First Attempt at Portraits - C&C Please

[Fleetwood271]

Had my D90 for almost a year, and just got a basic home studio kit last week. Backdrop was last to arrive, just came Friday. So last night, I set it all up in the Den and starting shooting anyone who would be still long enough. And yes, they are sitting in an old straight back wooden chair. I know it looks bad. I was more worried about the quality of the shots, than the chair being there.

These two shots below from my first attempt at setting up my lights, umbrellas, using my light meter, and radio triggers, etc. I used my Nikon 50mm 1.8 on these.

This is my wife and my son.

1.

2.

I'd appreciate your comments and suggestions. If they are really bad, I can handle it. If they are halfway decent, that is good. We have my family Christmas at my sister's house in one week (we try to do it early so everyone is not so rushed on Christmas Eve and Day). I'd love to be able to take my kit to her house and do some really good shots for the family.

If you can tell me what I need to change, improve, stop doing, start doing, etc, etc, I would really appreciate it.

PS - Thanks to Derrell, KmH, and Big Mike (in no particular order) for all their advice on what equipment to purchase, and how to use it, in the past few weeks.

 

[HWesh]

The chair ruins it for me, using a stool would be a better idea.

 

[oldmacman]

These two shots below from my first attempt at setting up my lights, umbrellas, using my light meter, and radio triggers, etc. I used my Nikon 50mm 1.8 on these.

This is my wife and my son.

1.

If you can tell me what I need to change, improve, stop doing, start doing, etc, etc, I would really appreciate it.

PS - Thanks to Derrell, KmH, and Big Mike (in no particular order) for all their advice on what equipment to purchase, and how to use it, in the past few weeks.

It's a good start. You have balanced the amount of light on the left and right to create form on the features of the faces. There seems to be a softness and red cast to the pics. Here is an edit to show you the way I see the colours.

I would think about a better use of space. If you want to shoot landscape for a portrait shot you can make better use of the unused space by not wasting it on both sides of the figure.

 

[Marc-Etienne]

I'm far from being a portrait pro, but here is what I see and think:

#1- What kind of light are you using? They don't seem to be both the same temperature. Your wife has an annoying yellow light on the left of her face and her hair. Make sure your light are the same temperature. Here is a good Blog from the strobist that I just read.

#1-#2 - I would flatten your backdrop to avoid that fold on the right

#2- Your light on the right side of your son's face is too strong and overexposed the shot.
Hope I'm right in my comments and helps you!!

Could you post how you set up your lights? I'm starting too (very early stage) but I'm reading the Strobist daily to get a better hang of it and would be nice to see a result with the setup to understand the results better.

Thanks

 

[Karri]

I am definitely a newbie at this but the wrinkles in the backdrops are distracting and there does seem to be a red tinge in both pictures in the top half of the faces. I like the backdrop though and it seems like you are making a great start in setting up your equipment!!

 

[Fleetwood271]

I'm far from being a portrait pro, but here is what I see and think:

#1- What kind of light are you using? They don't seem to be both the same temperature. Your wife has an annoying yellow light on the left of her face and her hair. Make sure your light are the same temperature. Here is a good Blog from the strobist that I just read.

#1-#2 - I would flatten your backdrop to avoid that fold on the right

#2- Your light on the right side of your son's face is too strong and overexposed the shot.
Hope I'm right in my comments and helps you!!

Could you post how you set up your lights? I'm starting too (very early stage) but I'm reading the Strobist daily to get a better hang of it and would be nice to see a result with the setup to understand the results better.

Thanks

Like I said I am brand new to the lighting thing. Here is what I used:

Light reflecting off umbrella was at 1/32 power. Light on backdrop thru the snoot was at 1/16 power.

And I forgot something when I did the diagram. The first few pictures I took were way overexposed. Even the one of my son that I posted is still over. But, since that light would not go under 1/32 power, and I had limited space to move it back from him, I used a translucent 43" disk between the reflected flash/umbrella and my son.

 

[Fleetwood271]

These two shots below from my first attempt at setting up my lights, umbrellas, using my light meter, and radio triggers, etc. I used my Nikon 50mm 1.8 on these.

This is my wife and my son.

1.

If you can tell me what I need to change, improve, stop doing, start doing, etc, etc, I would really appreciate it.

PS - Thanks to Derrell, KmH, and Big Mike (in no particular order) for all their advice on what equipment to purchase, and how to use it, in the past few weeks.

It's a good start. You have balanced the amount of light on the left and right to create form on the features of the faces. There seems to be a softness and red cast to the pics. Here is an edit to show you the way I see the colours.

I would think about a better use of space. If you want to shoot landscape for a portrait shot you can make better use of the unused space by not wasting it on both sides of the figure.

The softness could be due to the clarity adjustment.
As far as the red cast, not sure where that came from.
I did a few portrait and some landscape. I only posted these for C&C.
Your edit makes her look too pale. Maybe somewhere in between would be right?
Thanks for your comments.

 

[Fleetwood271]

I am definitely a newbie at this but the wrinkles in the backdrops are distracting and there does seem to be a red tinge in both pictures in the top half of the faces. I like the backdrop though and it seems like you are making a great start in setting up your equipment!!

Many people actually use wrinkles in their backdrops, but in this case, you're right. It's all smooth except for that one area on the right. Looks bad.

Thanks!

 

[oldmacman]

The softness could be due to the clarity adjustment.
As far as the red cast, not sure where that came from.
I did a few portrait and some landscape. I only posted these for C&C.
Your edit makes her look too pale. Maybe somewhere in between would be right?
Thanks for your comments.

Based on your comments, I think you need to calibrate your monitor. Having a properly calibrated monitor is key to getting your edits done correctly. Sorry about editing, but sometimes it is easier to see a direct visual that is based on the comments.

 

[Fleetwood271]

The softness could be due to the clarity adjustment.
As far as the red cast, not sure where that came from.
I did a few portrait and some landscape. I only posted these for C&C.
Your edit makes her look too pale. Maybe somewhere in between would be right?
Thanks for your comments.

Based on your comments, I think you need to calibrate your monitor. Having a properly calibrated monitor is key to getting your edits done correctly. Sorry about editing, but sometimes it is easier to see a direct visual that is based on the comments.

No need to apologize for editing. I was simply stating that to me, she appears too pale. I appreciate your comments.

And I am working on an un-calibrated monitor. Could be part of the problem.