A few for C&C

[Jace]

Morning all! I was supposed to shoot with a new person yesterday, but it fell through so I knocked my wife over the head and hauled her out. I like how some of these came out, and her friends love them, so I thought I'd post a few here to bring it back down to earth since I'm sure I missed some things or could have done something better.

All of these were shot around 5-6pm using a 50mm at 2.8 or higher I believe, using an external flash unit. Exposure was a nightmare with the shirt she wore, but I tried to fix it in PP so it's not too bad, but there are still hot spots on some of them.


1*

Neli by rxmphotog, on Flickr


2*

Neli by rxmphotog, on Flickr


3* (too cool?)

Neli by rxmphotog, on Flickr


4*

Neli by rxmphotog, on Flickr



Ok, this one.. I never really do the tilt angle thing, but she has incredibly long legs and without stepping into the forest, or lake, it was going to be really hard to get her whole body into the shot. Not sure if the pose made her look awkward or not, and wish I would have shot from a lower angle, but does a tilted angle work in situations like this?

5*

Neli by rxmphotog, on Flickr



After I look at it I see I did have space on her right, not sure what the deal was. Should have went in for a tighter crop. Oh well!

 

[tirediron]

C&C per req:

Nice set; good work. You can't even see the bruise where you conked her! I really like #1. Normally, the hair all over the place would bother me, but in this case, I think it works well. Unfortunately, I think you should have stopped down a bit further. I can't tell from your EXIF, but I'm guessing you were using a 1.8 at 1.8? Her eyes are sharp, but the focus starts to fall off around her mouth. You also need to get the flash off of the camera and move those catch lights a bit.
#2 has her too close to the LH edge, and you've lost a lot of detail through over-exposure (next time, have her change to a darker shirt before knocking & dragging).

#3 I like this one as well, but you've lost a lot of shirt detail and her face seems to have an odd slightly green cast (easily corrected). This should have been shot in portrait IMO, so that we could see her hands on her hips.

#4 Shirt as per avoce, other than that, very nice. I prefer to see more empty space in front rather than behind the subject.

#5 Minor WB issues here, but good exposure. I think if you roated this so that she appeared level, it would be even stronger.

Overall, a really nice set; well done!

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.

~John

 

[Jace]

Thanks John! Maybe I should just start PMing you these, lol.

On the first one it was shot at 2.5, but I may have been either too far away or too close. Probably too far I'm thinking?

On 2, (It was a sexy shirt though!)

Yeah... on this one, 3, I was shooting lower just to see how it would come out (holding the camera lower I mean) so didn't think to take it vertical. I really wish I would have though, I love her expression in it.

Spaaaaace. I think I see my problem. I'm doing my best with the RO3, but I'm right dominant so it seems like in almost all my pictures I put the main subject in the right side of the screen if possible, which doesn't always work out as you can see. Will work on mixing it up when the pose needs it!

I think I'm blind to this one, to be honest. It's like to me SHE looks even, or horizontal at least, and the background is askew. Am I missing your meaning on rotating her?

Thanks again, as always =)

 

[Jace]

Oh! And as far as off-camera flash goes, I'm looking at some wireless triggers but it's hard finding them for Sony. I have found one that's relatively cheap and seems to work well for the price and what it does, but I'm not sure if it will be compatible with my non-sony brand flash. I really, really want an off-cam flash though, since I don't have a reflector stand and it gets fairly windy sometimes here.

 

[tirediron]

"LH" = Left Hand

Here's a quick edit rotating slightly to the right. Unfortunately it causes her back to be cropped slightly. In my mind, having her feet at or below the level of her butt looks more natural.

 

[Ballistics]

These look great. What's the setup like (camera, flash etc)

 

[tirediron]

Oh! And as far as off-camera flash goes, I'm looking at some wireless triggers but it's hard finding them for Sony. I have found one that's relatively cheap and seems to work well for the price and what it does, but I'm not sure if it will be compatible with my non-sony brand flash. I really, really want an off-cam flash though, since I don't have a reflector stand and it gets fairly windy sometimes here.

Wish I could help you, but other than knowing Sony uses a unique hotshoe, I know nothing about their system. There have been a couple of threads about that recently. Maybe a post in the Sony equipment forum?

 

[Jace]

Yeah that's my next step after I do some more research on the cowboy setup, posting in the Sony forum for the ten people that shoot Sony here. I swear, I love my camera, but sometimes I wish I would have gone Canon or Nikon just for the more stuff that's available. Ah well. And I like your edit! So in your opinion, did me doing this shot tilted like I did not ruin it? Though I guess there really isn't a horizon line in the background to make it glaringly obvious.


Thanks Ballistics! I shot these with a Sony a580 using my 50mm prime lens at around 2.5-2.8, with a Bower flash on-camera.

 

[tirediron]

No, you didn't ruin it. As you point out, there's no horizon line, so it's not obvious, but I think rotating it a level made it look a little more natural.