DSLR Photography Forum

It has never been my idea to be portrait photographer... I really find it difficult, but for some reason... my kind neighbours trust on my photography...

They are meant to be added in a job application, hence the white shirt... We tried different poses, some of them came out a bit relaxed for a job application but she is very happy with her pictures... (the birght side)

The dark side is that I used a green background thinking I could change it into kind of blue and I couldn't get it right... so I worked most of them in bw... My questions as always in this kind of pictures are ... what do you think about the light and framing?? Is my bw conversion right?

Thansk so much for you comments and advice...

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Hello Irma.

I hope this is helpful to you..........

The lady has her neck/chin accentuated in a less than flattering way, due to either looking downward or twisting.
The camera could be a tad higher to see less of her neck, her head held higher and her shoulders not square to the camera axis.

Thanks so much Cremetti for your review on my picutres... I have to read a bit more about poses I think... Specially when you want to hide or to acentuate some parts of the body...

Again, thanks a lot!!

I read once that when doing portraits, it is most flattering to stretch the model's muscles as much as possible without looking uncomfortable. I suppose that is why you see models leaning back or twisting at the waist, or looking over their shoulders in glamor shots. It makes sense. Stretching muscles makes you look more tight and less flabby.

You can see that in your Mrs. M shots. The most flattering is #2 where her neck is somewhat stretched by the pose.

Clemeti correctly advises on camera angle. As a rule-of-thumb (which can be ignored), portraits of men are best taken at a *slight* upwards angle. It makes them look more powerful, and visually reduces/conceals double chins and bald spots. Similarly, I find the most flattering angle for a portrait of a woman is from straight on (for portraits meant to show strength) to slightly downwards from the camera (for beauty shots). The downwards angle on a woman is flattering because it highlights her hair, jewelry, eyes and neckline/clevage.

Thanks so much for your comment Toad..

I understand what you say and I see that I am missing a lot in this kind of photography... At the moment it makes me feel very nervous and feel a heavy load in my back... maybe because they trust they will have nice pictures and I know I am lacking the experience and knowledge.

Still, I have some more meetings with other people to take pictures, I am taking your advice with me as always...

Hi Irma - best way to avoid the double chin look (which is really the only problem with these images) is to get them to move their head slightly forward - like a goose. Only very slightly or it looks odd.

Number 4 is too tight for my liking. Three has the nicest expression - could be improved by having her body more at a 45 degree angle.

Nice eyes, well-lit, well-exposed. I'd agree that the higher angle would be more successful. I find that the blur tool or some equivalent is a handy one to layer in for female portraits.
I'm surprised no-one has mentioned aperture, though I appreciate that for something formal a medium aperture might suit best: otherwise, an effective way of reducing any "unwanted" features might be to shoot at the widest aperture you have.
Given the background colour, I'd suggest a green filter in the pp stage: it'd whiten the background, and if you overexposed slightly in the pp I'm sure the skin tones would remain successful.

Thanks Chris for your comment and advice about the pose.. I am making a big mistake here that is paying a lot... leaving the pose the the girsl. I think I should learn more about posing so I can advice more...

I have read that not all models are able to pose for photography... you as a photographer have to give directions and tell them the idea of the picture.

If you knew about a nice book for posing, I would appreciate your advice ...

Zig, thanks for your comment and advice, too.

I worked just with one umbrella and a reflector underneath camera in the middle... I didn't know that the green filter would help here... I must try...

I will invite her during the week to try again... This time I want to try with different poses, background and clothes, I hope she has time.