to use a slow shutter and have someone wave the backdrop. The backdrop blurs and the wrinkles disappear.

But then the subject will blur as well.

[Dave Clee]

I agree its pretty hard to get these little ones to stay still, so using a slower shutter speed would reduce the chances of getting a sharp photo.

It was easy enough to select the color range of the background in CS2 and pull it out to its own layer. From there you can do a number of blurs to reduce the wrinkles.

Cheers

Dave
But then the subject will blur as well.