First Shot With Off-Camera Flash Indoors - X-Mas Photos (C&C)

MikeLem · Dec 6, 2009

This was a paid shoot, but since I'm a newbie with off-camera lighting, I figured I'd post it here. I shot some with a reflector, but I liked the more dramatic look without it. Here are a few. C&C appreciated.

#1

#2

#3

indeedies · Dec 6, 2009

Number two is great!! "Better check yourself foo!!!" Too bad the backround is so distracting. I'm sure the parents will like though regardless. Nice shoot for your first time.

Derrel · Dec 6, 2009

Hey Mike,
I think these look a bit too dark and moody for Christmas tree shots. The white balance varies between the first two shots is a bit different,with the first shot having a bit of a yellow-green skin tone that I don't like. The third shot is sort of a crotch shot of the dad, and I'm not fond of the pose, which I think is pretty unflattering.
I've shot some Christmas light stuff before,and I think there's a somewhat better approach than the one you took, which was ISO 400 at f/5 at 1/160 second with flash and a 50mm lens. First off, the small aperture and fast shutter speed render the out of focus highlights of the lights as very small dots of light, and the tree itself is not really rendering--the exposure is too fast for the ambient, and the flash itself is a bit underpowered.

My suggestion would be an entirely different approach; white balance set to tungsten for the tree lights; ISO boosted to 800, lens set to f/3.5 to f/2.8; long focal length to magnify the out of focus tree lights and make large orbs; slow shutter speed of around 1/25 second to make the Christmas tree lights 'register' with a warm glow; flash gelled with an amber gel to bring the flash down to 3,200 to 3,400 to match the tungsten white balance.

If you shoot it that way, the high ISO setting, large aperture, slow shutter speed, and long focal length will make the Christmas tree lights REALLY look good, and the tree itself will also show up more. I am suggesting an ambient light exposure between four to five f/stops "brighter" as being about the right starting point for the ambient exposure. The flash output would depend on how close the light is to the subject,and with a wide aperture and high ISO, the flash power from a 580 EX-II in a 30-40 inch umbrella would be around 1/4 power at five feet.