Taken during a headshot session. Though technically an "outtake" I wanted to post it here since I loved the expression, which is part of the contest theme. Retouching was some contrast adjustments and removing the logo on the shirt. Taken on an X-T3 and XF16-55 lens with a Godox speedlight in an overhead collapsible beauty dish. A Godox AD200 with pink gell and dome diffuser was used on a grey backdrop to get the color halo effect in the background. 1/250s, f/5.6, ISO160.
Critique the Community
Portraits/Expressions
With Peter Hurley
Join Fstoppers' Portrait Photography Competition
Submission Deadline: Nov 29, 2023, 5:00 PM
This contest has ended.
Voting is closed.
Congratulations to the winners!
Her smile is infectious and makes the picture. But I hope she likes pink. Bright colors can be controversial.
One of the greatest challenges for me in portrait photography is getting the skin color to look right. Given the fact that lighting strongly affects how the color of their skin looks, I'm almost always staring at the picture in post-processing and wondering if the way I've shot and edited the picture looks both flattering and accurate.
With the woman's pale skin, I feel like the pink background overwhelms the subject. I can solve both issues by converting to black and white. This picture just seems made for black and white.
I also think the focus and attention would be better centered around her face if the image were cropped a bit tighter, maybe to just below the button on her shirt, below the top edge of her hair, and just inside the outer edge of her left (camera right) arm. A bleed off three sides produces a nice tight portrait emphasizing what you wanted to convey in this photo... her expression.
There's a general compositional rule too about not cutting off a portrait at the joints (knees, elbows), or middle of hand or foot. Take it for what it's worth.
Thank you for the feedback!