first photoshoot, critique?

[msbarnes]

OK so I had my first photo shoot. I threw in a bunch of candids in this set for fun and left in some out of focus images too. I wanted to do a lot of experimentation and hence my style and film/dev choice is all over the place and so is my camera/format selection. In the future I would be more consistent, but for my first few shoots I plan on doing a lot of experimentation. I'm not a post processing guru but I think that my pictures might be a bit too high key...I might have to fix that.

Mistakes that I already recognized:

Development:
1. I lost too much speed with fomapan 100 + Rodinal
2. I accidently underexposed fuji acros so I had to do a two stop push.

Composition:
1. The coat on the bed was a bit awkward.
2. Sometimes the background elements were a bit distracting.

Lighting:
1. I could have used a stronger fill for some.

Overall, what do you think? honestly. What would you have done differently and how can I improve?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/michael_sergio_barnes/sets/72157632125565479/

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

My main criticism is the lighting. In many of them, the girl's face is in shadow while other things, like her arms, are brightly lit, which distracts from her face. The backlighting is fine if you also use some fill light from a strobe or maybe a big reflector. Are you using studio strobes or some other kind of studio lighting, or just natural light.

As far as tonality, you did a good job of rescuing the poorly exposed negs!

 

[msbarnes]

thanks for the critique.

I was using natural lighting with a reflector. My next major photographic investment is probably going to be studio strobes or speedlights but I feel that the former will give me more mileage.

 

[mfogiel]

There are some nice compositions, however, there are several things that could be improved upon:
1) - Exposure: in this kind of photography, it is not good to push the B&W film, because you lose the tonality in favour of strong contrast, which is destroying the appearance of the skin. So, unless you want a strong graphic like effect, OVEREXPOSE your film at least 2/3rds of a stop.
2) - Sharpness: it looks like some shots are slightly moved and others have the focusing off : check the focus accuracy of all your camera-lens combos, and use a monopod or tripod, if the shutter speeds are low
3) - Lighting: for female shots, you would mostly want soft, diffuse lighting. so a "northern" window, or a window with some diffusing fabric on. The alternative, is direct sun through shades for graphic effects- Here, you have none of the two. Moreover, you can benefit from a diffusing panel for fill light. Final point - if you want the eyes to have the sparkle, the girl has to be facing the light, like this:


201213007 by mfogiel, on Flickr

Personally, unless you want to show the surroundings, I also prefer to shoot with the model away from the wall. A white, sharp wall is not easy to manage in a portrait. The photo above has been shot in natural light with a 58mm lens at f2.0, about 1m away from the wall.

 

[msbarnes]

mfogiel, thanks for the tips.

1. I usually shoot at box speed but I will try to overexpose next time. I think for that this type of subject it would have resulted in a look that is a little more flattering. I agree and that pushing wasn't suitable. I pushed tri-x just for fun and acros as a necessity. The fomapan + rodinal isn't the greatest combination for speed either, so those images were generally a stop underexposed.

2. The shutter speeds weren't that slow but I noticed this too, mostly with the candids, where my focus was loose. There can be some misalignment too as none of the cameras were CLA'd,but I'm in the process of doing that. One of my Rollei's is on its way back (and with a Maxwell screen installed too 🙂). Also, focusing a 28mm f3.5 and 21mm f3.5 is tough. I'd opt for a RF when I get those focal lengths.

3. I actually put a shower curtain over my window. I think it worked alright. I think I will have the model face the light and bring them away from the wall more as you have suggested.

Thanks again!