Natural Light

[Sherm]

Hello - I would appreciate any comments, positive and negative re: this picture.

I feel like I captured his focus and smile but wish the light on his face was more symmetric. This was taken in the evening and the sun was obviously coming from his left side. There was a large tree acting as a natural diffuser.

Should I have used a reflector?

Canon 7D
85mm
f/2.5
ISO 1000 (not sure why I did that, new camera so trying to figure it all out)
1/2000
Daylight white balance



Untitled by NS828, on Flickr

Here it is in black and white with a slightly different crop. I have essentially no experience with black and white but do you think it looks better in this format?


B and W by NS828, on Flickr

Thank you in advance.

 

[KmH]

Yes, you should have used a reflector.

The B&W conversion is 'muddy' making it look under exposed.

 

[paigew]

If it were me (I don't own a reflector yet) I would have turned him so the sun was behind him (backlit) and then exposed for his face. That way you don't get that over exposed area on his face. Scoot back and try to include his hands next time and angle him so you can see both legs behind him.

 

[Sherm]

Thanks. This was just some spontaneous shooting one evening and the reflector was inside.

I am going to try and remember to angle and position better next time.

 

[Robin Usagani]

I hate reflecting direct sun.

 

[Gallery29]

The thing to remember is to look at your potential shot with your eyes, not the camera, and ask yourself, ''Is the light right? Are there shadows? What can I do to fix it?''

What your eyes see will be what your camera will capture if your settings are right.

I'd have put him in shade and turned him so that the ambient light was diffused over his entire face evenly. It takes awhile to get the hang of, but just keep moving the subject until the light looks right on their face. Remember to capture the catchlights in the eyes, too!

 

[davisphotos]

The lighting is definitely lacking. A reflector camera left would probably have provided enough fill and some nice catchlights, or as was suggested, either putting the sun behind them or putting them in open shade (Digital PhotoCorner - Open Shade: Page 1 of 2)

 

[WilliamDSLR]

Yea, I agree that there is lighting lacking in the picture.

 

[amandamartin]

You definitely needed a refelctor to take care the shadow around the eyes. Also, as a general rule, try not to use an ISO of more than 600 at the very, very most (I try to keep mine at 400 or less, if at all possible). If you would have had a lower ISO, you could have lessened the shutter speed a bit to compensate for it. Also, I probably would have done shade white balance here, as you have a little bit of a blueish/greenish hue going on. That would have taken care of that I am also not super crazy about the pose, because that foot sticking out is distracting. My eye was immediately drawn to it. I try to keep it as a general rule with tummy shots to keep the subject at a 45 degree angle, so you can't see the feet at all. Overall, great effort. Just little nit-picky things from an anal-retentive photographer here

 

[amandamartin]

Oh, and also.....when you convert to b&w: first off, don't just change it to grayscale; use your saturation slider. Secondly, do some quick contrast adjustments as well. If you slide the contrast up a bit, you'll have a more rich black and white image

 

[The_Traveler]

Oh, and also.....when you convert to b&w: first off, don't just change it to grayscale; use your saturation slider. Secondly, do some quick contrast adjustments as well. If you slide the contrast up a bit, you'll have a more rich black and white image

IMO, desaturation is one way but probably the least satisfactory way to convert from BW.
I suggest using a BW conversion layer that allows you to manipulate the tones in individual colors.

 

[Sherm]

Thank you everyone. Most shots for me are really just candids while the kids play around. But I will try these techniques.

I blew it with the ISO as I have had the 7D for only a couple days and forgot what it was set to.