First attempt at a "Glamour Photo" how did I do?

[Sean]

Comments appreciated.

1/200
f5.6
100 mm
Side-lit subject (off camera flash)
Reflector on other side



Thanks for your advice,

Sean

[slightlyimperfect]

IMO (coming from a girl)..something about her hair across her forehead makes me want to push it out of her face. Other then that for me it was a nice shot!

Robin

[tirediron]

Hmmm... I like the overall image, but I agree with the above coment about the hair over the forehead. Additionally, I'm not fussed about the desaturated look in this image, not the strong highlights/deep shadows. I'd prefer to see the highlights about a half-stop darker and the shadows a half-stop lighter.

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.

~John

[Marko]

I'm not crazy about this shot especially as a first attempt. A bit too much neck and nostrils and hair on the forehead for my taste. Her face and especially her right eye are too shadowed though overall the exposure looks decent.

I can see the creativity here and I always applaud creativity - but a first attempt should not be creative. It should be nuts and bolts stuff.
I may be assuming stuff here so I should ask. Have you practiced other glamour lighting?

[Sean]

Thanks for all of the feedback - exactly what I was looking for.

Looks like I'll have to convince my "model" (daughter) to humour me with a re-shoot.

Some comments on the feedback:
- I took several shots of this pose. Wow it was difficult to get everything to line up - focus, lighting, expression, exposure, etc., The model was swinging her head in order to get the effect, and while it was fun, it was quite tricky. (One particular shot was fabulous, but out of focus - oh the pain)

Marko your comment was interesting.

Traditionally, I've been a landscape photographer, and your lighting podcast motivated me to try portrait photography (thank-you).

Don't have the budget for a lighting system, so I did what any self-respecting cheap photographer would do.
- I went to Walmart and bought a roll of fabric
- I found an inexpensive remote flash trigger and reflector on e-bay

It was my first day, so as you'd expect, I really learned a lot. We started with the traditional head shots, the obligatory photo for Xmas cards, and then we tried to be creative. It turned into a really fun afternoon. Highly recommend it - kept the kids off MSN for a little while, and exercised their (and my) creativity.

In any case, to your point Marko, I don't know what you mean by "nuts and bolts stuff", sounds like I'm going to have to do some reading. (maybe a great topic idea for a podcast - beginner - intermediate progression of photos)

With respect to lighting, I mounted my camera flash on a tripod (remote triggered), and mounted the reflector on a music stand and moved the whole setup around for each of the shots. I found that the setup was pretty fragile - move the flash a little bit and the exposure changed, angle the reflector slightly and the shadows deepen. The flash isn't as strong as a proper portrait light, so the reflector needed to be very close to the subject to reduce the shadows. I was able to take some of the shots with much more even lighting across the face, but it really takes careful setup and practice.

Suggestions for "other lighting" are always appreciated.

Thanks again for all of the useful comments

Sean

[slightlyimperfect]

I have never tried this ....that being said. Maybe you could try using a fan instead of her flinging her hair and head back. I think that may make it easy to get clear well balanced shots. Just a idea.

Robin

[Sean]

I think there is a reason fan shots often have sunglasses on.

My models squinted too much when I turned the fan on.

Perhaps if the "model" wasn't a complaining daughter, then a fan may have worked.

[Marko]

Hi Sean,

'Traditional' glamour makes the model look glamorous which is normally done by filling the face with soft flatter light. An easy setup is one light (softened) right in front of the model. Or 2 lights (placed at the left and right - being careful of the overlap and crosslighting) at 45 degrees to the model

Don't get wrong, as I said before I like the creativity in your shot but for me it looks more like an edgy portrait than a glamour shot....and since you titled this thread First attempt at a "Glamour Photo" how did I do?....I just had to throw in my

Marko

[Ben H]

I agree with Marko. You need to bathe the model in beauteous soft light really...

[mindforge]

Some might laugh at me but my first glamor shots were done using lots of flashlights. I have a son that absolutely loves flashlights so we got a lot of them, they are warm and have a little bit of a yellow tint but they work pretty well. They are about a buck a piece. Get a white piece of opaque packing material - the kind they wrap around electronics. Point a few flash lights into that and you are done. Get the flash on the other side and a couple more $1 flashlights into the background... it is a little ghetto but it works for those first practice shots... do not invite a professional model and then start dumping out a dozen Spongebob flashlights... after I did this I got a halogen construction lamp and it works much better. Now I have four of those, it's hot but hey, they really work well especially on a budget. You'll never beat the quality of good off camera flashes though, no matter how hard you try with lamps... make sure you get those white halogen bulbs.