Portraits - Vega - 12B

sqwall · Joined: 24 Apr 2007 Posts: 195 Location: Varna, Bulgaria

Here are some portraits I done. The set is improvised studio in one of my apartment room. The model Smile

my precious jewel. Done at F/4. Body: Pentax K100D.

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

Wow! Excellent!

LucisPictor · Expire: 2013-12-03

Both are very nice!
But being a b&w fan I prefer the first one. Wink

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

Hello sqwall,
I hope you will accept a little constructive criticism. Based, of course, on my opinion (which means that it's not necessarily true).

I like the first shot because the big dark eyes of your fianc�e become the centre of interest of a B&W picture, therefore the whole is harmonious and the artistic choice makes sense. In the case of this first image, the windy hair fall in a good position, hiding in part the mouth, which increases the sense of mystery of the whole image.
Having this said, I have to remark that the shadow of the nose is quite heavy, and becomes also distracting, competing with the eyes and accentuating a part of the body that (in this case, at least) would be better diminished, or smoothed out. To fix this, a simple reflector panel will work. I used to use white polystyrol panels that I got from the packing of the boxes. They work very well for portraits.

The second shot is more problematic in my opinion. First, the pose is not as good as the first one. Here it feels a bit unnatural, and in my opinion diminishes the undoubted beauty of your model, instead of enhancing it.
About the lighting, this very strong directional light can work (but within some limits) in B&W, but it feels very out of place for a colour closeup portrait. The heavy shadows are hiding important details, such as the eyeballs, and are enhancing the face signs, which are very few given the young age of the model, but still, they would be better not given importance.
The windy hair in this second image fall onto an improper place: the eyes. This, in most occasions (including this one in my opinion) work against the image, not in favor.
Another thing, in this image it seems that you have used a golden reflector panel, or, a warm tungsten light, to fill up the shadows. The idea was good, but the placement is not, because it leaves out a significant portion of the shadows. It should have been placed more towards the front of the face, to fill the heavy shadow of the nose and mouth. Plus, the obvious difference in temperature of the two lights (cold,probably beyond neutral, on the right, and much warm on the left) creates a "split" of the face which acts against the valorisation of the beauty of the model. A white reflector panel would have been better in my opinion (or, a main tunsten warm light and a golden reflector, whatever you prefer)
As final remark, I think that your fianc�e has too much powder on the face. I am not in favor of makeup because the powder on the face kills the natural shininess of the human flesh and mostly, it blocks the light, which would have gotten inside the flesh creating what is called "sub-surface scattering", a physical light phenomenon that makes the skin look soft and illuminated from the inside. The powder makes a barrier, and the face becomes a totally reflective material, which is not in nature.

I hope that you can take this criticism for what it is, that is, a constructive way to offer some advice for improving these two images. Smile

lulalake · Expire: 2011-11-18

Very nice shots and like Carsten, my heart lives somewhere between Zone 6 and Zone 8 so the first is my fave also.

Jules

Rob Leslie · Joined: 20 Mar 2007 Posts: 1103 Location: UK Swindon

Very dramatic. The BW looks almost evil. Nice one

TDN · Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 321 Location: Belgium

wow, that looks like a nice lens!
sharp in all the right spots!

I like the b&w best aswell

Tom

sqwall · Joined: 24 Apr 2007 Posts: 195 Location: Varna, Bulgaria

Katastrofo · Expire: 2013-11-19

Nonetheless, they are beautiful shots, sqwall! But easy, the subject
is beautiful! Smile

Bill