First Shot With An Umbrella :O C&C?

PatrickCheung

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my westcott 43'' white convertible umbrella came in the mail today... happy day! anyway, i took my first shot with it before i ventured out into the cold to shoot some film. here it is! i took it with the Nikon E Series 50/1.8, edited on lightroom and photoshop (how's the editing?). C&C very welcome!

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I like it! nice lighting and tones... looks great!!! I will be ordering an umbrella soon too for the first time... hope mine comes out as nice as yours! great job for your first use with it!!

I think the editing is fine... I'd edit a bit more of the blemishes (but that's just personal preference... some don't mind it and others do... i personally love using PP to give me the skin I dont have... lol!!) and maybe crop a little below the shirt neckline instead of cropping on it... that will give you a longer appearance rather than the crop looking a bit stubby. I'd also center it just a tad more to the left... i like the off center you were going for but your right shoulder disappeared... center your body a little more left, it will still give that "off center" feel but not scream for someone to want to add in one of those bubble captions "hi my name is..." lol! great job though!
 
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haha thanks guys!

yeah about the crop, there actually was none XD i wanted to do a portrait with my E Series 50/1.8 today, and my house is SMALL... i tried to fit all my lights and that big umbrella in the living room, and... well... i ran out of space. so i had a super close crop.

:p the blemishes... i WOULD edit them out if it didnt take so much time! i'm horrible at editing things out of photos. plus, i think it's who i am. acneboy HAHA. i don't mind my blemishes :]
 
haha thanks guys!

yeah about the crop, there actually was none XD i wanted to do a portrait with my E Series 50/1.8 today, and my house is SMALL... i tried to fit all my lights and that big umbrella in the living room, and... well... i ran out of space. so i had a super close crop.

:p the blemishes... i WOULD edit them out if it didnt take so much time! i'm horrible at editing things out of photos. plus, i think it's who i am. acneboy HAHA. i don't mind my blemishes :]

awww, you're not acneboy! I think its great you embrace all of your given features... I wish I had that kind of self-confidence! :alien:
 
I like it! nice lighting and tones... looks great!!! I will be ordering an umbrella soon too for the first time... hope mine comes out as nice as yours! great job for your first use with it!!

I think the editing is fine... I'd edit a bit more of the blemishes (but that's just personal preference... some don't mind it and others do... i personally love using PP to give me the skin I dont have... lol!!) and maybe crop a little below the shirt neckline instead of cropping on it... that will give you a longer appearance rather than the crop looking a bit stubby. I'd also center it just a tad more to the left... i like the off center you were going for but your right shoulder disappeared... center your body a little more left, it will still give that "off center" feel but not scream for someone to want to add in one of those bubble captions "hi my name is..." lol! great job though!

i agree :thumbup:
 
I think that in males, blemishes are just fine, as long as your subject is over the age of, say, 16. Then it is just personal preference as to whether or not you want to do something about them. One of my mentors told me once that someones skin tells a story about their life. While this was more a comment on older people (like, much older), the same applies in this situation. I think that what you said is certainly correct, your blemishes give you character. And it is the right style of picture for the blemishes to be left in it as well
 
Sorry.....I guess I must be the only one, but I think the light still looks pretty harsh. You have hot spots all over the face...Nose, Cheek, Upper lip, and even a small portion of the lower lip. His white shirt is completely blown out as well with no detail.

How close did you have the umbrella to him? From what I can see, you need a little more distance between him and the umbrella to "soften" the light more....that or you just had the flash power cranked too high.
 
woah, i thought this thread was dead!

thanks for the C&C guys! and yeah, i don't really like doing heavy blemish removals (i guess like softening out skin is like my max, i do that with almost all portraits though haha) unless someone requests it. as weird and cheesy as it sounds, it feels like i'm not capturing who they are...

nate! i'm gonna guess the hotspots are where my face goes white? well the ones on the left side of my face (camera left) are caused by the umbrella, it was about... 3 or 4 feet away from me... at about 1/2 power. there was another flash (practically bare) behind me, which caused the hot spot on my right (camera right) cheek. i was told by a friend that the original image was a bit too dark, so i added some fill light which might've blown out the shirt a bit and amplified the hotspots (which weren't as noticeable in the original). my umbrella and flash were about as far away from me as i could get them (i shot this in my living room... tiny living room) so i can't really do anything about that D: i'll turn the power down a bit next time though! thanks! :]
 
You say it is a convertible umbrella. How were you using this, as a bounce umbrella or shoot through? I have a white 33" shoot through that I primarily use....get very, very soft light every time regardless of how close I have it. You might try using it as a shoot through if you can/haven't.

I think your main problem though lies with too much power so definitely try that first. Good luck with your shooting and have fun...off camera flash is a blast.
 
:p shoot through! you can compare the effects of my umbrella vs a bare flash by looking at the left and right side of my face (err camera left and right). left = brolly, right = bare.

yup, my problem is definately power though... i think i'm usually 1 or 2 stops too high. D:
 

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