Since yesterday’s post was all shots of Candace, today I’ll share some photos of Tamara, the other model from Monday’s shoot. But first I want to share one of Candace I forgot to share yesterday:
There was the slightest bit of color in those trees, so Candace tried her best to trudge through the weeds and stand in front of them; this angle was the only one I could get to and manage to get any of the purple buds in the shot. It’s weird, but I kind of like it. Moving on now to Tamara:
There’s the big-ass hair wreath I got for a steal off Etsy; it matched this old ball gown nicely. The sleeves on this dress absolutely make it; they are long and light and flowy and take wonderful photos, so I blew the fan on her and told her to just wave her arms around while I took some shots.
I did less processing to this second shot, although I still did some – I kept the color more true to the original though, and didn’t use any filters. I rarely smile in my own shots as I tend not to look natural when smiling for a camera, so I’m always glad to get a nice shot of someone with a lovely smile – and this one came out great.
I also loved this next one, but it came out a bit yellow in spite of my ExpoDisc, and try as I might I couldn’t correct it without something else going wrong, color-wise:
Notice this one was taken on the fabulous front porch I was so excited to use. Another thing you’ll probably notice is that I barely took any shots using it. There are a few reasons for that: first of all, when I got to the space the woman working there informed me that they actually don’t allow any outside shooting due to liability issues. I guess my disappointment was evident, because she ended up agreeing to let me shoot on the porch as long as I didn’t tell anyone (which of course I just did, oops), but quite honestly after shooting inside for two hours I was pretty burned out and not all that excited about using the porch – I’m sure the fact that I knew we weren’t supposed to shoot out there probably affected my attitude as well, as I am generally a rule-follower and wasn’t anxious to go take pictures somewhere I wasn’t supposed to. The other reason was that the night before the shoot a slight cool front blew in, and it was a little cold outside, so Tamara wasn’t all that game for hanging out on the porch anyway. In the end, this is one of the few shots I took out there that I liked, but I really loved it, in spite of the yellowness.
Right at the end of the shoot, Tamara pulled a prop chair onto the set and just started posing in it very spontaneously, which I liked but unfortunately most of the shots are a mess because I was just sitting on the floor and feeling tired and sloppy so the framing is all wonky. This one came out great, but in looking over it now, I think I may have overprocessed it:
I thought there was something interesting about this shot, her expression is stern in a very vintage way, but the pose is so relaxed; I really liked the contrast. Also proud of the fact that her boots were actually black, but I managed to tint them dark blue without it being obvious. Oh, and throughout the shoot she was complaining about her being too flat, so I actually fluffed it up using some Photoshop trickery. Here’s the pre-Pixlr’ed version, though, which I’m starting to think I like better:
In looking the two over now, I think the Pixlr version has too much going on. What do you think?
I like the first picture the best. The fur coat makes her seem kind of Owl-like to me.
She does have very big, expressive eyes. They are like anime eyes to me.
C and T must be happy with these portraits. I like the outdoor shot because it does remind me of the Anthropologie catalogs, taken on location. That wreath does pop out. (I realize that what I like about your own self-portraits is that you manage to make yourself look so different in each one. I am not sure every face can be so versatile.) 🙂
In my own portraits I tend to look for weird expressions, and I do try to make them too. I think when someone else is game for that it can work, but if they aren’t you can’t force them! I think part of shooting others is to tap into what they want the end result to be, and if the sense is that they want to look pretty in the traditional sense I have to go with that. I didn’t think it would be the same kind of fun to work with more traditional portraits (aside from the costumes) but since it’s not my face, it’s actually still fun!
Oh def, I am sure most people want to look as good as possible. Funny, I wasn’t thinking of your quirky selfies, I was thinking more of how different your face looks based on the makeup and lighting you use, as well as all the varied hairstyles. I was attributing that to the structure of your particular face but perhaps you could do that with anyone, given that latitude. I just don’t know. I do know that when I have had professional pictures taken, I always seem to look exactly the same, for good or bad, lol.
Love the bright colourful shots best of all 😉
Of the bottom two the very last one has better complexion colour.
Thanks – I agree about the bottom shot. It’s more clear and the colors are stronger.
I like them all but I really like the first one best!
Thanks – I like that one too!