Young Attitude

[JackAZ]

Shot for fun (and learning). The expression was his choice, he was warming up to be a Jedi for his next pose (after a costume change of course).

Olympus E-5 with Olympus ZD 35-100mm f2 lens.
1/125 @ f11, 71mm focal length, manual mode, RAW

Single YN560 speedlight overhead at 1/2 power and 20° angle in Westcott Apollo Orb; bounce card below at 30° angle; FL-36 speedlight on background at 1/16 power; YN560 speedlight with snoot at 1/?? power for hair light from back left of subject.

[Ed Shapiro]

Hey Jack- Sorry for the delay!

This is not a conventional portrait. I imagine that is has a theme or a SI-FI thing that I am not familiar with. This makes it hard to critique. The skin tone is good as well as the exposure. Of course the expresion was his choice- he is a boy

You are shooting into his shoulder- a 45 degree angle showing more of the body would look more balanced and give more base to his head. The lighting is wrapping around his face a bit much and is illuminating his near ear- that is generally considered as not the best lighting form. The background is a bit too hot and the framing could be a bit more centered- not quite as much negative space is needed.

Listen- I am sure this kid is gonna love this image because of all of the aforementioned reasons especially his expression. Now he as a good looking kid so get him to sit for a more traditional portrait- watch you lighting and get him to smile or give you a relaxed expression- or cut off his allowance

A fun shot for sure but no cigar this time around!

Ed

[Benji]

Jack,

I've been gone for four days and I just got back this evening, sorry for the delay.

In addition to Ed's (as usual) excellent critique, his arms are not posed and his torso is straight up and down. Straight up and down in portraiture usually means boring. In head and shoulders and waist up shots I suggest ALWAYS having the subject lean and tilt so the body is not vertical but is leaning. I think arms look best "doing" something, so I would have had him holding something or at least crossed across his chest. The background is rather sharp and I don't see that it fits with the image all that well.

Benji

[JackAZ]

Thank you both very much. I bribe him into posing by letting him pick a theme, from now on I will force more standard stuff before getting into the theme (and perhaps let him hold one of his props to address the hands). Again, thank you very much for honest critiques.