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... and I was paid in wine. Ha ha ha.

My wife's co-worker & friend needs a headshot to submit to her publisher for a book she's writing (about marmalade). I was doing it for free to help out and gain experience. But they gave me a bottle of wine as thanx. ... So does that mean I was indeed paid and need to report that to the IRS?

Some of what I consider the better of the photos and not locked-down are here: Favorites - m8ofoto's Photos
All processed in Lightroom from RAWs. Upon request, the "Clarity" slider was down at -33 thru -40 for all of them.

A few of those I & friends like best...

(BTW, this may not be in the "critique" sub-section, but please, feel free to comment pro or con, and give tips when you have'm!)



K-5 w/flash and Sigma 70-200/2.8 (the HSM one sans OS) @ f/6.3, 1/180s, ISO 100


K-5 w/flash and Voigtlander 125/2.5 @ f/3.5, 1/50s, ISO80

My favorite:

K-5 w/flash and Sigma 300/2.8 @ f/4. 1/180s, ISO 640

And I'm quite amazed, but I think I like the bokeh of my Sigma 300mm f/2.8 EX DG than my Voigtlander 125mm f/2.5 APO Macro Lanthar! Note the one above, with the next being w/the Voigtlander with subject filling the frame about the same, but of course a wider FOV of the background:


K-5 w/flash and Voigtlander 125/2.5 @ f/3.2, 1/100s, ISO320

But then again, get a bit closer to the subject using the Voigtlander to make a larger ratio of distance of lent-to-subject to vs. lens-to-background, and you get some very pleasant mush:


K-5 w/flash and Voigtlander 125/2.5 @ f/3.2, 1/100, ISO640

[Schraubstock]

(BTW, this may not be in the "critique" sub-section, but please, feel free to comment pro or con, and give tips when you have'm!)

Hi

If you used a flash I can't see why the skin colour is wrong. Which means you added the ever so popular yellow in PP. Skin colours for these sort of publications are always very important unless the publisher gave you a specific brief to supply them with a yellow cast. I am from the old school and judge shots like yours how well the skin colours are recorded.

In your case I suspect the publisher took what you gave them and they were happy with it, you have the bottle of wine for proof.

If you are planning to do some more work like this make it your task to hand over photos with correct skin tones. You will never be wrong with this. If changes are required to suit a special theme the publisher can do this.

They are all well taken photos and should suit the publisher very well. Have a look at my corrections and tell me what you think. I hope you have a calibrated monitor.

Greetings

[Cee Cee]

#1 is a great shot I like this one the most, I don't mind the colour at all. Schraubstock's corrected shots make her look like she's been attacked by a vampire and drained of blood IMHO. Maybe its my monitor. I've always thought with portraits there was a bit of leigh way as far as presenting the subject in the best light (no pun intended) With soft focus & filters etc. not to mention whats available in PP.

[Schraubstock]

#1 is a great shot I like this one the most, I don't mind the colour at all. Schraubstock's corrected shots make her look like she's been attacked by a vampire and drained of blood IMHO. Maybe its my monitor. I've always thought with portraits there was a bit of leigh way as far as presenting the subject in the best light (no pun intended) With soft focus & filters etc. not to mention whats available in PP.

Attacked by this creature, they are vicious blood suckers

Greetings

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Last edited by Schraubstock; 03-07-2012 at 09:47 PM.

[Cee Cee]

lol what the.... I don't even know what sort of creature that is, that can't be for real.... is it !

cheers
CC.

[joe.penn]

Attacked by this creature, they are vicious blood suckers

What in the h**l is that?

[Rupert]

I don't always agree about the yellow tint...I often like a little of it...sometimes a lot, but I fully agree with Schraubstock on these, his versions look much more natural to me. However, it is always just a matter of taste. Sometimes I have to do both versions of a shot to realize I have gone too far with the yellow.

The Creature? I've seen the Devil's Squirrel's daddy once.....I'm pretty sure that's him!

Best Regards!

[m8o]

Thanx very much for the discussion & comments on my choice of WB. When I used the WB picker in Lightroom on different points of her sterling white shirt, the images ended-up way too cold. So I had to be subjective on my choice of WB levels.

Very interestingly I published the near 100 photos to my gallery on SmugMug for our friend's review, and a good many of them looked as Schraubstock illustrated. I then altered the WB adding a tick or two more yellow plus a tick more magenta to make them warmer to probably more than 1/2 of them, and re-published. The images in question are either included in that set or the ones to which I was trying to match all the others.

While there isn't necessarily a quorum, there is somewhat of a leaning majority that leads me to think I guess I went too far.

[LaurenOE]

My $.02

A flattering picture of a woman;

1) Don't make her forehead appear too large.
2) Try and use lighting that dimishes her wrinkles.
3) Don't make her nostrils large.
4) Shoot from a higher angle to make sure her neck is smooth and her jawline sharper.
5) Make sure her makeup is correct and compliments her wardrobe.
6) If her teeth are not white compensate in post of take a different kind of smile picture.

[Schraubstock]

What in the h**l is that?

A clone of Rupert's sidekick Otis gone wrong

Greetings

[JohnBee]

My $.02

A flattering picture of a woman;

1) Don't make her forehead appear too large.
2) Try and use lighting that dimishes her wrinkles.
3) Don't make her nostrils large.
4) Shoot from a higher angle to make sure her neck is smooth and her jawline sharper.
5) Make sure her makeup is correct and compliments her wardrobe.
6) If her teeth are not white compensate in post of take a different kind of smile picture.

Excellent tips!

I think many of these factors would have been addressed by raising your line of sight at or around the bridge of the nose. The forehead on the other hand might of required a different hairstyle(which isn't always possible).

I know it's much harder outside due to lighting, but... I start each sets with a kolor correct card(held by the subject) to calibrate my scenes afterward. This helps nail skin tones and provides me with a far better working platform than trying to WB scenes with the camera etc.

[Schraubstock]

I know it's much harder outside due to lighting, but... I start each sets with a kolor correct card(held by the subject) to calibrate my scenes afterward. This helps nail skin tones and provides me with a far better working platform than trying to WB scenes with the camera etc.

Hi
This is indeed the correct method to do these sort of shots, for a publication in particular. In situations such as m8o was confronted with I would always get the subject hold a grey card first for a reference shot. (18% grey) When you shoot RAW from then on you don't even have to think about WB. And when light and/ore location changes do a new grey card reference shot.

When commissioned to shoot images for a publication (and I have done those) I always ask the customer for a brief. It is important to understand that in the end when any of the images are going out to the public that they will be seen by a great number of people. So if you as the photographer put a personal spin on your images, like warming or cooling or deep shadow or whatever, it is only your way of seeing it and even if you only overdo it by a little bit, (and what is a little bit?) the general public may/will in fact not agree with you perception and don't like it. Worse even you are the last to know and your customer may not give you another order.

So for this sort of photography in my opinion and experience it will always be best to give personal artistry a miss. Again ask what the pictures are to convey and work accordingly. Your "order giver" will tell you.

Now carry on, photography is a fascinating activity. I have only been in it for some 50 years, do I know it all? - No Sir/Madam (Got to be politically correct)

Greetings

[Schraubstock]

...but I fully agree with Schraubstock on these

Hi
Thanks Rupert

Crikey, I never thought I would ever hear this from you. After all you are a self confessed yellow lover. I am so pleased though.

Has my constant pestering softened (pun intended) your ailment?
(Sorry I have done it again, and I promised not to)

Greetings

[m8o]

Live & Learn. I've wanted an 18% gray card for ... I can't tell you how many years. It's not that hard to acquire one. I just never could remember to get one every time I'm in Adorama or B&H.

I created a gallery of finalists that our friend likes most. Lady Marmalade - Finalists - m8ofoto's Photos

Of them, below are the ones I will advocate be used and passed on to the publisher. Thanx very much for the assistance all. Hope they aren't still [too] 'off' after all your efforts.

[Cee Cee]

I still like #1 which is #2 on your latest post, I think its just a better shot all round, the color is only one part of it. The corrected shot does look to be more natural colors, but I still don't mind the first one. The general public ( of which I count myself as one - because I'm certainly no expert) are used to looking at enhanced /retouched /airbrushed /whatever images, we've been looking at them for years in books & magazines!
.... opinions are great, everybody is allowed to have one.

cheers
CC.