Daughter's first 4th of July

[Johnboy2978]

Hey guys, I finally broke down and bought an AlienBee strobe light. I'm quite impressed with it, and was playing around with it last night with my daughter and my dog Max taking some portraits. Thought I'd post here and see what you all thought.
These were taken w/ my ist DS, 50mm 1.4 lens, and an AB800 strobe w/ umbrella (no other lighting) at about 1/8 power. For all pics: ISO 200, f/8, 1/180. I know that I need to probably go for more of a 2.8 or so aperture to blur the background as well as having more space b/w the subject and BG, but I was just playing around.

Your comments/critique are appreciated.

 

[ShootHoops]

These 3 are good. I personally like the 2nd one. In the others you can see the creases in the background.

 

[Alison]

Cute poses! The white balance appears off in these, she seems a bit orangey (at least on my monitor). She has stunning eyes!

 

[LaFoto]

So you see her orangey nose, too, Alison?
I was wondering: should I say that or should I not?
Now that you have said so, too, I may also say she's got a bit of a "carrot-nose" here. But she is so cute in her little outfit. And her expressions are really sweet.
And the dog portrait is just a classic.
I am surprised to see your dog pose so nicely for you!
Ask my cat if she would want to and ... off she'd go, hightailing it out of the room. Pffff....

 

[Johnboy2978]

I applied a bit of a velvia action to enhance the contrast a little which may have increased that a little as well. She generally does have a sort of orange tint. The pediatrician said that it's pretty normal as she eats a lot of veggies w/ beta carotine.

The dog was waiting for his bone for sitting so patiently, and I got about 5 shots before the treats were given out.

 

[elsaspet]

Precious! You did great on the lighting! Wonderful photos and super cute kiddo to boot!

 

[Alison]

She generally does have a sort of orange tint. The pediatrician said that it's pretty normal as she eats a lot of veggies w/ beta carotine.

Completely normal! Can't complain if she likes her squash and carrots

 

[jemmy]

nice shots - i had a girlfriend rush her littlie to the doctors worried about her 'orange' baby! she was a tad embarassed when she found out it was vege-induced! have helped out a few other curious friends after hearing this story! too cute - she's a doll x looking forward to the day when i purchace my first lights and the alien bees certainly seem like the way to go!

 

[Johnboy2978]

After I got home, I looked at these on my other monitor, and I can see it was too much contrast. What looks ok on one monitor looks like crap on another. I reversed the velvia, slightly boosted the contrast and saturation and then ironed the wrinkles of the BG with the clone tool. Better?

 

[pacereve]

The last two just posted are much better; less orange colour to them.

I love the last one. Great cheery smile.