More Portraits (New Subjects, New Shoot) - C&C Requested

[reedjam99]

I did another natural light portrait shoot this weekend. I still don't have a reflector (it's en route from Amazon now), but I did use some fill flash and paid more attention to both the lighting issues and cropping issues pointed out in my last C&C request.

Comments, criticisms, suggestions?

Wish I could have gotten the dog to turn on this one, but the primary focus was the guy, so I took what I could get...

Thanks in advance again for all the helpful tips.

 

[Yellow Wagon]

that first shot has nice facial expressions and color but needs a much tighter crop! WAY too much background. Also the DOF is way too long. You need a faster lens and shoot wide open to give a nice bokeh to the background. Don't want the leaves to compete with the subjects.

 

[o hey tyler]

Wagon, they may have had to use a smaller aperture to compensate for the fill flash, however I agree for the most part.

OP, if you moved about 3-5 feet closer to your subjects (in the first photo), and got a little tighter on the womans right side you'd have better rendered bokeh a better crop, and a more pleasing background. However I really like the reds of the leaves and the overall clean-ness of the exposure.

 

[reedjam99]

Thanks guys. I actually went with a wider crop there than I'd have liked at her request (she wanted lots of the trees). I should definitely have gotten that Depth of Field down though, thanks.

The lighting and white balance look ok though? Those are the two things I'm struggling with, my last shoot ended up with flat/boring lighting, and I'm still trying to train my eye to see a correct white balance.

 

[o hey tyler]

On my monitor, the lighting and WB is spot on. The lighting isn't flat and there are shadows where they're needed. It isn't the softest of light, so you can tell that it was flashed. Are you shooting on or off camera? And are you considering getting an umbrella if you decide to go off cam? Also, what are you working with for lenses & flash?

Here's just a link to a photo on facebook that I shot with off camera flash and a shoot thru umbrella, as you can see it provides really soft light, it almost looks like ambient.

 

[reedjam99]

On my monitor, the lighting and WB is spot on. The lighting isn't flat and there are shadows where they're needed. It isn't the softest of light, so you can tell that it was flashed. Are you shooting on or off camera? And are you considering getting an umbrella if you decide to go off cam? Also, what are you working with for lenses & flash?

These are shot with on camera dialed down to just provide some fill. I'm currently shooting with a Rebel XTi. I used the 18-55 kit lens for these shots, though I also used a 75-300 on this shoot. I've got a reflector on delivery now, and between my birthday and a little surplus spending money I'm hoping to pick up a hand held diffuser and an off camera flash (430EX II) with softbox in the next few weeks. The look of the shot you posted is exactly what I'm ultimately aiming for.

 

[o hey tyler]

Well, keep in mind that you'll need triggers to fire the 430EX II off camera. I suggest Cactus triggers, they're cheap and they fire consistently. For a method of diffusing I went with a Paul C. Buff Parabolic Light Modifier (43" I believe), and I've been very impressed with the results. I like to make my photos look as unflashed as possible, and the umbrella works really well for that.

Here's another shot that my girlfriend took (from the same shoot) which is flashed from a downward angle from the upper right hand corner of the frame. I was actually holding the flash and umbrella since we were both cramped on the bridge.

I was also pretty close to the both of them. Feel free to check out more shots from the session from the link in my sig. They're all shot with the same setup more or less. Some are shot with a 35mm f/2 and some with a 50mm f/1.4.

 

[kundalini]

If they had been standing in #1, this would've raised your PoV, leaving more of the lovely red leaves in the background rather than the tree trunks. You camera position is pretty good by being slightly above eye level. I usually carry a two step ladder in the car.

The gentleman has really great facial character. Once you get your lighting control a bit more down-pat, I'd use him ...... a lot.

In situations like yours, a reflector, diffuser and an assistant would've made a huge difference in the final result. Regardless, well done. :thumbsup:

 

[reedjam99]

If they had been standing in #1, this would've raised your PoV, leaving more of the lovely red leaves in the background rather than the tree trunks. You camera position is pretty good by being slightly above eye level. I usually carry a two step ladder in the car.

The gentleman has really great facial character. Once you get your lighting control a bit more down-pat, I'd use him ...... a lot.

In situations like yours, a reflector, diffuser and an assistant would've made a huge difference in the final result. Regardless, well done. :thumbsup:

Thanks!

I'm planning on doing another shoot with them once I obtain some additional gear to experiment with. Hopefully I can get out there while the color is still around.