Kristina

This is good news. Kristina wrote this afternoon to tell me her modeling agency wants to use this image as her main commercial shot for their website. Modeling agencies are very particular about the type and quality of images they use, so this made my day!

It was 18 degrees (F) in Columbus Ohio when we created this image (2:55 pm, Dec. 24) and she is dressed for summer (we did winter looks on a different shoot). There was a breeze and it was cold. She did a great job of not looking cold.

It was a sunny day so we were on the north side of a building to have soft light, and the building had a plain stucco finish which made for a non-distracting background. On the north side of a building on a sunny day the light is cool/bluish so set the white balance on your camera for “Shade” or do a custom white balance. If you don’t, your subjects skin will have a cool cast.

A short telephoto focal length creates a really nice perspective for a head and shoulders portrait. For this photo I was at 120 mm. I used a fairly wide aperture to blur the background and an ISO of 400 to give me a fast shutter speed.

Kristina – Closeup (click to see a larger version)

In case you are wondering, the Canon EF70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM is a very good lens. This closeup is after I have done some careful softening of her skin and pores. You can see the edge of her contact lens in the inner white of her eye and the reflection of me (standing) in the middle of her iris. You can also see the reflection of her lashes in the upper and lower part of her iris.

Photo Data: Canon 5D Mark III. Canon EF70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM lens at 120 mm. 1/320 sec,  f/5.6,  ISO 400.