[Ed n Georgia]

My first real attempt at a B&W Conversion. Manipulating the contrast and colors.

I think this photo, overall, would have worked batter with a dark background. But, White is what I had. I tried an extraction to a Black Background but it looked cheesey.

Your C & C???

[Tuner571]

I really like the idea behind the photo, but there are some things that could be better. For one, the photo looks a little blurry on my screen, so that is one thing that could be fixed. Another is the look on the model, she looks confused and it really does not look natural or all that pleasing really. On top of that the shadows are a bit harsh as is the lighting for the photo. Did you use a softbox on your lights?

I'm sorry that I gave you some pretty harsh comments but it's all for the better and I look foward in seeing some more of your photos.

Cory

I think you did a pretty good job. My main issue is with the position of your model in the frame. Having her left arm and leg disappear off the frame like that makes it look a bit like you accidentally moved the camera after framing the shot. It would have been nice to move her over to the left of the frame to show the triangle formed where her arm and leg meet. The only other thing is the shadow area on the left side between her neck and hair if you could have got a little light in there to show some detail it would make a difference to the whole image.

I like the white background but your model is a bit underexposed. I would suggest increasing the exposure and reducing the contrast. That will lighten up the area on the left side of her face making the lighting look more even, and also make her shirt come closer to the background colour while still maintaining separation between subject and background.

I also like your models expression, she's looking directly at the camera and looks confident, the slightly darker area on the left side of her face unbalances it a little if you look just at the eyes, but as I said above, that can be fixed.

[Ed n Georgia]

I think you did a pretty good job. My main issue is with the position of your model in the frame. Having her left arm and leg disappear off the frame like that makes it look a bit like you accidentally moved the camera after framing the shot. It would have been nice to move her over to the left of the frame to show the triangle formed where her arm and leg meet. The only other thing is the shadow area on the left side between her neck and hair if you could have got a little light in there to show some detail it would make a difference to the whole image.

I like the white background but your model is a bit underexposed. I would suggest increasing the exposure and reducing the contrast. That will lighten up the area on the left side of her face making the lighting look more even, and also make her shirt come closer to the background colour while still maintaining separation between subject and background.

I also like your models expression, she's looking directly at the camera and looks confident, the slightly darker area on the left side of her face unbalances it a little if you look just at the eyes, but as I said above, that can be fixed.

Thanks Gary,

Actually, I have three things that I working on here.

1. Working with and directing a model with only the two of us in the studio. I miss a lot of things.

2. Trying to learn the lighting technique with studion strobes. Lighting wise, this shot was very unbalanced. I had only one strobe on the background and it wasn't illuminating the entire background. It's possible that I had the softboxe a little too close and straight on. I only had one strobe on the model and was Camera left. I had a 42" round reflector at Head height on camera right. This round of lighting was much better than my first go a week ago but still left a lot to be desired.

3. Trying to find just the right photo with good exposure and contrast to convert may be the toughest of all.

Perhaps it would have been better to have tried this photo instead....



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[AOShep]

Your first photo is definately more dramatic. Lighting technique is good just underexposed. Looks like you concentrated on her face when setting this up insted of how much of her body was framed. Exposure on you second one is better but too flat.

LOL, sorry, I can't help laughing, in the second shot, the pose looks awkward, as if there should be something there for her right arm to be resting on.
It appears that she's taking her sweater off which provides some narrative but it falls flat for me because there should be a chair in the frame for her two throw it over.
You know, you're going the right way, I've yet to head in that direction myself but I know that doing it is the only way to get better at it.

With the lights you are using, you seem to be getting pretty close. If you're using the camera to meter, I would recommend you invest in a hand held meter, you'll get a greater degree of accuracy to aid in getting the exposure right.

For exposure, with a bit of trial and error at each setup, you should find that you can safely overexpose by between a 1/3 and 1 stop without blowing the highlights (assuming you shoot RAW). That overexposure gives you more room for adjustment of the darker areas in post.

You might also find that manual focusing and Live View will help you with composition because you can step back a bit from the camera and see both the LCD and the actual model which should make directing her easier. For the same reason you should also be able to give her more freedom to do what she feels like once you have her positioned in the frame.