Lighting

pisto1981 · Aug 25, 2013

[FONT=&amp]Ok peeps, im looking for some C&C. however, i solely want it on the lighting. Please forget the composition, rule of thirds and the crappy background.

I got a new speedlight yesterday and think it’s already improved my portraits 10 fold. Here is a before i got the speedlight and after picture[/FONT]

Before

Holly-1 by Pisto1981, on Flickr

After

DSC_2603 by Pisto1981, on Flickr

Thanks for any feedback

Not sure why these links aren't showing the pics???? Thanks braineack

Braineack · Aug 25, 2013

under "grab the html/bbcode" you need to click the radio button for bbcode, then paste that.

pisto1981 · Aug 25, 2013

Thanks Brian, ive amended it now

Braineack · Aug 25, 2013

which light did you end up with?

thebasedsloth · Aug 25, 2013

Lighting in the first could have been a little closer to you, to make it more even over the face.
And probably a little higher up too.
The second looks really flat, So pretty much the opposite of what I just said for the first. A little further from you to add some shadows. Probably could make that a little higher too to get less light on the background and make it appear more natural.
This is all assuming you have your flashes/strobes off-camera, and you can move them around freely.

pisto1981 · Aug 26, 2013

Braineack said:
which light did you end up with?

I ended up with the speedlight YN560-II and it seems pretty good

pisto1981 · Aug 26, 2013

thebasedsloth said:
Lighting in the first could have been a little closer to you, to make it more even over the face.
And probably a little higher up too.
The second looks really flat, So pretty much the opposite of what I just said for the first. A little further from you to add some shadows. Probably could make that a little higher too to get less light on the background and make it appear more natural.
This is all assuming you have your flashes/strobes off-camera, and you can move them around freely.

The 1st was shot with only natrual light and the 2nd with the lightspoeed mounted to the camera. Going to try it off the camera today

thebasedsloth · Aug 26, 2013

Ahh! Well assuming the first was natural light from a window, Move the baby closer to the window and have him face it more

pisto1981 · Sep 6, 2013

I'm more interested in the 2nd photo. This was the 1st time i used my speed light and wanted some advise of what could be improved.

You say its flat. Does that mean too much light which in turn eliminates all shadows?

amolitor · Sep 6, 2013

The light mounted in the camera pretty much always looks terrible as the primary light. There are no shadows because they're all cast behind things where we can't see them. Without shadows, there is no sensation of three dimensionality (or, at any rate, the visual sense of 3D is reduced) hence the word "flat". The pictures tend to look 2 dimensional, like cutouts.

On-camera flash should only be used for fill, if that, if you want nice rounded pictures.

Bounce it off the ceiling, bounce it off a wall, bounce it off a piece of paper. Don't shoot it right at the subject.

pisto1981 · Sep 6, 2013

OK Thanks, i'll try as you have suggested

CorrieMichael · Sep 6, 2013

what lens do you use? You know that lenses for me matter more than the flash etc EXCEPT when I am going for a certain look or trying to achieve something in studio. The light in the first would have been fine if you let more light get to her......ie: closer to the window.....or open up your aperture......etc. So I actually like the light in the first.....character...shadows etc that are so natural and beautiful. The light in the second is very hard and flat. Anyways that's just a imo...... I need to still learn a lot about light and flash, and off camera light etc.