Directional Lighting C+C

[TonysTouch]

For this shot, I used my SB700 on camera up against a reflector (my leather recliner). I was expecting it to be to harsher, but I like the result.

The purpose of this shot was to capture the details of his eyes. For that purpose, it turned out well except for the fact that you can kind of see me and really see my wedding band in his pupils at 100%. I know it is a tight crop, most of that was in camera and because of him continuing to run up to me and not staying put. I usually crop my photos to a 5x7 or 8x10 ratio because my wife likes to print everything.

D300
18-55mm @ 40mm
Aperture Priority
ISO 200
f/7.1
1/60
TTL Flash mode
Exp Comp: +1.0
Developed from RAW in LR3

I would like to hear your feedback on this image, especially if this type of lighting in this situation works for you.

 

[JenR]

You definitely created directional light, but it isn't really working for me in this case. Since your goal of this shot was to capture the details in his eyes, the camera right eye has some really distracting shadowing that does not show off his beautiful blue eyes to their best advantage. In my opinion, the shadowing is much too heavy for a young, soft subject like this. Softer light with more gentle shadows would be a better fit here.

 

[TonysTouch]

I hear what you are saying. I wanted to use the harsher shadows to help bring out the detail of his eyes more by creating more contrast. Also, IMO it feels like 90% of young subjects are shot using very soft light and I really wanted to break that mold and try something different.