Presenting Dominic

Some shots from a shoot with Dominic, a student at the college where I work. You've probably seen him before in some of the shots I've take of the glassblowers we have on campus. Dominic has never modeled before but I thought he'd make a great subject and he foolishly agreed to accompany Jessica and I out to the Elfin Forest for Sunday morning shoot. These are some of what I feel are my better shots; comments, critique are welcome as always. I'm really trying to improve my portraiture and I'm finding it's much more difficult than I imagined. It IS a lot of fun, though and Dominic was a lot of fun to work with. We had to snag him before he moves out of state and heads to Washington state to study at Pilchuck Glass School in just a few short weeks.

Anyway... On to the photos!
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Dominic, #1​

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Dominic, #2​

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Dominic, #3​

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Dominic, #4​

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Dominic, #5​

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Fill flash in any?

Pretzel said:

Fill flash in any?

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I'm guessing it's a good sign you can't tell for sure?




/Yes, in a couple...
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Horoscope Fish said:

I'm guessing it's a good sign you can't tell for sure?




/Yes, in a couple...
....

Click to expand...

Reason I asked - I could see the catch light in a couple of the shots, but was missing it in a couple as well. (guessing at 1 and 4 without looking too close)

Shot 1. Is he looking at the camera, or is he not? (suspecting he's not, but his line of sight is so close, it's distracting trying to figure it out!)

Shot 2. Maybe not so dead on, but shoot off to the left a bit? Or up and to the left?

I'm not a portrait pro, by any means, nor do I have a lot of posing experience, but all in all I like the shots. You seem to get your subjects to do what you're thinking, and the metering/lighting is done well! This dabbling of yours is showing definite advances in hitting that lighting mix, IMO.

Pretzel said:

Reason I asked - I could see the catch light in a couple of the shots, but was missing it in a couple as well. (guessing at 1 and 4 without looking too close)

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We started shooting in the morning, shortly before 10 I'd say. At that time the light was bright but the skies were overcast. HA! We shot with impunity! We laughed... We danced! The shots... They poured forth! Then, at some point, the sun came out and totally harshed our collective mellow with the predictable shadows and dappling our light. We shook our tiny, impotent fists and pulled out our strobes; thumbing our noses as we did so. So yeah, there's a seriously mixed bag of lighting.

Pretzel said:

Shot 1. Is he looking at the camera, or is he not? (suspecting he's not, but his line of sight is so close, it's distracting trying to figure it out!)

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LOL... It is a bit distracting now that you mention it. He had a habit of looking intently into the lens and I was trying to get him to look away slightly to soften the impact. There were a LOT of shots taken and I have a feeling what you're seeing in #1 was a result of my trying to get him not to "stare" into the camera. So many freaking details when working with models! GAH!

Thank you for your input, by the way!

Horoscope Fish said:

Thank you for your input, by the way!

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No problem, friend. Gotta have something to fill the bins with, or they'd all be empty and useless.

Hi
1 and 4 , I like a lot , 2 is a bit cold for me and 5 is good , just seems a little over pp , maybe too much sharpening ?
But he'll who am I well done pal

Gteat shots. All photos are showing different motions. I love the smile of Dominic.

the b/w version is such a powerful photo