Grandson & window light

CherylL · Mar 19, 2023

My intent was timeless type portraits. He is 4 so I had to work fast. There are fairy lights in the book which wasn't very bright. He said the lights were beautiful. C&C welcome. How is the edit? Posing?

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Grandson window light by Cheryl, on Flickr

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ndcisiv · Mar 19, 2023

I think they turned out well. I don't see anything wrong with the poses, the shirt color was a great choice and I like the depth of field you chose. You can barely see the glow from the lights in the book, I'm sure you could have done without them. That being said, it would make a nice shot at night next to a lamp with the book all glowing. All in all, great portraits.

Jeff15 · Mar 20, 2023

Lovely shots... :encouragement:

jeffashman · Mar 21, 2023

Wonderful set and very nice lighting. Cropped a little close in some (shirt, knee, feet) but an excellent set of memories. I agree that this would be magical at night, but kids are a challenge and it's getting dark later.

CherylL · Mar 21, 2023

ndcisiv said:
I think they turned out well. I don't see anything wrong with the poses, the shirt color was a great choice and I like the depth of field you chose. You can barely see the glow from the lights in the book, I'm sure you could have done without them. That being said, it would make a nice shot at night next to a lamp with the book all glowing. All in all, great portraits.

Great idea on a night shot with a lamp. Thanks for the feedback.

Jeff15 said:
Lovely shots...

Thanks Jeff!

jeffashman said:
Wonderful set and very nice lighting. Cropped a little close in some (shirt, knee, feet) but an excellent set of memories. I agree that this would be magical at night, but kids are a challenge and it's getting dark later.

Yes, kids are a challenge. I had the 85mm so cropped as shot mostly 2x3 to 4x5. Thanks for the feedback.

smoke665 · Mar 21, 2023

@CherylL saw these earlier on FB, great set. Boys create a few challenges when you're used to shooting little girls. LOL As you know, I'm an eye sharp fanatic, the only one where you can really count the lashes, is the first shot. The down side of shooting wide open portraits, especially in close to the subject, the DOF is so thin, that unless the subject's head is perfectly parallel to the focal plane, one eye or the other will lack focus. With kids I've never found one that can sit that still.

IMO great job on poses, boys aren't always cooperative, he looks relaxed in the shots, that's a winner in my book. I know the intent was natural light, but I probably would have used a large reflector to bounce some light back into the eyes to create a little highlight, and soften the shadows on the side away from the window.

CherylL · Mar 21, 2023

smoke665 said:
@CherylL saw these earlier on FB, great set. Boys create a few challenges when you're used to shooting little girls. LOL As you know, I'm an eye sharp fanatic, the only one where you can really count the lashes, is the first shot. The down side of shooting wide open portraits, especially in close to the subject, the DOF is so thin, that unless the subject's head is perfectly parallel to the focal plane, one eye or the other will lack focus. With kids I've never found one that can sit that still.

IMO great job on poses, boys aren't always cooperative, he looks relaxed in the shots, that's a winner in my book. I know the intent was natural light, but I probably would have used a large reflector to bounce some light back into the eyes to create a little highlight, and soften the shadows on the side away from the window.

Yes, he is different than shooting the grand girls. They will pose all day! He only sits still when sleeping

The aperture was a problem. In hindsight I should have changed that and went with a larger ISO. Good idea on the reflector. I did raise up the shadows in ACR on his side face.

The chair is pink was my MIL's. I covered with two gray throws. This was all set up in minutes since he was "helping" me. I did luck out that he had one solid shirt in his luggage. And no stains, it was new!

He liked the airplane which I've used in my miniature series and really isn't a toy. He was very careful with it.
Thanks for the feedback Bill!

Photo same chair and window with the youngest grandgirl 5 years ago. I did get catch lights.

smoke665 · Mar 21, 2023

CherylL said:
In hindsight I should have changed that and went with a larger ISO. Good idea on the reflecto

The old adage "Just because you have fast glass doesn't mean you should use it" applies to the three dimensional aspects of facial structure. Then you have the issue with sacrificing sharpness at the extreme settings. The average adult face is roughly 4-5" from the tip off the nose to the front of the ear, children a little less. Raising ISO or even dropping the shutter speed would have allowed you to balance the exposure triangle while maintaining sufficient DOF. Adding distance between camera and subject also can add DOF.

When shooting strong ambient light, reflectors are an easier choice that don't require matching the color temperature of light. As you can see in the 2nd and 3rd shots, the lights in the book caused a shift in temperture on the shirt. When lighting an ambient light scene with flash I use a CTB or CTO gel on the flash and adjust the camera WB setting accordingly.

CherylL · Mar 24, 2023

smoke665 said:
The old adage "Just because you have fast glass doesn't mean you should use it" applies to the three dimensional aspects of facial structure. Then you have the issue with sacrificing sharpness at the extreme settings. The average adult face is roughly 4-5" from the tip off the nose to the front of the ear, children a little less. Raising ISO or even dropping the shutter speed would have allowed you to balance the exposure triangle while maintaining sufficient DOF. Adding distance between camera and subject also can add DOF.

When shooting strong ambient light, reflectors are an easier choice that don't require matching the color temperature of light. As you can see in the 2nd and 3rd shots, the lights in the book caused a shift in temperture on the shirt. When lighting an ambient light scene with flash I use a CTB or CTO gel on the flash and adjust the camera WB setting accordingly.

Thanks Bill for breaking it down. My fairy lights are yellow and I think white would be better.