Natural Beauty - C&C Welcomed

[Brownbear]

Hi Kim,

Just to say that I think these are all lovely, and that #3 is especially special. Perhaps my all time favourite image of yours.

[D L]

Kim, I like the concept you have stated in your opening post and I like the images.
Your model looks a lot more comfortable in #1 and #3 when she knew what to do with her hands.

[William W]

. . .Your model looks a lot more comfortable in #1 and #3 when she knew what to do with her hands.

Sage.

[dragon76]

Thanks for commenting Binnur. I agree on both counts :-)

The 1st two images had an ice light and a reflector.

Hi Kim, You did a great job with a relatively small constant light source. Just a few hot spots in #1 but just a tad. How close was the reflector to the model? Dean

[KimC]

Wow, thank you for the compliment Christina.

Hi Kim,

Just to say that I think these are all lovely, and that #3 is especially special. Perhaps my all time favourite image of yours.

[KimC]

Yes, someone outside of the forum also mentioned that to me. Last night I started reading "Picture Perfect Posing" and I think it's going to be really helpful.

Kim, I like the concept you have stated in your opening post and I like the images.
Your model looks a lot more comfortable in #1 and #3 when she knew what to do with her hands.

[KimC]

Thank you Dean. If I recall correctly, the reflector was about 2 feet away.

Hi Kim, You did a great job with a relatively small constant light source. Just a few hot spots in #1 but just a tad. How close was the reflector to the model? Dean

[DEAN01]

Kim,
Very nice series, but I like the third shot best. I hope to see more from this project.

[D L]

Yes, someone outside of the forum also mentioned that to me. Last night I started reading "Picture Perfect Posing" and I think it's going to be really helpful.

Roberto Valenzuela? His books are on my Amazon Wishlist. Let me know what you think of it. His photography is amazing.

[Mike Buckley]

Very well done, Kim! I'm not expert on portrait photography of any kind but I know what I like and why I like it. I like the first one best because it seems the most natural to me; the others appear a bit posed.

I look forward to seeing what Manfred has to elaborate about the backgrounds of the first two images, but I especially like the background in the first one. It gives me the feeling that the subject was perhaps relaxing on a porch when a friend wanted to capture that exact moment in time. On the other hand, if a different impression is to be conveyed by the photo, I can understand why a different background would be chosen.

As for the second one, I like it the least because the subject appears to be so strongly posed that she is acting though without the skills of an experienced actor. Its background also troubles me because of the horizontal piece of wood in the background that, unfortunately, is exactly behind the subject's head. The bright area of the top right corner of that background also pulls my eye away from the subject.

The third one works really well for me except that it looks overly posed. If the subject appeared to be in the process of stepping up onto the rail or down from it, I would like it a lot. Instead, everything else about the subject's body makes me feel as if she is only looking at her foot because, after all, her photo is being taken.

[Cantab]

Yes, someone outside of the forum also mentioned that to me. Last night I started reading "Picture Perfect Posing" and I think it's going to be really helpful.

Kim, thank you for starting this thread. My reaction is similar to Mike's (post #30). My favourite is the first photo. I've done very little portrait work except for children portraits when my nephew and niece were young a good many years ago. But I'm starting again and most of my subjects will be likely of a certain age (or more) so I'll look forward to more posts by you.

I had a look on Amazon at the book you refer to. The table of contents looks extremely useful. I'll look forward to reading your comments about the book -- or perhaps I'll just order a copy anyway!

[Mike Buckley]

About photographing people who are of "a certain age:" There is an excellent female photographer in South Africa who specializes in boudoir photography of women over 40.

[Manfred M]

I look forward to seeing what Manfred has to elaborate about the backgrounds of the first two images, but I especially like the background in the first one.

Mike - I like the first background as well, it is out of focus just enough to not distract the viewer, but complements the overall image. That being said, I prefer Bill's crop as it gets us a bit closer to the subject.

Image 2 - I find that the model is a bit too close to the background and this accentuates the horizontal line of planks that appear to run straight through her head. Had she posed some 6 or 10 ft / 2 - 3m in front of the backdrop and had Kim used a fairly shallow DoF, I think the shot would have worked better.

That being said, I don't love the way the model's hands look in the shot. Being a fairly low shot, the hands are exaggerated a bit and are just a bit to prominant for my taste. If you play around with the image in Lightbox and position it so that the hands are not in the image, the composition seems to be a lot stronger.



Image 3 - I really don't like the run of bright, featureless sky along the tops of the trees. It draws our eyes right past the subject. A bit higher view, with the camera at the subject's eye level and pointing down a bit fixes the background. A bit of quick work with the clone stamp to demonstrate what I am thinking here...

[Mike Buckley]

Agreed with almost everything you mentioned, Manfred. I didn't mention that I also prefer William's tightened crop, though I almost always prefer tight crops unless it's an environmental portrait.

As for the last one, the sky that you mentioned would usually bother me for the reason you mentioned but not in this case, at least it wouldn't bother me if the scene had conveyed the subject naturally climbing up to, over, or down from the fence. That's because the narrow line of sky complements the linear characteristic of the fence rails and also conveys a greater sense of depth than when the sky is eliminated. On the other hand, darkening that sky a bit might make it less distracting even for people such as yourself who find it objectionable.

[KimC]

Speak of the devil Mike, the 3rd image was reworked today. Also wanted to mention, this shot was not posed - she had no idea I was taking it. She was just playing around with her feet and the flowers. This rendition gives it a bit of a different feel...which I like. Interested in others thoughts.

Agreed with almost everything you mentioned, Manfred. I didn't mention that I also prefer William's tightened crop, though I almost always prefer tight crops unless it's an environmental portrait.

As for the last one, the sky that you mentioned would usually bother me for the reason you mentioned but not in this case, at least it wouldn't bother me if the scene had conveyed the subject naturally climbing up to, over, or down from the fence. That's because the narrow line of sky complements the linear characteristic of the fence rails and also conveys a greater sense of depth than when the sky is eliminated. On the other hand, darkening that sky a bit might make it less distracting even for people such as yourself who find it objectionable.

[Mike Buckley]

this shot was not posed - she had no idea I was taking it. She was just playing around with her feet and the flowers.

I think reviewing this shot in the context of the others understandably leads people to believe that it actually was posed.

Having said that, the most recently posted image indicates to me that the subject is looking at the flowers, not her foot, except that if anything she is making sure that she doesn't step on one of the flowers. That is such a huge difference between this image and the other one that is similar, which conveys to me that she is looking only at her foot. I think that's because the flowers stand out so much more in the most recent image than in the earlier version, so it makes sense that the subject is ensuring that she is avoiding them.

[selig1656]

Tyhe cropped pics were great , steong composition and technically well edited

[KimC]

Thank you Dean.

Kim,
Very nice series, but I like the third shot best. I hope to see more from this project.

[KimC]

Yes, you got it David! I have Picture Perfect Practice as well, which is geared towards weddings (something I am not interested in), but his style of writing and all the images he uses for illustration are helpful outside of weddings. What I really like about his books is that he illustrates everything he writes about; showing his not so great images along with the good ones. The books are filled with so much info, I see them as books you will constantly refer back to. Hope you get it.

Roberto Valenzuela? His books are on my Amazon Wishlist. Let me know what you think of it. His photography is amazing.

[KimC]

Thank you for commenting Mike. First one was slightly posed (we were having out sitting on the floor chatting and laughing), second was posed, and the third was a total candid, as mentioned below.

Very well done, Kim! I'm not expert on portrait photography of any kind but I know what I like and why I like it. I like the first one best because it seems the most natural to me; the others appear a bit posed.

Mike, I did have some problems with this one. I wanted to be taller when I was shooting this one -- we are the same height and I didn't consider that. I would have liked a step ladder; I was on my toes shooting this. In addition, space was a problem -- I saw the board behind her head, but couldn't find a position that would work, where the board wouldn't also be there. Thought I had a shallow enough DOF but I didn't. Should have opened it to F2.8 while I was shooting just to be sure, but didn't -- another lesson learned!

As for the second one, I like it the least because the subject appears to be so strongly posed that she is acting though without the skills of an experienced actor. Its background also troubles me because of the horizontal piece of wood in the background that, unfortunately, is exactly behind the subject's head. The bright area of the top right corner of that background also pulls my eye away from the subject.

As you know, shared a revised version below of the 3rd with you.

The third one works really well for me except that it looks overly posed. If the subject appeared to be in the process of stepping up onto the rail or down from it, I would like it a lot. Instead, everything else about the subject's body makes me feel as if she is only looking at her foot because, after all, her photo is being taken.