Some portraits for critique

[surenj]

Recently had a chance to photograph some willingly unwilling and unwillingly willing subjects. As usual I would love to hear your comments and critique. Thanks for looking.

[Glen]

Surenj, beautiful lighting on 2 and 3

[craig.rohse]

Very nice surenj, they are sooo sharp, like the lighting as well.

[biggerry]

I like that last one! Great idea with the coloured light behind the doors...The oval shaped glass pane in the last is just in teh wrong spot, I think the little tackers head should cover it up a bit - I can imagine saying this in hindsight is easy Also I reckon I think some eye contact may have helped too, however this is obviously dependent on what look you were going for!

willingly unwilling and unwillingly willing subjects.

no prizes for the unwilling one!

Is that a plaster on her foot there or a big sock?

As glen said, though, great lighting....

[aim54x]

Nice work...almost everything I was thinking of has been mentioned...

On a more mundane note...I cant work out the reflection on your glasses...what did you use to light that first shot?

[sheepie]

Number two's a winner

Love the lighting, the angle of the background infers action, while the eye contact with the keys reflects wonderfully with the joy shown in the face. If anything, maybe a bit more of the keys could be in view, but I'm not certain - maybe the small amount shown adds in some way a little intrigue?

In any case, it's a great shot. Number 3 is also good, but for me not as strong as the 2nd.

[biggerry]

what did you use to light that first shot?

ceiling fan/light

[colin_12]

I think the lighting in #3 is great, the second has a great expression on her face.

[Alex]

I really love No.3! The lighting, compositon and background are all very well handled.

Alex

[surenj]

Thanks everyone for their comments.

what did you use to light that first shot?

Cameron, I just used a silver umbrella....

what did you use to light that first shot?

ceiling fan/light

Gerry, That is a great idea to make a hard continuous light source into a soft source by using a slow shutter and attaching the light to a fan!

Is that a plaster on her foot there or a big sock?

I think the sock is slipping off! I didn't notice that....

The oval shaped glass pane in the last is just in teh wrong spot, I think the little tackers head should cover it up a bit - I can imagine saying this in hindsight is easy Also I reckon I think some eye contact may have helped too, however this is obviously dependent on what look you were going for!

I see your point about the oval glass pane... I will sift through the rest of the images to see whether I had got one by mistake...
eye contact was quite difficult as she only looked at her parents..... and smiled

coloured light behind the doors

I didn't use a coloured light! I wish I could have, but poon's triggers won't stand up to that much distance etc...This would be the all mighty sun streaming through. Just gelled the flash

the angle of the background infers action

I can see what you mean Leon.. when I look at the ones with the background straight, it would appear to be less dynamic. The crooked background was a mistake in my mind but I noticed halfway so half my photos are straight!