Bare Bones close up

I shoot this in my very cluttered garage with a florescent light. I'd love a critique please...

7 Comments

Nice start. I would have had her turn her face just a TINY bit more to one side or the other, as right now you have the very tip of her nose breaking the line of her cheek and that looks a bit awkward. The exposure on her forehead is quite hot but I expect you know that already.

No, I didn't know that! Thank you so much for the tips!!! Posing is something I know nothing about. I was focused so much on getting her eyes I didn't even think about the cheek line. How would I get the exposure right on her forehead? Photoshop or bracketing in camera?

Personally, I would have just exposed for the brightest part of the frame - her forehead - and lifted the shadows a bit in post. This (to me) gives a much more pleasing result with digital images than trying to tone down an overexposed highlight after the fact. :)

How would I check exposure? Light meter or histogram?

Yes, or use a light meter. And also if you're shooting with a digital camera, look at the back of your screen after you take a shot and make adjustments based off of that. For the most "technically accurate" exposure you'd want to use a light meter, but I personally don't. Another thing you can do is shoot tethered, with your camera connected to your computer and using either Capture One or Lightroom or other tethering software.

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