[Kombisaurus]

A good friend of mine has been helping me practice my portraiture lately.

Its a lot of fun when the ideas are flowing, but can be quite frustrating when I hit a mental block. :/ She's been very patient with me.
For the most part I've been trying to get shots which have a unique look about them yet also some real aesthetic appeal, but that isn't always the case (for the photos, not the subject! ).

Below are just some of the ideas we've been experimenting with.

All comments and criticism on the shots are welcome.
Thanks for looking.


1. This is just a simple, non-posed shot of Tina while we were having a chat. 50mm, 640 ISO, f/2.8, 1/50th sec.


2. I was laying down on the ground here and Tina was walking around me. Polariser filter, 10mm, 100 ISO, f/6.3, 1/100th sec.


3. Silhoetted against the sunset at South Beach. A lovely shot that was her idea. 28mm, 500 ISO, f/2.5, 1/640th sec.


4. Tina doesn't like this shot (she thinks the angles are too harsh), but I love the movement in it with her flowing hair. 28mm, 500 ISO, f/2.5, 1/60th sec.


5. "The Smiling Corpse". This shot wasn't initially meant to look like a corpse when I took it, but after I gave it a similar treatment to some self-portraits I did a few months ago, it soon started to head down that direction... so rather than fight it, I just went with it! 28mm, 200 ISO, f/2.8, 1/30th sec.

[StudioJ]

#1 - Consider moving her left arm a little bit further around her face towards her ear and give her a relaxed look, she still looks a little tense in this shot. With your lighting more is less, you're better off shooting with more of it and then underexposing as it will give a cleaner look and make imperfections disappear. I'd also consider a small amount more frontal light as well as the back/side light you have.

#2 - Try more of a 3/4 pose, there is something disturbing me about the angle of her body on this one. I like the dramatic wide angle effect looking up. If she is going to be looking at the camera she may need to bend from the back more as her face looks a bit squished up from pressing down into her chest, looking ahead is better, looking up better still but hard to achieve from that angle.

#3 - Beautiful light and treatment, with her shawl though she looks like a peacock somewhat, this is just a matter of experimentation with positioning her arms and body. If you are looking for the silhouette showing of her bust then you may want to lose the prop. If you go from facing completely to/away from you then arms wide works well and focus on her other curves.

#4 - I love this shot for the light, movement, candid pose and expression. What I don't like though is how close she would have been to you to take the shot accentuating her hand and head putting it out of proportion which may be what she means by "harsh angles"

#5 - Looks a lot like the self portraits you tried but nowhere near as menacing. I can see the editing you've applied which looks effective. Not sure what you were aiming for with this shot though. If I was going for a corpse look even if she is smiling I might consider killing the catchlights in her eyes (will make her look more dead) and dropping back the warmth of the colour. She might not like the effect though!

Top stuff though, I think you went to mention it at the zoo but something happened and you stopped mid sentence. I was meaning to ask what you were doing

[Wedding Shooter]

Jamie has said most of it already Adrian.

I like the 3rd and 4th shots best. Number 4 would have been great if you were just a bit further back - her hand on her head and her nose are really quite distorted by the wide angle (these two things distract for me), but I do like her hair as well.

[smarti77]

Its great when you have a willing and patient (and beautiful) subject to experiment with different shots. I really like no 1 and 4. The movement and light are striking and overpower the 'distortion' for me.

The last one is a more suitable treatment for a male I think.

[Russt]

Great shots as always Kombi,

#1 I really like but maybe she is looking a little too straight down the camera.

#2 great like the tones

#3 favorite

#4 close but I agree on the angle one arm is bigger than the other

#5 beautiful model........so why??

[Janika]

That #2 shot is super, I love the perspective on it, but all of them are nicely done and the first one has smooth lighting which I also like... Good job and thanx for sharing em with us.

[wulinka]

kombi,

great work first of all!!!

I think your subject is beautyful and a gorgeous photomodel. It's great to have someone like that.

#1 I like her pose a lot, but not the background. good skintones, too.

#2 Is very dramatic and interesting. Personally I have a thing for hands, so I'm drawn to this. for a portrait it has a whole lot of leg in it.....

#3 Is nice and classy

#4 I like this shot a lot, both of you are obviously not hesitant to experiment with pose, even though you say she likes the result less than you.

#5 is not my favorite, I don't really like the tones (might be my screen), and not her pose either. I feel blood running to my head when I look at her like that.

Are you guys going to work together more? It looks like very fruitful teamwork!

Uli

[Kombisaurus]

Thanks all for the comments
Especially thanks for the mini-crits and suggestions. They all make a lot of sense and are well worth trying (a few of them we've already tried with mixed success),
I nearly posted these shots in the Critique section, but then I thought it was too much to ask for a crit on a series of 5 images (and didn't want to split them up). So I'm really grateful for these ideas.

I just sent Tina a link to this thread... and she'll either love it or else want to punch me for posting #4 and possibly #5. Hopefully though your feedback will spur us to try out some more things.

Its interesting to read your responses, particularly to shots #4 and #5.
I agree that #4 would've been better suited to a 50mm or perhaps even 85mm focal length instead of 28mm to avoid the perspective issues, but the "normal" look of 28mm (on a 1.6 crop factor = 45mm) engages the viewer in a way that is hard to get at other focal lengths.
#5 was an interesting one for me... and so far I think I'm the only person who seems to actually like anything about it. I was trying to create a dichotomy of beauty and decay... Drawing the viewer in by the eyes and beauty of the model, yet repulsing them with the thought of a corpse and nasty treatment of her skin. This is part of the reason I kept her eyes bright rather than dulling them down or glazing them over. But perhaps its not really having the desired effect. Never mind, that's what practice and experimentation is for!

Thanks.

[Petographer]

Good shooting Adrian. I really like #2 and 3. I'm not shure I like the last as it really shows her freckles. Almost makes it look like blood spatter. You did say she looks dead right?

[EnglishBob]

Great shots, not qualified to comment as anyone I take a picture of looks like a corpse!

[Paul.R.Lindqvist]

Great work Kombi!

My favourites are #1 and the #3.

but the somewhat diffrent approach on the rest is very interesting aswell.

Thanx for sharing.

/Paul L.

[Banded Drake]

Very nice work Kombi !!! i really like 2 and 3 . Love the lighting , and 4 is a close fav for me . Very inspiring !!!



........ Shawn

[StudioJ]

Hey Adrian,

Can I have a bigger version of #1 to retouch?

[byrt_001]

hi

i really like number 2, diferent and the colours.

n3: didn't she say " my bum looks big?" sorry could not resist.

n4: there is a little hair on her face(left cheek) that looks like is cutting her face. i really like what you say about her hair. looks good

[Russt]

n3: didn't she say " my bum looks big?" sorry could not resist

the 28mm again but I don't agree

[shuttertalk]

Kombi, I wish my serious shots were of the same calibre as your "experiments"

My favourites are #1 - very natural and relaxed pose... and #2 - interesting, unique and cool. Very nice work!

[Wedding Shooter]

So what did Tina think?

[Kombisaurus]

Thanks all for the feedback.

Christian, I can see how the 3/4 angle in #3 kind of makes her bum look big... but trust me when I say that the size of her bum is something that she certainly doesn't have to worry about

Chris, she does like the shots... but she's quite modest so its sometimes a bit hard to tell. She'd never say "oh look at me I'm gorgeous!" hehe. Sadly the shot I think she likes the best is one which I didn't post here because it's perhaps a bit risque (and I'm not sure she'd want me to post it anyway) - so I'm afraid you'll just have to use your imagination.

She did read this thread however and was suitably flattered by your kind comments. thanks.

And now, staying on the "experimental portrait" theme but this time with a much uglier model, here are a couple of self-portrait experiments I shot out of bordem the night before last when I was stuck at home looking for ways to avoid doing real work.


6. 135mm, f/3.2, 800 ISO, 1/30th sec, tripod mounted, very little ambient light, primary light source being an external flash bounced off a reflector on floor (which explains why the water isn't blurred at such a slow shutter speed).

I've had the idea for this shot for ages but never got around to shooting it until now. It was inspired by a candid shot I took at the Commonwealth Water Polo champs earlier in the year (Shot #2 in This Thread). I realise the pretentiousness of taking a self-portrait like this, but the only reason I chose myself as the subject was because I was home alone, it was the middle of the night, and I figured nobody else wanted to be woken up to have glasses of water poured over their head for a photo. The expression is also a bit melodramatic, but I tried a number of different expressions and most of them didn't suit the look of the image. I don't take this shot seriously as a portrait, but as a learning exercise and an experiment I really like it.


7. 135mm, f/2.5, 400 ISO, 1/15th sec, same lighting as previous shot.

While setting up for shot #6 I took a number of test shots to help sort out my lighting and focus (because I was doing the whole thing by myself and don't yet have a remote for my 30D, I had to manually focus into space and use the self-timer while I positioned myself).
This is one of the test shots which I liked for some reason. I'm not sure why I had such a serious expression, but the colours, the reflections on my glasses, and the fact I'm leaning out of the frame just appeal to me. I took the white balance as cool as it would go, and then tinted some warmth back into the shot. I think this gives the colour a slight "seediness" which kind of works, and the reflection and unnatural-looking light seems to make it look like I might be staring into a computer screen.

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on these shots. I kind of feel weird posting shots of myself like this, but I learn a lot from these kind of experiments and I'd rather make a fool of myself than one of my friends.

[wulinka]

#6 I think looks great, really not like a test shot, more the perfect postcard or poster of a star. very nice!

your lighting technique is interesting and works well for this one.

#7 I am not too sure about, somehow there is too much going on for me: the white of the t-shirt and the reflections in your glasses distract more than they add, in my eyes. also I find the skin tones blueISH (and I have just run a spider over my screen, so no excuse this time) (picture this, a spider running over my screen.... )

btw, I haven't made up my mind about the necklace in 6, I think the water enough, but then a necklace says something about the person, so... have to think about it.

nice stuff!! uli

[theatregirl]

Hey I'm New to the Board.. just looking around. I just wanted to say I LOVE your work. It is a really Freeing and Beautiful look at real life. Its like you get to experience a little bit of their soul. Does that sound Cheesy??? Thank you for sharing.

[shuttertalk]

Hey theatregirl, welcome to Shuttertalk!

[Paul.R.Lindqvist]

OMG Adrian you are a secret top model! Seriously i really like the look of the water dripping down. Great job.
Very creative.

Oh as for using your self as a model, we all do that. As we all wear our mothers underwear from time to time.... (did i say that outloud )?

oh btw Welcome theatregirl!

/Paul L.

[Wedding Shooter]

Adrian,

I like both of these shots. The way you have used the wrong white balance to deliberately throw the colour works well - I agree that it looks like you are looking at a computer screen. First shot works very well.

[StudioJ]

Hey Adrian,

Did you get my e-mail? I haven't heard from you, either I stuffed it up or you're a slacker.

J

PS: Whats with the ironman look? Too much Nutri Grain? *grin*

[Kombisaurus]

Thanks all.

And welcome TheatreGirl. With lovely compliments like that you are already earning browny-points with me!

Uli, thanks for your comments. Its interesting to hear your thoughts on #7 particularly. I showed that shot to a few people in real-life, and they responded similarly to you. But to me I really like it for some strange reason.

And that joke was a classic Paul!

Oh, and Jamie... I just re-checked my mail and your mail was sitting archived in my Gmail account, but for some reason didn't get transferred into outlook (or somehow got deleted before I read it). Either way, I have it now and will respond shortly. Sorry!