composing close-ups

[SrBiscuit]

close-ups are one area that im very interested in experimenting with.
i see pics that people take where the subjects face or some area of the body takes up most of the frame.
i really like the look of images like that, and never really played around with the concept.
here's a spur of the moment attempt to achieve it. not sure it's exactly what i was going for but im open to suggestions.

thanks for looking.

 

[musicaleCA]

Well you're lighting is pretty awesome. Soft and directional. However I'd PP the catchlights to be in an 11 or 1 o'clock position, and take a little more care while shooting to place them correctly.

 

[SrBiscuit]

yeah good call...they are right smack in the middle huh?
thanks for the props on the lighting...nothing special really...sb-600 powered down shooting left to bounce off the wall.
how can i move my catchlights when i take the pic?...obviously move the flash right?
i have a cable i could go off cam with it (still trying to justify some triggers). would that suffice you think?

 

[musicaleCA]

Yeah, when you're this close you probably won't even have to hold it out at arm's length to place the catchlights correctly, though you might have to chimp the screen a little to make sure you're putting them in the right spot.

And "nothing special" isn't quite fair. I mean, you used a single flash, but you used it effectively by bouncing it, which removed the "flashy" feel entirely.

Given where you're bouncing the light, you might want to move it left, just so that the catchlights and direction of the lighting don't contradict each other.

 

[SrBiscuit]

awesome!
thanks for the pointers. can i ask what you mean by chimping the screen?
we'll see what kind of mood he's in tonight...sometimes hes a ham...other times he takes after my wife..."get that thing outta here...i am NOT camera ready!"

 

[musicaleCA]

Bahahaha. No problem. As for "chimping"...I guess I've picked that up from JerryPH on here. He's used it from time to time. By it, I mean checking the LCD display to make sure you're lighting correctly, in this case. So, looking at the display and zooming on the eyes to check catchlights.

 

[Dao]

I like the texture and the BW here.

But I do not like the way the head sit on top on something and tilted upward. Got a strange feeling on that.

 

[Samanax]

Nice B&W conversion. A little too much sharpness/detail for me though...has a hard quality.

 

[Bee Bee]

I like this! xxx

 

[IgsEMT]

Also on sharpness, since you are post processing it, keep the eyes nice and sparkly while softening the rest a bit.

 

[Markw]

I like the over-sharpening on this shot. And as to what his head is on, that would be a feline.

Mark