Glamour hair / fashion shot c&c

smelltheglove

Last night I had a little shoot to do in a hair salon. I had 10 models and after costume change 13 different sessions. I had 4 hours to do this in so I was under a bit of pressure. I needed quite a bit of brightness in pp but as these are glamour shots I have also added a bit of softening to them through the paint shop filters section using the specific glamour filter.

I like the finished result and although I find them quite bright I know this is what the salon owner was looking for. Does it work though?

I will upload more as I go through them.

Paulw

To me, it looks over exposed. The background and her dress are just blown out.

You could probably do better, if the image was shot raw - to maintain the details in the face/hair but not blow out the dress/background as much.

Nice clear image, all the same, with good colour.

ttcomet

Her right arm, top of the dress and very left of the flowers are way over exposed. Did you shoot in Raw like Paul mentions? You can probably save a lot of the image. But having said that if the owner wants that look then give it to her/him.

The background on the bottom right of the image looks all crumpled, I would recommend cloning it from some where else to smooth it out.

I would get rid of the border as well unless the owner specifically asked for them, if they are going to use them as publicity/pr shots it would be better off with no border.

She looks like her left arm has a bit of sun burn, you may have to smooth it out and blend in a bit of colour. Maybe also clone out the strap that has fallen down on her shoulder.

I really like the way you have the model posed and giving her the flowers to hold is a great idea as it gives her something to do with her hands.

Buzz Lightyear

As Paul said 'Nice clean image with good colour'.

When the image first appeared on the screen I only got the head shot and my first impression was you captured the head shot very well for the client. However on scrolling down I too saw the white dress blending in with the background. This area screams of being over exposed. I know you've adjusted the light levels in pp however if you turn them back a notch you should hopefully get some detail back in to the models arm. The side of the head will also benifit from turning back the exposure as this is a touch over-exposed. You would however get away with it if it were a head and shoulders shot.

rgiller

I think it's way too bright: makes you lose some of the contrasty detail (her arm) and the whiteness takes over the photo. What does it look like with the exposure dialled down a stop?

Nice composition and focus all the same

Borderfox

I found when converting RAW files in PS that if you hold ALT when adjusting the exposure slider the image blacks out apart from the blown out area and its much easier to adjust

smelltheglove

The brightness is what is getting me also. The border is just the way I upload my images so this will not be on the finished images to print. The strap is actually part of the dress, it's a beaded strap that falls down over the arm on both sides.

The model is beautiful, the shot is for the hair and she is so striking there was no way you'd pay attention to the hair. Thankfully though I had brought with me my own wedding jewlery just in case so with diamantes an tiara in her hair it made it more about the hair.

I must clone the corner as I think this is one of the few I didnt do it on.

She has a few freckles on her arm and these have been softened but I was afraid to over do it. I will try the recommendations and upload it again.

CabanSail

Well shot, considering the problems you were describing in the previous post.

You need to pull back those highlights while keeping the exposure on the head, which is spot on.

smelltheglove

ok i've swapped it, exposure dropped.

rgiller

Looks a lot better now IMO. Nice photo

CabanSail

Much better. Still a bit of a problem on the right shoulder but nothing to worry about.

Well done .... Gold Star & a Koala Stamp.

Fajitas!

It's looking a lot better now than the way I first saw it.

It is not a bad shot at all. How and ever, I'm going to give it a quick run through.

Firstly, personaly, I'd lose the border It's distracting and dosn't have a whole pile of relevance to the photo itself I'm afraid.

Secondly, you've cut her poor fingers off Generally, in portraiture, try not to cut limbs off like that, you can cut them at areas that don't look as odd as a missing finger or two Also, taking away the border might give you back a digit or two

Thirdly, shoot from a bit higher. The models jawline is a bit soft (Undefined as opposed to Oof) so shooting from slightly higher will give a bit more of a shadow, giving her a better facial structure. (Though being tall does help for this - Don't be afraid to bring a stepladder or chair along)

How did you light the photo? Looking at the catchlights, I can only see a single light on camera left, I took a peak at the larger version on your bebo (Join flickr ) and can't get any better idea of the lighting! Did you diffuse it much? Catchlights look squareish, but can't make out for sure. The lighting is nice and soft on the model herself, but it leads me on to my next point.

In future, bring your model out a bit further from the background. In the ideal studio situation for this, you can light separatly the model, the hair and the background. In this case, I think the amount of space you had was too small, but I could be wrong. Where this reveals itself in the photo above is that the primary light is the same on both the model and the background, if the background was slightly darker, it'd give the illusion of a bit more space, separation and depth.

So, certainaly don't give up, there's plenty of promise in the photo, just keep on working with it

I hope that dosn't come across being too harsh. Personally, I'd think a bit more about the above than about camera settings and blowing out highlights and post processing for the moment. Having the screen on your camera makes sure you can get a decent enough working exposure from playing about, and then not have to worry a whole pile on your settings after that, and post processing comes with time anyways.

smelltheglove

Fajitas you are spot on with what you have said there, there was not much room and not much light. I was asked to take a few shots of upstyles and the night before I received a phone call to say it was going to be more like a fashion shoot and to bring along backdrop and lights.

Problem was I didnt have them, I used a bloackout roller blind from argos and a clother rail but this girl was so tall I had to get her to stand almost against it to avoid seeing too much at the top. I'm disappointed I missed the fingers in that shot, as I even went as far as giving her my engagement ring but these things happen. I tried a higher shot but I just found she is much better from slightly below.

Good news is today I bought a portable backdrop support, and next week hopefully will have the support. Light wise all I used was bounce from a white wall beside her.

My main loss was equipment but I'm quite happy with it. Again the border really is just whay I use for my bebo uploads. I havent gotten a hang of flickr yet:o

Thoie

Just a quick thing (cos I should have been in bed hours ago!). Maybe I picked this up wrong, but I got the impression these pics are to "sell" the hairdresser? The shot is lovely, but it wouldn't make me pick that hairdresser for my wedding - the jewellery and flowers are lovely, but the hair just looks messy. I think I know the style that's being used, and I'd say it's probably lovely, but the loops sticking out at 12 o'clock, 2 o'clock and 4 o'clock just look like they've escaped.

If it's more about the hair, would it work having the model more side on, and a bit more detail in the hair showing the curls and shine? Not sure how you'd do that - another light on her hair might work, but as you're short on space that mightn't work. Is there anyone around who could hold a reflector just angled towards the dark side of the hair? (Now I'm imagining Sith hairdressers... "Sure just stick the hood of your cloak up and it'll be fine")