Made an impressive comeback

kingy · Nov 27, 2013

Ok to start with you all might think what has this to do with portrait photography, well to elaborate on this, i used a portrait technique on this image, i wanted to see if i had nailed the settings..
Let me give you a brief intro about myself and why i posted this. To me it is remarkable and i hope you all find it remarkable.

A few years ago i bought my first camera, however i studied hard to learn to use it and get to grips with it i spent a year reading all i could about everyrhing but i couldnt come to grips with shutter, aperture and iso.
I kept playing around trying to suss it out but i was one of those shoot and pray type of people, i never paid attention to my settings as i couldnt understand them. I got too ibvolved in reading all the technical stuff about the camera rather then the simple stuff so i got really frusterated and couldnt concentrate on how to take a proper picture.
Further along another year went by i put my camera down and didnt pick it up for over a year, and one day i woke up, bit the bullet, broke the bank and bought myself a 7D, i ventured down the path once again and told myself this time to concentrate on the SIMPLE things and gradually work towards the harder stuff, however i realised one day something clicked inside me and i started to make sense of shutter and aperture, i read up about it once more and by golly i had it sussed out. Now eveything i started to sell relating to my camera gear, i bought it all back again abd here i produce you an image i did last night (only been back at it for 2 months now) i used a speedlight with a snoot and bounced it up the roof and towards the left a little at a 10 o clock position, the settings used for this were f2.8 1/250 iso 100 using 60mm 2.8 macro on the 7D, flash was powered at 1/4 fec -0.3 and here we have what i call a masterpiece compared to what it would have been hadnt i figured everything out.

Whats your verdict on this guys

dvjproductions · Nov 27, 2013

While these products may be used on people, I still think its not the correct spot on the forum for this image

Braineack · Nov 27, 2013

There was no reason to shoot at 2.8, the Nivea bottle is already getting soft from the short DOF.

I'm questioning the use of the copyright for someone who's just learning how to take pictures and taking snapshots of things laying close-by, better time is spent learning how to take better pictures and compose a better frame.

I does seem well-lit and exposed, but it looks like you also may have missed the focus a little; it doesn't like really sharp.

kingy · Nov 27, 2013

The soft focus was intentional, i focused on the blue bottle to the left to throw the other 3 bottles out of focus, i was doing some small comparisons in light room regarding image sharpness straigt off the camera so thats intentional. Also as for the crop i was using a 60mm prime lens on a 1.6 crop framed sensor in a 2 meter room i possibly had as much as 3 foot if that to compose with. I didnt want to use my 25-85mm lens as i wanted to see the sharpness setting for the 60mm which i find is understandble. I didnt apply any sharpening or noise reduction in post either

the copyright is there to stop people using it to claim as there own as i took this for beginner purposes it was an experimental shot

kingy · Nov 27, 2013

To back myself up, here is an image i took, everything in focus shot at f9 1/250 using 35mm on 7D, i was using objects as im new to using off camera flashes (i use modelling lights) and i didnt have a model so i made something using bottles. Enjoy

Braineack · Nov 27, 2013

Soft focus meaning you missed to focus; nothing in the image is tack sharp. The Lynx bottle is the sharpest, but it doesn't look as sharp as it could get. The wide aperture is giving you a really short DOF to work with. You're throwing the closest, middle bottle, out of focus which is the bottle I'd expect to be in complete focus.

If you were trying to find the sharpest setting of your lens, you wouldn't have shot it wide open. You'd want to close the aperture to at least f/5.6 (typically 2-stops below your max). Wide apertures have their place, but if you want to produce a sharp image to highlight the subject, you need to close it.

Also, how is throwing a snooted flash to the ceiling a portrait technique? I've never heard of anyone doing that, it seems counter intuitive.

kingy · Nov 27, 2013

Cheers for that

i did take a series of images from 2.8 up to 6.0 as i expected the focus to be sharpest around 4.6 or 5.6.

Anyhow the snoot effect well i placed black foam under my flash directed it towards the top of the cieling and fired it, without it the light is harsh, with it on the shadows are softer, also the reason i used it was to have a little more controldover bounced light. Im new to this bouncing stuff so i gave this a go, ages ago i was reading a book on using snoots or shall i say half snoots to be precise. I only have half the flash (the bottom and side) with some black foam on it to stop the light spilling straight onto the portrait i just want it to head straight up the cieling and bounce off it giving that nice soft diffused light as seen in the picture

amolitor · Nov 27, 2013

All these look a bit flat, and why on earth did you stick the bottles on some random desktop in front of your laptop, or whatever it is in the background? That's just lazy.

I think you should raise the midtones a bit, and put a little more contrast in there while you're at it.

The girl and the dog need at least a little more lighting ratio, to my eye. Evenly lighting them side-to-side is not helping the impression of flatness.

kingy · Nov 27, 2013

Well for one this was taken at around 1.45am hence why i used bottles, i had nothing else at my disposal. I had no model, also cant practise photography much in this little island i live in due to too much competition, and im using modelling lamps that i cant modify to get the results i want. they are cheap junk hence why im heading over to speedlights because i feel i can get the upgrades i want. I know the images are a bit "flat" i dropped the contrast in these images as they look better then what they did. I dont have a huge amount of room to work with and an unlimited amount of cash... If i did then my results would be a different story, in the images above im using 3 lights, 1 above the models (main light) and 2 (1 on either side at their lowest setting of the model) i couldnt prevent light spill on this as i havent got the equipment i actually wanted for this shoot i dont even have a backdrop haha. I had to drop contrast because the lights were coming in too hot and created harsh light. I cant move them back, i cant go over 1/250 of a second and i refuse to lift my aperture past f9 on the lens as to me thats the sweetspot there i had iso on 100 if i had the room id move the lights back and create some diffusion so the light falls where i want it to fall

DiskoJoe · Nov 27, 2013

Braineack said:
Soft focus meaning you missed to focus; nothing in the image is tack sharp. The Lynx bottle is the sharpest, but it doesn't look as sharp as it could get. The wide aperture is giving you a really short DOF to work with. You're throwing the closest, middle bottle, out of focus which is the bottle I'd expect to be in complete focus.

If you were trying to find the sharpest setting of your lens, you wouldn't have shot it wide open. You'd want to close the aperture to at least f/5.6 (typically 2-stops below your max). Wide apertures have their place, but if you want to produce a sharp image to highlight the subject, you need to close it.

Also, how is throwing a snooted flash to the ceiling a portrait technique? I've never heard of anyone doing that, it seems counter intuitive.

Who cares??? This is a pic of random household item with a lengthy uneeded description.

My critique - Congrats for actually picking up the camera. Now go find a person to take a picture of and come back and post it here.

rexbobcat · Nov 27, 2013

DiskoJoe said:
Who cares??? This is a pic of random household item with a lengthy uneeded description. My critique - Congrats for actually picking up the camera. Now go find a person to take a picture of and come back and post it here.

Wow. Try not to get that vitriol all over your keyboard. I hear it stains.