First time with umbrella (self portrait and other) C&C please

[NateS]

Okay.....this is 100% new territory for me. I know I need to refresh on the strobist website. This was my first time using an umbrella and my first ever attempt at a self portrait. Serious C&C needed/wanted and any comments welcomed. (I suck as a photo subject by the way as I'm not very photogenic).

First......me

Second, my wife and son (both of them are sick so I had about 2 minutes worth of "shoot" time and only one worthwile shot)

Setup was a white shoot through umbrella 33" about 2-3 feet away to the camera right (subject left). SB-600 firing through the umbrella. Don't remember the settings, but I was using a fairly high aperture and high SS to blacken the background.

 

[NateS]

Man.....I really need to calibrate my home Monitor. These were look much darker today on my laptop.

Anybody? Doe this mean that I'm good enough to not get critique's, yet bad enough to get no comments?

 

[Steph]

First of all I don't know a thing about artificial lighting so take my comments with a pinch of salt. What I like: the catchlights in your eyes; I think they contribute to attract the attention of the viewer to the eyes. What I don't like: the fact that you cannot distinguish your hair (and your wife's) from the dark background.

 

[NateS]

First of all I don't know a thing about artificial lighting so take my comments with a pinch of salt. What I like: the catchlights in your eyes; I think they contribute to attract the attention of the viewer to the eyes. What I don't like: the fact that you cannot distinguish your hair (and your wife's) from the dark background.

Thanks for your comments. I agree about the hair and on my home flatscreen you could see more of it.....it's much brighter though. I'm guessing that it will be hard to fix this problem with a single strobe and having the background completely dark. I'll have some better go's with it when my wife and kid feel better.

 

[schumionbike]

hey, I kind of like your first one, the only thing is you seem to be glue to the background and there is no sense of separation. The second one, well, the color rendition isn't great and there's a shadow on the kid face. And finally, I think you are one of those people who is good enough not to get a critique but bad enough not to get a comment. lol.

 

[NateS]

hey, I kind of like your first one, the only thing is you seem to be glue to the background and there is no sense of separation. The second one, well, the color rendition isn't great and there's a shadow on the kid face. And finally, I think you are one of those people who is good enough not to get a critique but bad enough not to get a comment. lol.

Thanks, and I agree about the bad enough / good enough. It's just hard though cause I want to improve. I understand about the background seperation. I need a second strobe to fire from behind to help with that, so that may be my next purchase.

 

[Wyjid]

ok. trying to reverse engineer lighting is tough. i love the lighting on your face. the catch light is nice, but i'd prefer it a little further to the left, it encroaches on your pupil a bit (this said, i prefer the shadow on you face, fiddleing with the catchlight could mess that so try moving it in PP). the one thing im not crazy about in the first pic is the way your ear is lit. id like it a bit darker, a bit more in shadow, or at the very least, not quite so disembodied looking. this is where a fill flash really helps. you can light that side of your face just enough so that it's there but not glaring like it is now. personaly i don't mind not seeing your hair, but you're wifes is a bit different style, so... well, you know, it's already been mentioned.

 

[NateS]

ok. trying to reverse engineer lighting is tough. i love the lighting on your face. the catch light is nice, but i'd prefer it a little further to the left, it encroaches on your pupil a bit (this said, i prefer the shadow on you face, fiddleing with the catchlight could mess that so try moving it in PP). the one thing im not crazy about in the first pic is the way your ear is lit. id like it a bit darker, a bit more in shadow, or at the very least, not quite so disembodied looking. this is where a fill flash really helps. you can light that side of your face just enough so that it's there but not glaring like it is now. personaly i don't mind not seeing your hair, but you're wifes is a bit different style, so... well, you know, it's already been mentioned.

Thanks for the detailed reply. I see what you mean about my ear and I can probably fix that with a simple control point in PP. I'll give this another try sometime soon and I'll try to remember your thoughts when I do.