My Brother - David (C&C)

Braineack · Nov 25, 2014

#1 was the exact image I was going for, so I'd like to still go back in and fix the collar. Taking forever just editing the ones I thought were the best of the bunch.

This was also the first time I've sat a model in front of my lights and got to work the lights and poses from behind the lens. I did notice that a lot of the shots/poses look the same, even though I changed up the lighting pattern a few times. That's something I'll have to work on to keep the shots unique/creative.

I was also dealing with a basement with low ceilings (dragged my equipment over) and painted white. It was really hard to keep the light from bouncing all over the place, so my BG lighting was a lot less dramatic than I was hoping.

otherprof · Nov 25, 2014

Braineack said:
My brother will be gone for around a year or so after Thanksgiving, so I wanted to get pictures of him before I don't have the chance again. I was purposely going a little dark/dramatic with these, his departure isn't a positive.

Here's the first in the series I was able to get through editing:

David - 1 by The Braineack, on Flickr

David - 2 by The Braineack, on Flickr

I have a few more to come, and I'll post them as I get through them.

Striking portraits! Powerful images. I hope things work out for the best.

Nevermore1 · Nov 25, 2014

Great photos! I like all of them and don't have a favorite. Do agree on the collar in #1 but that is a minor fix.

FITBMX · Nov 25, 2014

I can't really pick one...... They all look good to me!

kdthomas · Nov 25, 2014

I like #3 the best ... the only thing (and this is minor) is that there not enough separation in his left shoulder from the BG

Derrel · Nov 25, 2014

It might be helpful to have a couple of very tight honeycomb grids, like a 3 degree or 7 degree or even a 10 degree, plus a two-way barn door set to give you more options in how the background light strikes the backdrop, especially if it's white, or you're stuck in close confines like in a basement.

Braineack · Nov 25, 2014

Take shot #3 for example. I used a single softbox for the mainlight and then a 20-degree gridded beauty dish for a hair light.

The background was at least 20-30ft away, but it was still getting lit up--it's darkened in post. I SHOULD have used my reflector to block the light but I didn't think of it. I had my back up against the opposite wall in the basement. That was something I wasn't expecting, it's a completely empty basement freshly painted off-white.

What I should have done was lower the power on the strobe a bunch and open the aperture, that probably would have worked, i just didn't think of it.

Otherwise there was little I could do on the rest of the shots, but I won't be so naive next time in a similar situation.