Charles Shepherd
October 2026 - Evie
Original
About the Image(s)
Another mono portrait and again relatively recent (9th September)
Olympus EM-1 mk3, 25mm, ISO 200, F7.1, 1/160th
Single honeycombed flash head.
As you can see from the original I managed to lose part of the models feet so had to crop to try & rescue the image.
I quite like the pose and the way the light focusses on the model's face - but have misgivings about the straight arms, I usually prefer slightly bent arms.
Do you think the crop appropriate? Also I've used a white vignette - would it be better as a black one?
6 comments posted
Hi Charles: I'm so not a portrait photographer. I will make a couple of novice comments that I see. I love the color image more that the black and white. The white vignette is drawing my eye to the outside areas of the photograph. I agree with you that black may have been better. Also, her left wrist appears disjointed. I think you cropped it well. It is still a lovely image. Thank you for sharing your talents with us. Posted: 10/02/2026 22:39:28
This is a lovely portraiture of a young woman.
I like the color image better, but the black and white works too for me. That said, I would have gone with a dark vignette on black and white.
Her pose looks a bit uncomfortable with her leaning back and her left arm straight behind her.
Thank you, for a lovely portraiture. Posted: 10/06/2026 14:14:06
I like the color image better, but the black and white works too for me. That said, I would have gone with a dark vignette on black and white.
Her pose looks a bit uncomfortable with her leaning back and her left arm straight behind her.
Thank you, for a lovely portraiture. Posted: 10/06/2026 14:14:06
Charles: This is a wonderful image. The flash works exceptionally well for this one and your chosen crop is fantastic given your stated "rescue" of losing the tip of her foot. I once again (as with last month) find your monochrome version more appealing than the native color. I also do not find the position of her arms to be bothersome in any way.
I do like this better with a dark vignette myself. I am also a fan of sepia tone and find the faux leather couch, sequined dress and fair skin of the model to lend themselves well to it with this image. The attached is one quick example. The only other tweaks were eliminating one oddly placed bright/reflective sequin on the edge of her dress immediately below her right thumb, and cleaning up a bright reflection point on the top of the vase that the fern is sitting in. Posted: 10/11/2026 22:12:52
I do like this better with a dark vignette myself. I am also a fan of sepia tone and find the faux leather couch, sequined dress and fair skin of the model to lend themselves well to it with this image. The attached is one quick example. The only other tweaks were eliminating one oddly placed bright/reflective sequin on the edge of her dress immediately below her right thumb, and cleaning up a bright reflection point on the top of the vase that the fern is sitting in. Posted: 10/11/2026 22:12:52
James I like your edit also. Posted: 10/20/2026 14:02:09
Charles, This is a great image of a beautiful model. I also liked the one by you that was featured as a lead for the PSA entitled "Fur Collar." I would weigh in for the dark vignette. The cropping was fine. I read that eliminating part of a limb is okay if the transaction is not actually at the joint. Excellent image! Posted: 10/17/2026 19:16:00
Charles, I liked your black and white, though James's sepia really works well. I wouldn't have thought of it. Definitely the dark vignette, I couldn't figure out what bothered me until I realized the white drew my eye away from your lovely portrait. Getting a model to do exactly what you want is tough but I like the leaning back pose. Good crop and placement of your model. Posted: 10/19/2026 01:15:32