Stephany G.

[greyflash]

This young lady was just married this past weekend. Prior to the wedding her parent hired me to take some traditional portraits of their lovely daughter. Image #1 was chosen for a 16x20 inch print for their house. They bought every image that I took in 4x6 size. Your comments and critique will be appreciated.

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There are more images on my website. Thanks for looking.

 

[vincebeus]

Nice photo's especially the second and 5th one the most. Beautifull woman and great colors.

 

[JMartin]

Gordon,

Very nice shots of a beautiful young woman! #5 with her standing at the fence is my favorite.

Thanks for sharing,
Joe

 

[Clivegriff]

Beautiful shots of a beautiful girl.

I particularly like #4 because...

a) her expression speaks of secret amusement with a hint of mischief

and

b) the harsh lines of the brickwork complement and contrast the softness of her femininity.

 

[greyflash]

Thanks Vince and Joe. She is beautiful and was fairly easy to photograph, lighting of course is key.

 

[greyflash]

Beautiful shots of a beautiful girl.

I particularly like #4 because...

a) her expression speaks of secret amusement with a hint of mischief

and

b) the harsh lines of the brickwork complement and contrast the softness of her femininity.

Thanks Clive, I like that one also. Her eyes really make that image.

 

[mike mac]

Excellent work, she has gorgoues eyes and you have captured her real well

 

[Steve S]

ok chief, here goes my humble opinions

First of all, they're all very good, some excellent photos. Don't know why you chose to post non-original size though. I was going to comment about the softness of the 1st one, but decided to visit your pbase site first before saying anything, thinking it was the reduction that did that. And yup, the original size shots on pbase are bigger and sharper.
ok, that said, I like the last 3 best for their perfect facial expressions you captured. #1's a nice traditional pose, a tight crop of #3?, and #2 is great for it's overall comp, #3 is really nice for her pose, but I'm not crazy about all those dead sticks surrounding her. Good job on these, and excellent use of fill. Ps, she's a real doll, Gordon. No wonder you took that job! :wink:

 

[greyflash]

Mike and Steve, thanks for your comments and critique. Steve, #1 and #3 are different images not just a closer crop. I didn't mean to post them at the smaller size so will have to look into that. As to the "dead sticks" on #3, it was a conscious decision to let them show vs. using DOF to obscure (see #1). I kind of liked them like that but do understand your comments. Normally I would throw the background out of focus with a wide open lens. It was a pleasant assignment to take pictures of this lovely young lady.

 

[Gilles]

Gordon the two i like the most are #2 and #4 because of the facial expression that i find the most natural and relax.

 

[biggstr6]

I like 5 & 6 the best (5 the best).

I really like #5 cropped at the bottom of the rail.

 

[Panos Kazanelis]

Gordon, these are all fantastic photos!!!
The young lady is indeed Beautiful, the scenery you selected is amazing but most of all you have captured her expressions in a great way.
You have made her look almost like an angel !!!
Well done !!!

 

[JeffKohn]

These are really good (having such a beautiful young lady as the subject certainly doesn't hurt either ). I like pretty much all of them except for 3, don't care for the tree branches in that one. My favorite is 4 though, you captured a great expression and the lighting is really excellent.

I was going to suggest you try to get her smiling in a few shots since she looks so serious in some of these. But when I looked at the additional images in the PBase gallery I understood your shot selection; some people just can't produce a big smile on demand without it looking forced or unnatural (I know I can't).

Looking at EXIF I see you used the 17-55/70-200 and fill flash. Did you use any other light modifiers? (reflectors, diffusors, etc)

 

[greyflash]

Looking at EXIF I see you used the 17-55/70-200 and fill flash. Did you use any other light modifiers? (reflectors, diffusors, etc)

It was an overcast day and so a diffuser was not needed but did use a reflector on several of the shots. The 70-200mm was the best for controling DOF.

 

[greyflash]

Thanks biggstr6, Panos, and Jeff for your very nice comments. Panos, she did look like an angel and I appreciate you recognizing that in her.

 

[JMartin]

It was an overcast day and so a diffuser was not needed but did use a reflector on several of the shots. The 70-200mm was the best for controling DOF.

Gordon (any others as well),

From someone like me with an interest in doing more people photography, you say you used a reflector... did you have someone helping you hold the reflector or is there some technique I need to learn for placing reflectors?

As for finding the beautiful subjects, I know in this case her parents asked you to photograph her, but how did you get the opportunity to shoot Diana? Is she someone you knew already? How do you go about finding places to shoot as well? Do you just use places you would normally go to shoot landscape, flowers or other photos?

My biggest problem is finding the people to shoot, well, not finding the people as much as the issue with approaching them to ask For one, my wife is very understanding, I just don't want to push it to find out how understanding she is :wink: Other than that, I am actually pretty shy when it comes down to this sort of thing these days.

Joe

 

[nburwell]

Gordon, beautiful series of pictures of a beautiful lady!

 

[greyflash]

[Gordon (any others as well),

From someone like me with an interest in doing more people photography, you say you used a reflector... did you have someone helping you hold the reflector or is there some technique I need to learn for placing reflectors?

As for finding the beautiful subjects, I know in this case her parents asked you to photograph her, but how did you get the opportunity to shoot Diana? Is she someone you knew already? How do you go about finding places to shoot as well? Do you just use places you would normally go to shoot landscape, flowers or other photos?

My biggest problem is finding the people to shoot, well, not finding the people as much as the issue with approaching them to ask For one, my wife is very understanding, I just don't want to push it to find out how understanding she is :wink: Other than that, I am actually pretty shy when it comes down to this sort of thing these days.

Joe

Hi Joe,

First of all Diana is my daughter and I had suggested to her that we do such a photo shoot on her next visit. From that shoot we produced a bound book of the shots which I show to other prospective clients. Each one that I do my client base grows. This is word of mouth advertising. I have completed four photo shoots in the last week and continue to get referrals. Several more have been booked for later this month and next.

Another avenue is church. I did some free shots of youth events and from that came other paid referrals. One of them was the shoot for the Heritage Choir here in St. George and I made a lot of money on that one. From that shoot came a wedding and some other individual shots. Right now I have more work than I really want to do and it seems to be growing exponentially.

A couple of Realators stopped by my house one day and indicated that they were putting together a business directory and would I like a listing. I told them I was a professional photographer and would like to do the images for their directory. To make a long story short I got a free listing and the cover image for the business directory. I guess what I am saying is you just have to sell yourself and I had a lot of experience as a business exec. with a fortune 500 company prior to my retirement. My impetus was to make my photography purchases free to me and I have been able to do that.

Now as to places to shoot, they are ubiquitious. Every where you go opportunities abound. Photography teaches you to see the beauty that lies all around you. Many people think that you have to go to Yellowstone National Park or the Grand Tetons or some other fantastic place when in reality photo ops. are all around you, your yard, house, children, church, bar, inner city, the ground under your feet, etc., etc.

Now to reflectors, yes I do have someone help me. I usually ask a neighborhood boy, a family member, etc., to help me. I never ask my wife as she does not grasp the concept of bounced light and where it comes from. It is just way to frustrating for me. Now don't you ladies that read this take that personal as this is just pertinent to my wife who by her own admission, is not mechanical. That is an understatement to the extreem.

One more example: While practicing my photography at a local soccer match I saw a young boy clinging to his mothers pantleg. I asked her if she would mind if I took a picture of them. I told her I would put the image on my website and gave her my business card. I got a fairly large order for that one shot and also some referrals by the mother. Again, you sell yourself by the work that you turn out.

 

[Thos Quinn]

You used a relfector!? I'd have thought you would just bring along "The Body" book .

They are all great captures and I like 4, 5 (especially) and 6 because of the texture from the included elements.

 

[sarhento]

I like #5 and #6.