One of my favorite headshots of Laura from last week's session at Woody's.
This was taken with the D2Xs, Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 combo at f/6.3. Scott Watters told me about this lens and it's flattering nature when shooting women. Thanks for the heads up on that Scott. This is the first time I have actually used this lens in the studio.
Photographically a really nice image. The framing with the hair as well as the lighting really draw me into the eyes. The light on her neck nicely highlights her lovely chin. And her skin is perfect.
The only "however" is that the big hair dark eyes artistry is lost on me. I feel like there's a real disconnect between her hair and her face - which isn't comfortable to me. Her lips and face are so soft while her hair and eyes are hard and razor sharp.
Wowzers!!!! Awesome shot Stuart!! I've only got a couple of primes (85 and 50 mm), but after seeing this shot, I think I want that 180!!! Do you think the 70-200 would be as sharp at 180mm??
I love it 110%. The makeup is great, the hair is insane, and the lighting is awesome. Laura's eyes, lips, and expression are so beautiful - wow she really looks phenomenal. I really like how her head is positioned downward with her eyes looking up. I'd love to know how you set your lighting.
At first I thought maybe it needed some cropped off the right side of the frame. However, when I held paper to the monitor I quickly saw that any additional cropping took away from the overall "insane" hair look. Insanely beautiful hair that is.
Man I want to shoot this kind of stuff so bad I can taste it!!!
Thanks Gordon. Even though you didn't mention it......I know I violated the rule about whites not showing under the irises again, but I don't really seem to understand that rule.
Photographically a really nice image. The framing with the hair as well as the lighting really draw me into the eyes. The light on her neck nicely highlights her lovely chin. And her skin is perfect.
The only "however" is that the big hair dark eyes artistry is lost on me. I feel like there's a real disconnect between her hair and her face - which isn't comfortable to me. Her lips and face are so soft while her hair and eyes are hard and razor sharp.
Wowzers!!!! Awesome shot Stuart!! I've only got a couple of primes (85 and 50 mm), but after seeing this shot, I think I want that 180!!! Do you think the 70-200 would be as sharp at 180mm??
Keith,
I haven't done any comparisons....I don't enjoy lens testing, but I do believe that the 180 produces the sharpest images that come out of my camera. My Xs has the internal sharpening set to "soft" or Moderatley Low and other than my standard USM and Smart Sharpen techniques that I do to every portait in post this is what the lens delivers. It's fairly affordable and I highly recommend it for the kind of portraiture you do.
I love it 110%. The makeup is great, the hair is insane, and the lighting is awesome. Laura's eyes, lips, and expression are so beautiful - wow she really looks phenomenal. I really like how her head is positioned downward with her eyes looking up. I'd love to know how you set your lighting.
At first I thought maybe it needed some cropped off the right side of the frame. However, when I held paper to the monitor I quickly saw that any additional cropping took away from the overall "insane" hair look. Insanely beautiful hair that is.
Man I want to shoot this kind of stuff so bad I can taste it!!!
Fred, we really scored big with the creative input of Laura and our MUA Elaine. That made all the difference in the world as far as I am concerned.
The lighting was described by Woody in his most recent post, but what happened was that Woody had his AB Giant Softbox sitting on the floor propped up against a step ladder to light Laura's legs and feet for his boot shots. His home-made Low-Profile hairlight was also on. I was sitting behind Woody on the floor working the fog machine while he was lying on the floor shooting Laura's boots...... and when I looked up at Laura's face I thought the lighting was exactly what I was looking for. Not too even, not too hard, just the right amount of drama.
A lucky accident.
I'm posting this shot again because it shows you exactly how the lighting was set up:
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Thanks Fred!
P.S. Never question one of my crops!:wink: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:
Photographically a really nice image. The framing with the hair as well as the lighting really draw me into the eyes. The light on her neck nicely highlights her lovely chin. And her skin is perfect.
The only "however" is that the big hair dark eyes artistry is lost on me. I feel like there's a real disconnect between her hair and her face - which isn't comfortable to me. Her lips and face are so soft while her hair and eyes are hard and razor sharp.
Haha. I think the hard contrast between the hair and the eyes goes well with my personality. Yes you see this soft pretty little pouty lip and skin but WATCH OUT. I might bite. ;-)
I really like this shot from Stu. He and Woody were AWESOME to work with together. I loved the creativity bouncing around the place and they let me have input too, which is really important to me. They did an amazing job making me look good. THANKS!
What a feeling of depth that lighting gives! And although I'm sure that Laura is beautiful in her own right, the lighting, makeup, angle, expression really makes this an incredible shot.
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