Some Photo Session Updates

[reval8r]

It's been a while since I've been around and done any posting. Things have been pretty hectic the past few months and I've done very little keeping up with forums. It's nice to see many of the gang still around and the forums here still thriving.

I would like to wish everyone here a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May this Holiday season be a true blessing for all of you.

I hope to offer some encouragement to those that are really serious about photography and hope to make a living from it. The work is out there if you're passionate about what you are doing. Things have really been looking up, I'm shooting tons of model portfolios for a local agency here, plus I have several events coming together for next year. With hard work and dedication, there's still money to be made in this wonderful art.

Here are a few images from recent sessions I would like to share. As always, critiques are welcome and I would be happy to answer any question you may have.

This first session is from a young lady that wanted a good clean head shoot for her modeling agency portfolio. These are few of the head shoots for April's portfolio.

1. Just a clean head shot.
http://www.astonishingportraits.com/picts/April_001.jpg

2. Glamour head shot. Light source is a large soft box 2 feet from subject, silver fill reflector under her chin.
http://www.astonishingportraits.com/picts/April_002.jpg

3. Head shot with a little creativity. Background is Thunder Gray seamless paper shot with a blue gel. Also, fan was used to put some movement into the hair.
http://www.astonishingportraits.com/picts/April_004.jpg

4. Not a head shot, but I really like the overall feeling of the image. Same setup as image three.
http://www.astonishingportraits.com/picts/April_003.jpg

The images from the next session are something we just winged at the last minute with no planning. Gee is the friend of a model that I worked with and she likes the work I do. This session was just bring a few things and we'll shoot.

1. Large soft box on left about 6 feet from model. Background again is seamless Thunder Gray with one light on background for separation.
http://www.astonishingportraits.com/picts/Gee_001.jpg

2. Gee is into yoga. She was doing some stretching, so I thought we would shoot a few yoga poses. Light setup is the same as image one.
http://www.astonishingportraits.com/picts/Gee_002.jpg

3. Changed the mood to a beauty / glamour image. Brought in the main to about 3 feet from model and added a silver reflector on her right side about 2 feet from her.
http://www.astonishingportraits.com/picts/Gee_003.jpg

4. This image and five are from the same setup as one & two. These images are actually the first images with the wardrobe she arrived with.
http://www.astonishingportraits.com/picts/Gee_004.jpg

5.
http://www.astonishingportraits.com/picts/Gee_005.jpg

6. Same basic setup as used through the whole shoot. I added a white cardboard box as a simple prop. The pose was to give a feeling of tension in the image.
http://www.astonishingportraits.com/picts/Gee_006.jpg

7. Here the main light was changed to the opposite side for this close up portrait. A hair light was added that is a stop lower than the main to keep detail in the hat, but not give it halo effect. A reflector was just below her to soften the shadow.
http://www.astonishingportraits.com/picts/Gee_007.jpg

Carly and her husband came for a portrait session. It was a couple days before Halloween and she had brought her vampire costume she was going to wear to a costume party. She wanted to know if I would take a few images of her in her costume. I thought if we were going to do this, we should make it look vampish. Her are a few of her vampire images.

1. The main light was straight in front of her and low for the ghoul light effect. Main light was a 16x16 inch soft box. A silver reflector was slightly behind her on each side to give some separation from the black background. The image is 1 stop over exposed on the skin tones to give it little wash out.
http://www.astonishingportraits.com/picts/Carly_001.jpg

2. For post processing, a B&W layer was placed one top of the image and fill was brought down to 80% to let a hint of color come through.
http://www.astonishingportraits.com/picts/Carly_002.jpg

3. This image we wanted to change the mood to more of a grieving widow and show more of the costume.
http://www.astonishingportraits.com/picts/Carly_003.jpg

[Kaye]

Larry, as I'm not at all into portraits, I am not really qualified to say much, but I think they are brilliant!!!
Love the colours/highlights in the one 4th from bottom (7.) & the red eyes in the vampire shot (2.)

[reval8r]

Thanks Kaye. I really like the images you have on your blogs. The flower images are really sweet and love the water reflections. Very nice work!

Larry

[Pat]

Really nice series, Larry. Love the light, esp. the "Vampire" lot. The only thing I might not fully appreciate is the posing in all but the first of April's headshots, and including the first shot of Gee . Imho, I think the "gazing wistfully offcamera" pose is overused and often just doesn't work. Perhaps it's a matter of impact. A good headshot with the model's eyes looking right down the barrell of the lens is that much more engaging to the viewer (and thus more likely to be noticeable/noteable).
A gaze offcam leaves a sense of incompletion. We're not getting the full story. A look offlens would be more readily acceptable if the object of the gaze was in frame (say a bunch of flowers, a cat, a bowl of jelly beans...)
But..a minor quibble. Technically, I can only envy your ability.
Merry Christmas.

[Pat]

Just looking back over the series again and noticed in Gee's "tension" shot she is again looking off-frame. I first thought, funny I didn't pick that up the first time I looked at it, but then realised that The reason I didn't was that it works in this case. There is the tension in the pose to which the gaze off-frame is an adjunct. Though not necessary to the ambiance (the tension is readily apparent in the structure of the bodily pose), it fits seemlessly.
The reason it fits seemlessly is, I believe, that the gaze off-frame bears it's own degree of tension separate from all else in the frame (fear of the unknown?).
So, good eye for off-frame gazing in this instance...:)

[reval8r]

Hi Pat,
Thanks for your opinions and taking the time to look.

Personally, my favorite portraits are classical and what I really love to shoot. I really love the classic portrait artist i.e. Monte Zucker, Don Blair, etc. However, most of my work comes from young ladies that have hopes of being a model and desire images that are more fashionable and artsy. Even though I always include a few of the classical portrait styles, they never sell. The images here are the actual ones the clients purchased.

I do agree for the most part about eye contact with the viewer. Full-face portraits the eyes must look straight down the barrel. But even in classic portraiture, with a 2/3 face you often will not see the eyes looking straight down the barrel. Probably 90% of classic portraiture has the subject in a 2/3 face with short lighting because it is flattering for almost everyone. With most 2/3 face portraits the eyes follow the nose line, they still engage the viewer but not straight down the barrel. Also, the classic profile always leaves the subject viewing out of the picture, leaving the viewer wondering what the subject is looking at.

Many times in art, the artist doesn't want us to have the full story. They want to leave a sense of mystery. What is it that the subject is looking at? What might they be thinking? Looking out of the picture can also give an image totally different mood, such as tension, disassociation, shyness, they are unaware of the viewer, etc. Fine art nudes almost always have disassociation with the viewer. Are my images here the best examples of this? Certainly not, they lack some components that would strengthen them so much more. Perhaps a window to look out would be a great illustration using the sense of mystery.
When we have eye contact with the subject, we are drawn to them; we have a sense of intimate contact. Looking out of the image the subject doesn’t want to be drawn in so intimately.

By no means do I mean to say your opinion is not valid or not respected. I honestly understand where you’re coming from and respect it. I mainly posted a counter opinion to help those that are new to photography a little insight on eye contact.

[reval8r]

Thanks Pat,
I was writing a post talking about what you just posted and different reasons why one may be looking out of the image. You explained tension perfectly!

Larry

[Pat]

Thanks for the insights, Larry. Nice to get a glimpse into the mind of an accomplished practitioner.

[mrdoug]

D U D E - #7 is a smokin' hot shot! Phenomenal use of light, pose, earth-tones.