a few portraits

[matheson]

A couple of months ago I posted my first attempt at off camera flash. I've had the chance to try it out a couple of times since and thought I'd post my progress



a selfie



i was going for something a bit moody



trying out the new flash as a hair light. went for a bleach bypass for some mood



trying for a Joey L look
Cigarette ash and smoke added in post to a drum stick

 

[tirediron]

Not bad at all; I'd like to see the shadow side a little less black, but they're a consistant, and appropriate look for the subjects.

 

[matheson]

thanx, I'm finding it tricky to lighten up the shadow side so I've been trying to get the low key thing down. I think that will be the next step for sure . I really want to start working on more even lighting. I don't want to blame my gear , but it's been tough with the ol' microphone stand and ancient soft box.lol. the hair light i used was a yonguno I recently got and duct taped to another mic stand. I'm just visiting in Canada right now and dont want to purchase any heavy light stands etc until I return to the UK. I really can't wait to get back and start working on it..

 

[kundalini]

I like black or dark backgrounds for portraits.

I agree with John about the shadowed side. With a full face pose as you have in #1 & 2, my opinion is that you should be able to, ever so slightly, see there is an opposite ear.

The hair light in #3 is a good idea. However, for separation from the background, the light should be set higher vertically so the hat also has that separation.

My example here.

 

[matheson]

thanks for the awesome tips Kundalini!! I really love the tip about the opposite ear

 

[BrickHouse]

That's a great series! The styles seem to fit the personalities perfectly.

 

[CdTSnap]

I really like 1 and 4, 2 is just a bit to cropped for me.

 

[jenko]

The first is my favorite. Really nice. The last one is my least favorite, but that is really more of a subjective opinion. Overall, these are well done.

 

[binga63]

nice work

 

[frommrstomommy]

First is a favorite for me.. SHARP SHARP SHARP! The crop is not my favorite on that one but still prefer it overall over the others. I can see that opposite ear, but a tiny bit more visibility would probably make it even better IMO. Nice work.