Yesterday's City Skyline Portrait Shoot - Critique!

[MattSepeta]

Just finished processing the shots form a portrait shoot last night. Ended up shooting at a location I have been wanting to try out for a few months now- my apartment buildings rooftop!

Shot most of these with either 1 or 2 speedlights with shoot through umbrellas.

I was specifically toying around with balancing ambient and flash to get dynamic environmental portraits.

Tear me a new one

 

[Ish]

Some great photos here Matt! In 1 and 2 I like the exposure and colours you've got, with the buildings and the person exposed well and the boring bit of wall at the bottom underexposed so it doesn't detract from the rest. If you have any lens correction software I think that would be icing on the cake so to speak as the buildings appear to lean out from the centre just a little.

I prefer the last one to the third. The person is leaning on the wall in a nice relaxed pose and it's all sharp. In the third the wall's not quite in focus and not quite out of focus. Maybe you could get your pal to stand a bit further away from the wall? I think you should be very pleased with these!

Nice jacket!

 

[flosseR]

I also like 1 and 2 a lot. colors great and subject of the whole photo is interesting. personally I prefer shots like those over the ones at the bottom. It's hard to describe but there is just "more to see" in those shots while still keeping the person as a main subject.

nice work.

 

[fcortese]

I also like 1 and 2 a lot. colors great and subject of the whole photo is interesting. personally I prefer shots like those over the ones at the bottom. It's hard to describe but there is just "more to see" in those shots while still keeping the person as a main subject.

nice work.

totally agree. I know you like #1 the best, and so do I. The colors and the feel and the lighting all just work!

 

[acearchie]

Nice shots. I'm by no means saying that they are bad photo's, they are great, but I would have asked the model to take off the jacket as it reflects too much of the cool light from the speedlight which is a bit of a contrast to the lovely yellows in the rest of the pictures!

 

[gnd]

Nice shots. I'm by no means saying that they are bad photo's, they are great, but I would have asked the model to take off the jacket as it reflects too much of the cool light from the speedlight which is a bit of a contrast to the lovely yellows in the rest of the pictures!

Or better yet, use gels to make the speedlight's temperature match the ambient light.

 

[wheezy]

Great shots! Technically I think you're doing awesome. One suggestion I would pose is elevating you and the model on a step stool to put that ugly railing lower down in the framing, to me that was the most distracting element.