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Samia
byAndrewStewart
I recently moved
from landscape
to portraiture.
This image was
ta ken on my very
fir st shoot! After
shooting in China Town we
came across this doorway–
I really liked the tiles and the
way the light was reflecting.
I attempted to use the pattern
to subtly frame Samia’s face.
The main challenge was not
having a flash or reflector to
fil l in some of the harsher
shadows. instagram.com/
iamandrewstewartLouise says: This is a
striking portrait, and Andrew
has captured some amazing
li ghting. While a reflector
or fill-in flash can provide
great results, they would
override the natural shadows
fa lling across Samia’s face,
which would be a shame.
The patterned background
works really well, as it adds
a hint of intrigue to the image
without distracting from the
main subject.
The model’s clothing is
slightly unfortunate. With a
dark background, dark hair
and a dark turtleneck top,
Samia’s face is ‘floating’ in the
scene as the only point of
contrast. If we were able to
see Samia’s neck, this would
rectify the problem.Additionally,while
Andrew’s editing works well
fr om afar, up close the skinis
unnaturally blurred, leaving
an uncomfortable divide
between the overly-processed
skin and the sharpness of the
eyes and lips. With just a
quick change of clothes and
a lighter touch in post-
processing, Andrew’s image
could turn out very nicely
indeed. He’s captured a
genuine moment and, as this
was his first shoot, we’re
looking forward to seeing
what he creates next.Ratherthanusing an indiscriminate
blurringfilter,it’s far better to edit
theskinyourself using the Spot
Healing Brush Tool. This tool is
available in many programs, but
we’re using Photoshop. Hit the
J ke y to switch to the Spot Healing Brush Tool and use
thesquarebracket keys to increase or decrease the
brushsize.Set a size that’s a little bit larger than the
blemish you want to clone and then click on it to erase it.
This technique will clean up the skin while retaining the
texture that’s important for a realistic finish.Retain skin textureThebackdrop
adds a hint
of intrigue
without
distracting
from the
subject
Sony α6400 | 50mm | 1/160sec | f/1.8 | ISO 800