Begginer - Portrait shot, would appreciate any C&C.

[kemem28]

I am new at photography, and am interested in portraits and people photography especially.

This is my first attempt at portrait photography, a picture taken of my husband, in a typical 'business portfolio portrait' setting, taken at home
with a curtain as a background, 1 soft box used. I can't seem to get the lighting to fall the way I want it to, or am I being to hard on myself? (the soft box is a bit bright and have to move it back quite far). C&C?

 

[Trever1t]

it's ok. Why can't you dial down the power and move the softbox closer?

 

[kemem28]

I purchased a continues light soft box... I should of purchased one with a dial.

 

[robbins.photo]

Well would only be like $50 or so to buy a dimmer switch for it.

Impact D1000 1,000W AC Dimmer Control (110-120V) D-1000 B&H

 

[kemem28]

I will look into that, thanks for the suggestion

 

[Propsguy]

.... or if it has multiple bulbs (as most cfl softbox "kit lights") do, just remove a bulb or two. Or just wire a household dimmer to the cord for about $2.00... keep in mind though, that if your light does have cfl bulbs, they have to be specifically dimmable, otherwise they just turn off.

 

[tirediron]

ISO 5000, 1/1250, and f1.8??? WHAT? Okay, let's back up the bus a bit here. Just because your lens has a maximum aperture of f1.8 doesn't mean you should shoot at that. Your image is very soft, doubtless as a result of the extremely shallow DoF; probably only 6" or less in this case. If you'd dropped your shutter speed down to 1/150, you could have reduced your ISO to somewhere in the 600 range. Rather moving your light farther, move it CLOSER; the farther the light source is the harsher the shadows will be. Bringing the light closer will also allow you to use a small aperture and achieve greater DoF.

Pose-wise, turn his torso so it's more like 30-40 degrees off lens axis vice almost 90. Also have him turn his head so that the eyes aren't all the way to one side of the socket; ideally we want to see a little bit of sclera on each side of the iris.

It's a good start, but it's NOT a portfolio image, 'though with some work on your settings, you'll have a decent shot without too much trouble.

 

[kemem28]

I'll have to check that out, I got 2 soft boxes on ebay for $70.00 with large 'daylight' lights. Im going to have to take the bulb out and have a look. Thank you for your suggestion.

 

[kemem28]

ISO 5000, 1/1250, and f1.8??? WHAT? Okay, let's back up the bus a bit here. Just because your lens has a maximum aperture of f1.8 doesn't mean you should shoot at that. Your image is very soft, doubtless as a result of the extremely shallow DoF; probably only 6" or less in this case. If you'd dropped your shutter speed down to 1/150, you could have reduced your ISO to somewhere in the 600 range. Rather moving your light farther, move it CLOSER; the farther the light source is the harsher the shadows will be. Bringing the light closer will also allow you to use a small aperture and achieve greater DoF.

Pose-wise, turn his torso so it's more like 30-40 degrees off lens axis vice almost 90. Also have him turn his head so that the eyes aren't all the way to one side of the socket; ideally we want to see a little bit of sclera on each side of the iris.

It's a good start, but it's NOT a portfolio image, 'though with some work on your settings, you'll have a decent shot without too much trouble.

This is what I call feedback! Thank you! Now I have some direction, I will try these settings tonight and see what comes from it! Looking forward to it Thanks again!

 

[kemem28]

Oh, I thought I might add, although these shadows are very harsh, I was in fact trying to create a short lighting effect with the shadow on the left side of his face (closest to camera). And due to the fact I couldn't dim my lighting, all I could do is move it back to allow me to create the shadow. (well this is all I thought I could do)

 

[Granddad]

Tirediron's advice is (as usual) spot on! Get those settings right and you'll take some decent photos. That one shows potential, it's cropped a little too close to the top of his head for my taste but you have a good model and you captured a great look on his face.

I only use 5000 ISO when I'm shooting in really low light with no flash, like in a theatre.

If you want sharp photos get the ISO down as low as your light will allow and although DOF can be interesting, for portraits you need to keep the whole of your subject in the field of sharp focus. If your subject isn't moving a shutter speed of 100 to 200 will be fine. Play with your settings, aim to be able to zoom in on your computer and see the pores on his skin.

 

[kemem28]

Tirediron's advice is (as usual) spot on! Get those settings right and you'll take some decent photos. That one shows potential, it's cropped a little too close to the top of his head for my taste but you have a good model and you captured a great look on his face.

I only use 5000 ISO when I'm shooting in really low light with no flash, like in a theatre.

If you want sharp photos get the ISO down as low as your light will allow and although DOF can be interesting, for portraits you need to keep the whole of your subject in the field of sharp focus. If your subject isn't moving a shutter speed of 100 to 200 will be fine. Play with your settings, aim to be able to zoom in on your computer and see the pores on his skin.

Thank you! I 'liked' your comment as like Tirediron's advice it was detailed and very useful! Will play around with these settings and see how I go

 

[kemem28]

Okay everyone... Played around with my settings today with my daughter as model. C&C for this image?



Window light w/ reflector to fill in the shadows a tad on the right side.

 

[DanielLewis76]

Nice shot but I think on both of your posted photos the crop is slightly too tight. The top one annoys me slightly due to his hair not being fully in shot and the second one is both the same with the hair and also has some floating fingers. The use of the reflector has worked well though in the second shot, its just a bit too tight for my liking

 

[kingy]

Get a speedlight add a snoot and fire it up above u, a little to the left or right and document the takes here. What u CAN do is set you aperture to f9 and use a speed of around 1/150-1/250 and use as LOW an ISO you can (preferably ISO 100, 200 at most as i find noise starts creeping in if u have a low end cam) shoot in RAW and underexpose the image by a 3rd or 2 3rds (caucassian people) or over expose by a 3rd or 2 3rds for darker people. Keep settings as that and move lights as desired to get effect.... FOCUS ON THE EYES!!! Thats the most important tip. It doesnt matter about the whole image as long as the eyes are in focus you can throw everything else out of focus and still you get a good image. As they say "the eyes are the windows to the soul" remember that always always focus on the eyes. U CAN focus on the eyes and then recompose the shot.... Have fun.