New Portraits - 8 yr old girl - please critique

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

01/23/2005 12:00:49 AM · #1

I'm working on an in-home studio. These are a couple of images from tonight's photo shoot. This is my niece who just turned 8 years old. She was a very willing guinea pig for my learning experience...

How am I doing? Any suggestions for improvement?

peecee

Canon EOS-5D

01/23/2005 12:07:35 AM · #2

I am not really qualified to critique these David but...
A very pretty young lady and I feel you have captured that wonderfully,a suggestion on the 3rd and 4th, maybe a little too close to the background, it is showing a little too much detail of the material.The lighting seems ok but I am sure someone else can comment better than me on this.
Overall, a lovely set of pics,
Paul.

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

01/23/2005 12:24:50 AM · #3

Originally posted by peecee:

a suggestion on the 3rd and 4th, maybe a little too close to the background, it is showing a little too much detail of the material.

Thanks Paul. The studio is a bit small (not too much front to back distance available) but I think I could still get a bit more distance to the background than what I had on those two pictures. Thanks for the feedback.

tjandjwsmith

Nikon D800

01/23/2005 12:44:40 AM · #4

Looks like you had a great evening! I agree with the above comment. General rule of thumb - subjects should be at least five feet away from the background. Then when you shoot at F8, you'll have a nice soft background. Also, having the subject too close to the background will cast a shadow onto the background whereas if you pull away a little, your backlight can illuminate the background making it look like that light source is the same as what is lighting the subject. Additional suggestion...you might put a white card on her lap for the 3rd shot which will fill in under her chin and off to the right/front kicking in at an angle to soften the hard shadow cast by her fingers on her face. Good job, though! Isn't it fun!?!

Message edited by author 2005-01-23 00:47:35.

KevinRiggs

Canon EOS-1Ds

01/23/2005 05:06:56 AM · #5

David,

Nice set. She looks like a great, young subject and some solid work. The first two shots appear to suffer (to me) from one treatment; namely, the skin looks just a touch overdone. Its not as noticeable in the desaturated treatment as in the color version but I think the composition and lighting in those shots is fine. She has a lovely pose where she's lokoing away from the camera and her eyes almost appear closed. Even with the angle of her gaze she didn't get shadows under her eyes, nose or chin. Did you use any reflector with that shot? Have you tried that shot as a total B&W? I'd say dial it back just a hair on the softening treatment for the skin.

In the third shot I see a few nits that bug me but the smile and how you captured the face make this a winning shot for any family members. I think Tammy has already mentioned the shadow on the backdrop (too close to backdrop or not enough fill light) and the shadow around the chin of your neice (reflector for fill would soften that shadow) and I think those are definitely some things that are easy for you to mitigate next time you get this willing little participant to sit for you. The third thing that gets me is her left hand. Admittedly this is one of those that I find the more I look at photos the more I see little things like this and if I was just going to buy a photo from someone I probably would never notice. The angle of her left hand down at her wrist looks like its almost painful as its turned down so sharply at the end. A little less light on the left forearm or perhaps turning that hand in under the bouquet instead of having it sit atop the stems (my guess as to what she's doing with it at the time) would allow her arm to disappear behind the bouquet instead of having this look and I think that would be acceptable here. Again, this is something that I find people who are buying photos don't tend to notice unless that just sit and stare at a photo for a long time; they normally just see how wonderfully you've captured her eyes and her cute little smile and they are satisfied. Like I said, I like the shot and these are just little nits that I notice.

Finally the last shot is fantastic. There are two little spots I notice but the photo is wonderful. It seems to capture some vibrance of her enthusiasm (or else she's a trooper for projecting so well). The bow in the hair (what I think I see) is just a touch distracting because its a little difficult to tell what it is on first glance (for me); perhaps others know it immediately. The missing tooth in the smile is precious as is the smile; it just seems to encompass her whole face and feels genuine. That alone makes this a great capture. As for the two spots I saw one sits just over her lip on the right side of her face. Its like a bright reflection. You could just clone that out a little at a time. The second spot is much smaller. She appears to have a spot of nail polish on one fingernail on her left hand. Just a quick clone over that so it looks like the others would remove that little item. Again, great capture especially in getting that expression. The lighting gets a little bright over and under the right eye but it doesn't seem to go over the edge into blown details. What light and modifiers did you use with that setup?

Very good session that is made all the better by knowing that she's 8. Working with little ones can be challenging to me depending on their personalities and what's happening around but it looks like you really connected with her and you got some looks in those shots that show her looking happy and engaged.

Congrats,

Kev

ianmill

Canon EOS-10D

01/23/2005 07:05:59 AM · #6

The girl is very pretty, but I prefer eye contact.

In the B/W shot, the coloured flowers detract from the subject.

In other shots, the bunch of flowers is a touch big.

In the final shot, the background should be out of focus - a wider aperture and/or moving the sitter further away from the background.

I do like the shots - these are my thoughts.

Ian

01/23/2005 09:43:23 AM · #7

Originally posted by tjandjwsmith:

you might put a white card on her lap for the 3rd shot which will fill in under her chin and off to the right/front kicking in at an angle to soften the hard shadow cast by her fingers on her face.

Great idea! I have a reflector but it's 3 feet in diameter. I could never have even fit it in there. A white card would have been perfect.

Originally posted by tjandjwsmith:

Good job, though! Isn't it fun!?!

It was fun... I think it will be even better as I get more comfortable with knowing what to do in the studio. (studio light placement, posing, etc)

Thanks for your advice!