Its the first time since november I think, that I did something for my own portfolio again. So I´m excited about this, and hope you will enjoy, aswell as give me some feedback. This here, are the lovely Brianna and Jessie. Jessie actually is a first timer, but I think she did really well after we coached her abit.
Have a nice day.

Wow very nice and classy! Good job on them!

That couch, oh baby.

can't even see the eyes :\

thats on purpose. I tried out most of these shots with fill light just for the sake of lightening the eyes, and didnt like it. I guess there will be tons of people who hate that, but that´s the look I prefered.

What modifiers did you use?

A little secret for you.. if you want the "dark eyes look" use a reflector to actually fill the eyes then do it all in post

Shouldnt it be our aim to achieve most of the look that we want during the actual photographing? I dont like the idea of relying on my post production during the shoot for things that dramatically influence the look of a photo. I realize that most people do not like the dark eyes, since I´ve had alot of critics in that direction even after one day. I understand it, but I also think that filling the shadows with light would create a different image that I wanted.

furthermore, I assume you are mostly refering to shot #2 and #3 where the eyes are too dark? I think it´s also possible that our screens are different. On my screen, I can see all the outlines and texture of both eyes. Could it just be that your screen shows them darker than mine?

Thanks for the critique so far, I appreciate it and I´ll keep thinking about it.

PS: I used a rather small softbox for almost all shots, as I said, some attempts with a reflector, but I didnt like how it took away the contrast and shadows.

I'll tell you another secret. Post production is everything. Shoot for post. Not what is on the back of your camera, that's how digital works

I know the exact look you are after mate and it needed 1/3-2/3 of fill under the eyes with a reflector

You need a larger softbox or even better an octobox if you can afford it. Again, it might not "look" like the end product on the back of the camera but we create these shadows in post with a D&B technique and healing tool.

They're good shots bro

This post was edited by lithfkn on Feb 28 2012 04:48am

I get your point, but I simply dont like the idea of "shooting for the post production" how you call it. Sure, if you are going for a look that can only be created during the post production, you should prepare the photo for it in the shooting process. But you are implying that post production is more important than the actual photographing, and that´s something I´m not really willing to adapt to. Maybe I need to overthink my attitude towards digital photography in general, but at the moment, I´m much rather trying to get away from the excessive post processing instead of getting closer to it. I guess it´s the market that asks for this attitude..... I´m not sure yet if I want to accept that or not.


But anyways, what exactly would be the difference in a post created shadow on the eye, compared to a natural shadow?! Maybe I missunderstood you, but werent you saying I should fill the eyes with light, so that I can make them dark again in the post?

oh and yes, I really do need a larger softbox. I actually wanted a large octabox for ages, but I´m abit broke at the moment :S