The rare appearance of my munchkins.

JustJazzie · Oct 30, 2014

I usually don't post pictures of the kiddos online because DH hates it. He begrudgingly agreed for me to post these for critique. This was pretty much just a lighting exercise and nothing terribly serious, I took E. Rose's suggestion from last time and moved my key light, (shower curtain) as far up as I could, turned my window curtains around so the white lining was faced in and bounced off of that. Hung another shower curtain, with a white reflector behind it on a boom stand camera left for a reflector.

These don't look as sharp on here as they do on my desktop, perhaps my export settings? ( I chose them at random because TPF said my originals were too big) anyways, C&C appreciated as always

1) Zaide- I know the posing isn't perfect on this, he wouldn't sit still if his life depended on it.

2) Zander. Oh my, is his hair DENSE. His face was super bright and I still nearly lost detail in his hair, I tried to bring it back as much as possible without it looking fake. Did I bring it back enough?

tirediron · Oct 30, 2014

Nicely done; I think the exposure on the faces could stand to be dialed back just a hair, but other than that, it works well.

JustJazzie · Oct 30, 2014

tirediron said:
Nicely done; I think the exposure on the faces could stand to be dialed back just a hair, but other than that, it works well.

I did wonder this, but my monitor is not calibrated so I often rely on my histogram in Aperture3. Thanks for the suggestion!

Big Mike · Oct 30, 2014

I'm a bit confused by the description of your lighting. What are you using for lights besides curtains?

The light is certainly nice and soft and you have a nice key to fill ratio, so whatever you're doing, the results look good to me.

2) Zander. Oh my, is his hair DENSE. His face was super bright and I still nearly lost detail in his hair, I tried to bring it back as much as possible without it looking fake. Did I bring it back enough?

Your key light (camera left) is too low. I can see that the catchlights in his eyes are at 8:30-9:00 where they should probably be at 10:00. Also, I can see that the shadow of his nose is going across, even up his face a little bit. For a basic 'loop' lighting style, the nose shadow should be cast in a downward angle.

Having the light up higher, would also have the added benefit of putting more light onto his hair so you wouldn't have to pull detail out in post.

Also, for portrait photography, it's not uncommon to have a 'hair light' that is specifically for lighting up the subject's hair.

JustJazzie · Oct 30, 2014

Big Mike said:
I'm a bit confused by the description of your lighting. What are you using for lights besides curtains?

The light is certainly nice and soft and you have a nice key to fill ratio, so whatever you're doing, the results look good to me.

2) Zander. Oh my, is his hair DENSE. His face was super bright and I still nearly lost detail in his hair, I tried to bring it back as much as possible without it looking fake. Did I bring it back enough?

Click to expand...

Your key light (camera left) is too low. I can see that the catchlights in his eyes are at 8:30-9:00 where they should probably be at 10:00. Also, I can see that the shadow of his nose is going across, even up his face a little bit. For a basic 'loop' lighting style, the nose shadow should be cast in a downward angle.

Having the light up higher, would also have the added benefit of putting more light onto his hair so you wouldn't have to pull detail out in post.

Also, for portrait photography, it's not uncommon to have a 'hair light' that is specifically for lighting up the subject's hair.

The key light is a studio strobe pointed at the wall, bounced back through the shower curtains. The fill is just a shower curtain with a reflector behind it, I thought perhaps that would help soften and spread the light from my smallish reflector.

I normally do place my lights higher, but I can't reach the power button that tall, so when I shut them off from the first set, I forgot to raise it back up. *sigh* I didn't notice until I went to turn it back off again, and the kids were over the whole "modeling thing" It was better than my first mistake of thinking I could "eyeball" the metering from the lcd screen for the first set. Someday I'll quit making these newbie mistakes, surely.

It's hard (for me) to place the lights with the setup I have because the modeling light is so diffused that I can't see shadows well. Perhaps if I aim the light at him to get the right heighth/shadows and then flip it around it would be easier?

As for the hair light, I will probably have to use on on him next time, but I was hoping to avoid it for no real valid reason. I don't think the little one needed it, but obviously my oldest one did.

Thanks for taking the time to help me!

Designer · Oct 30, 2014

I attempted to view the focus point but it did not register, so I am wondering how you focused. I'm not the best at judging focus, but it looks to me as if you focused on his shirt (#1) instead of his eyes.

JustJazzie · Oct 30, 2014

Designer said:
I attempted to view the focus point but it did not register, so I am wondering how you focused. I'm not the best at judging focus, but it looks to me as if you focused on his shirt (#1) instead of his eyes.

I use single point and set it over his eye. I was shooting at f4 though hoping to get rid of imperfections In the background and my kids ARE wiggly so I can't promise he didn't move when I snapped it.

Designer · Oct 30, 2014

Do you agree that the shirt looks sharp?

JustJazzie · Oct 30, 2014

Designer said:
Do you agree that the shirt looks sharp?

Darnit, I thought you said number two! Yes, I see it now. It is soft.

Designer · Oct 30, 2014

I honestly don't know how you're going to get him to pose again, but try.

Does the focus point stay on his eye, or do you move it off to recompose?

JustJazzie · Oct 30, 2014

Designer said:
I honestly don't know how you're going to get him to pose again, but try.

Does the focus point stay on his eye, or do you move it off to recompose?

I try to keep it on his eye. He is EXTREMELY wiggly though. One of the many reasons I don't actually enjoy shooting kids, but Ive gotta practice on someone right?! I guess I will have to stop down to like 8 ish or so to make sure I get something next time.

JustJazzie · Oct 30, 2014

Here is one with better focus. I just preferred his pose in the other one I guess. Thanks for catching that Designer! I really need to STOP editing at night, and posting before coffee but alas, I am a creature of old habits.

pgriz · Oct 30, 2014

You know, there are all kinds of uses for duct tape.

Just kidding...

Try bribery - if you get the shot you want, THEN they get a small treat. :clap:

Designer · Oct 30, 2014

As a side note; (and I believe I may have already mentioned this in a previous thread) I was completely worn out once when my DIL asked me to get some pictures of her children in their TKD uniforms. Just getting from that point to the first shot was about an hour and a half. I kid you not. I was so tired of fighting/cajoling/bribing/threatening that the entire shoot was stopped (I quit) in about 20 minutes.

Uff-da!

JustJazzie · Oct 30, 2014

Designer said:
As a side note; (and I believe I may have already mentioned this in a previous thread) I was completely worn out once when my DIL asked me to get some pictures of her children in their TKD uniforms. Just getting from that point to the first shot was about an hour and a half. I kid you not. I was so tired of fighting/cajoling/bribing/threatening that the entire shoot was stopped (I quit) in about 20 minutes.

Uff-da!

At least we know why the kids in old time photos (you know, the kind that took ages expose) look so sad, they were under threat of their lives to stand still!