Sarah

[Mary Sparrow]

Point taken. You are right. I just REALLY wanted to paint her, had a fleeting 10 minutes to try to snap some things before they left for home once the urge hit me.

The "pearl girl" picture, as mentioned before was taken as a "snapshot".

My main reason for showing the first three was to see if I was getting the hang - (in your professional opinions) of setting up the light properly when I am taking the pictures. For years I never understood what I was even trying to do with the camera.

I don't know what posessed me to throw that third one in there except for the fact that it was my personal favorite, despite the poor lighting. I think I was secretly hoping someone would tell me to use it!

The expression in the first one however, really captures "Sarah".

[Chris Saper]

Mary,

Yes you defintiely have the "hang " of it - the lighting in the first three is gorgeous, and they would be a pleasure to have as resources.

The Pearl Girl , though is so very compelling, and I think really the most engaging image. Cindy, nice job of tweaking the temp - Mary, if you have the time, why don't you just give it a try? The biggest problem may be the resolution. There is though a lot going for this image, even if you end up not using it as a portfolio piece. ( I have thrown out tons of portraits, as I am sure everyone here has) There is the challenge of two different lighting temperatures, which would be great fun, and a useful exercise. Lovely reflected color as well. You will want to play with the value of the background befor you begin, especially if you are going to do a vignette with La Carte. You might go with a different color/value paper in that case.

Here's a later PS:

Think about painting this as a study to work out all that you want - then when you photograph her again you will know just what you want to do, not just lighting, but background, clothing etc.

[Kimberly Dow]

Personally I love the first one - it has a nice angelic look going on. She looks more innocent in that one as well. The pearl one is great, except for that furrowed brow thing going on.

Just my 2-cents.