Rebel (Model: Ace)

I have yet to find books on modeling, so I've been using actual modeling pictures for references. The pose for the first Rebel shot was actually out of the blue, to me at least. I tried to have his face more toward the camera but wanted to keep his shoulders facing away from the camera, but it didn't go well for that shot. Into the second, I had hooked my camera to the TV to keep him entertained while he was posing and to help him pick up a suitable pose or not. I was using a floor lamp with five light bulbs located near the camera and yet another with just one directly beside Ace. The backdrop was a dirty white sheet but it came out better than the one with the pattern on it from "Everlasting Innocence". I think I'm starting to improve. I've been making mistakes, too, but realizing them every now and then. ^^

Never heard of Amherst but I will definitely look them up. I was looking often at the library or at a bookstore miles away from here. Thanks, Ryan! =)

Found some interesting books and saving up for them now. Thanks, man! So what do you think of the photos?

That's what was bothering me about that one too. Generally you want the subject looking in to the frame, not out of it like in the second image. He wouldn't look nearly as cramped if the open space was in front of his face, or if the open space was removed.

Sidney, your black and white conversions are really, really flat. Not every image converts well to black and white, so you really have to be judicious when selecting one for such a treatment. I did a quick adjustment to show you what I mean. If you compare yours to mine, you'll see how flat the black and white conversion is on yours.

You entitled this "Rebel" which states to me that you want this to have a hard edge to it. I'm not seeing it here. His expression is rather sedate and nothing screams "Rebel" to me. I can see you tried to make him look tougher with the head scarf, but my eyes are drawn to the words, not the image. Be really careful when selecting something with words as the eye is automatically drawn to them. A plain scarf would have been better, and one worn not in the "Mrs. Butterworth" style.

What is your reasoning behind using the filters?

Well, since you don't know the use of it, that might be telling you something right there.

Read this: http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/filters.htm

A polarizer will indeed reduce reflections. But, what reflections are you trying to reduce? For a portrait you want reflections of the catch lights in the eyes. A polarizer also only blocks light waves coming in certain directions. This is why a circular polarizer is turned to dial it in to block reflections that come from the side. Straight on they don't do too much. Go find some water outside with the sun shining on it and play around with your polaraizer, that is where you will really see what it does.

As far as a UV filter goes, most modern digital sensors don't need them unless you're going to do some long exposures straight up at the sun. In the early days the sensors themselves weren't coated and could potentially be damaged by intense UV light. Nowadays, not so much. Also, unless you're using a tanning bed for a light source UV is going to be a non-issue in a studio setting.

Everything has a purpose, and there is a purpose for everything. Experimenting is great. But make sure you're not doing something just because it's there. Don't feel bad though, we've all done it. Most of us probably have a drawer full of gizmos that we believed were to be used all the time.