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Erin

© Elaine Hessler

Erin

Uploaded: October 11, 2012

Description

Exif: F Number: 5, Exposure Bias Value: -1.33, ExposureTime: 1/320 seconds, Flash: did not fire., ISO: 400, White balance: Manual white balance, FocalLength: 60.00 mm, Model: NIKON D5100

Comments

Elaine Hessler October 11, 2012

Hi Everyone-this is my daughter Erin whom is turning 12 this Saturday. We did a very informal photo shoot and need a lot of help (not my forte!!!). I've attached 3 other shots and would love some input. I shot in RAW and added a warming filter, used multiply blend on her irises to get rid of the lens glare on her glasses (ugh), sharpened, and adjusted some levels. I did no cropping. Not sure if any of these are quite right yet. #1491720

Debbie E. Payne October 11, 2012

Elaine - I am not the one to critique you on portraiture but I love these images. You did a wonderful job with having no glare on her glasses in these images. The only thing I would suggest would have been, in the close-ups to move her further away from the background so your DOF could have been even shallower and she would have stood out even more. Love the warmth in these. #10365796

Michael Kelly level-classic October 11, 2012

The first post is a bit off due to the BG as Debbie mentioned but the other 3 are well done. The nice tight formal portrait look of 2 and 3 with a nicely blurred BG work very well. The last one works well as an informal shot and the BG does not conflict here because of the space shown. I like the comp on this last one too. The color looks good. I probably would have had her wear something other than black as it is very hard to get any definition or separation from the arms and body. The black works fine on the formal shots though.

Overall I would say a very good job and a nice set of photos. There may be some tweaks that our portrait folks could come up with. #10365910

Brandi K. Mills October 11, 2012

She's beautiful! I particularly like the close-ups of #2 & #3. Especially # 2 where her shoulders are not angled directly at you.
I agree I wouldn't have had her wear black and a solid without writing or anything printed on it is better.
It's fun to take some slightly above her and have her look up at you. Or have her get down in the grass with hands on chin or peeking out behind a tree, leaning up against something, sitting on a box/suitcase/chair, throwing the leaves up in the air or laying in a pile of them. Focus on the eyes. #10365925

Jeff E Jensen October 11, 2012

I agree, this is a good series. I like #2 and #3 the best out of the group. You did good with the light. #10366043

Dale Hardin October 12, 2012

I personally like the first image "because" of the proximity to the leaves. It makes a strong statement about where she is and the light that was present.

I also agree that the tight shots are better overall portraits and that you've done a great job.

There are however, some changes I would suggest to all the images. One, check your histogram in a levels adjustment layer and correct the whites.

Two, since a warming filter was added, it also colored the eyes and teeth so would suggest selectivly desaturing the yellow at those points. Also since you applied a magnify blend for the glare it would help to dodge the eyes a bit to bring out their color.

And here is a tip for future eye glass glare. When taking the shot, simply ask her to lift the ear pieces just a bit, thus tilting the glasses down just a tad and elliminating the glare.

Or have her turn her head just a bit and look a tad sideways at the camera. This will make her eyes look larger and also stop the glare. #10367109

Rita K. Connell level-classic October 12, 2012

Elaine she is so pretty...you must be so proud of her. you really capture her very nicely. 1 and 2 you were just getting started and 3 and 4 I like the feel of her being more relaxed and enjoying herself. Elaine is Erin's eye really that dark brown.
I would try lighting them up if they are not. and working on her teeth, as dale suggested, and I actually like the black sweatshirt. great job Elaine #10367228

Elaine Hessler October 13, 2012

Thanks everyone for the input! I had some technical issues that I tried to fix and I think it made the images worse. I couldn't quite figure out why they looked "off" to me, so I'll work on them again this weekend and repost. Dale, I actually did have her angle her glasses/head so the glare would be less of a problem, but there was still some glare. As you can see her glasses are crooked (couldn't fix them), so that posed an additional problem of keeping the frames off her eyes. Ugh. The lighting was also very tricky. It was 3:30 and the light was coming in from the back, so I had to find shade and a nice background and get her head out of the dappled light. Looking back, I should have placed her further away from the background, as suggested, but I may have run out of shade. So for next time:) Thanks again everyone-I am really getting better at this thanks to all of you! #10367604

Elaine Hessler October 13, 2012

Ok, I started from scratch because I wasn't happy with the skin tones, ect. I just worked on #2, so let me know what you think. I have no idea why I am having so much trouble with this. Here's what I did. Sharpened, adjusted the WB and used her teeth as "white", then added a different warming photo filter applied to everything except her teeth and the whites of her eyes, adjusted the levels just a little bit, but the more I mess with it, the darker her hair gets and she is a strawberry blond. I left her eyes alone this time-her eyes are blue, not brown as they appeared before. Gosh this can be difficult!!! #10367762

Elaine Hessler October 13, 2012

Here's the picture. #10367763

Elaine Hessler October 13, 2012

So sorry for the multiple posts. I just played with the levels again and moved the right slider in. I am obsessing about this.... #10367767

lisa anderson October 13, 2012

Hi Elaine, this is a very nice series of your daughter! I like the 2nd one (although I wish her head wasn't tilted) for the composition and lighting. I like the 3rd one because her smile is so natural in it. I like the 4th one because the leaves are so pretty. I agree that more neutral clothing would help for next time. #10368212

Teresa H. Hunt October 13, 2012

Wonderful series. Your daughter is very pretty. :)

2 & 4 are my favorites. And no I don't think you are obsessing. Portraits can be difficult . . . especially when dealing with skin tones. Speaking of which your last edit of #2 is great. However she has a very slight pink cast to her skin. It is very slight, but might be worth dealing with.

And as for #4 . . . all it needs is a tighter crop. :) #10368276

Aimee C. Eisaman October 14, 2012

I personaly like number 2 just the way you presented it the first time. I also really like the posing in the 4th one, but agree a crop is needed maybe an 8X10. The one thing I really don't like in these is the lettering on the shirt...very distracting, but in this light you should be able to clone it out fairly easily. :~) #10368659

Beth Spencer October 14, 2012

I like # 2 the best but I think they are all good. I think you have gotten some great advice, I am not good with portraits so I leave that to those that are.
She is a beautiful young lady, you must be so proud of her. #10369631

Elaine Hessler October 15, 2012

OK-I am sure you are tired of seeing these images, but I wasn't happy with the edits I did. Dale helped me out (again poor guy!) and here are the final results. Thanks for ALL of your input, as usual! #10371172

Aimee C. Eisaman October 15, 2012

Your edits look better...esp. like the new crop on the bottom one! :~) #10371183

Teresa H. Hunt October 15, 2012

Yup, much better :) #10371192

Elaine Hessler October 16, 2012

Thanks:) #10372215

Susan M. Reynolds level-addict October 17, 2012

Need to go get my grandbaby from her nap so I'll be quick and explain my decision later. Favorite of all poses for me is definetly #2 and second is number 4 with a tighter crop.
Be back later...very pretty young lady you've got there! #10373610

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