Niece for C&C (4)

[c.cloudwalker]

Alright, time to take a deep breath. Breeeeeeeeathe....

You may not have the ultimate portrait of your niece but you have some very nice stuff so, relax. And tomorrow is about fun with your niece who seems to have fun being photographed. If you're not cool she probably will not be either. So, again, relax. This is not a $3,000 wedding you are messing up

Yes, straight on light is flat and boring in most cases. So, yes, keep your light to the side and use a reflector on the other side. Foam core board, white poster board, a large chunk of cardboard covered with aluminum paper, whatever.

The main thing is the balance between the two sides. And that is going to depend on what you use as a reflector. Try one shot. If it doesn't quite work, try something else. And little by little, you will figure it out.

And remember, your niece is going to be so proud of that portrait her uncle did that the actual quality of it does not matter that much. Except, that is, to you and us poor idiots here on a Saturday night discussing photography instead of being out there dancing with a beautiful woman

 

[Josh66]

another bump...

(sorry, I usually don't bump my threads (find ONE other than this one), but time is an issue here)


Anything else I need to do in the morning?

 

[c.cloudwalker]

another bump...

(sorry, I usually don't bump my threads (find ONE other than this one), but time is an issue here)


Anything else I need to do in the morning?

Yes, relax.

 

[Josh66]

Except, that is, to you and us poor idiots here on a Saturday night discussing photography instead of being out there dancing with a beautiful woman

Is it Saturday night...,already?


...Relax I will. I feel that I already have some pretty good portraits, I will get better ones in the morning. *Taking deep breaths*

I'll have a beer or two beforehand to calm my nerves.

It's just that I hardly ever see my niece, so I won't be able to redo this for another year or two. I don't want to **** it up.

I think I'll do alright.

Thanks for the guidance. Keep it coming.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

I'll have a beer or two beforehand to calm my nerves.

Ok, one more tip and then I'm going to bed. It is Sunday here

Make sure you don't have too many beers or you won't be able to focus :lmao:

 

[Josh66]

OK, did a reshoot today (while I should have been playing fight club, lol).
I think these are better. ...I had the light a little too close though...

Oh well. I think I did good.

5 The "up close & personal" one

6

7

8

 

[Dmitri]

I don't do portraits. So take this from a guy who doesn't know what he's talking about, but has been doing a lot of reading about it lately and therefore knows it all

I actually like #3 and #4 above (top) the best. If you posed her the same and raised the light a bit you'd get the classic Rembrandt lighting (upside down triangle on the cheek - example(not mine) and note that the lighting in the example is extreme, but shows well what Rembrandt lighting is), instead of the nose shadow cutting her face in half.

As for #5-#8, cute but to "mug shot" for me. The straight on face look makes her head look huge (which I'm sure it isn't). You can try short lighting (example - not mine). Either way, cute kid and seems she has a good mood to put up with her crazy uncles constant photo-fussing

Anyway as I said, take this all with a grain of salt, considering I have never shot even one portrait yet.
.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Too bad she's making faces in 6 and 7. Still leaves 5 and 8 that are very decent photos.

I like how you got in even closer in 5 than you had in 1.

In 8 she has a very nice smile, nice light balance between the two sides of her face. Too bad about the shadow across her cheek and along her chin. Doesn't seem to be coming from her hair but I can't figure it out.

Overall an improvement from the first set.

 

[Josh66]

Thanks.

Too bad about the shadow across her cheek and along her chin. Doesn't seem to be coming from her hair but I can't figure it out.

I see what you're talking about now... It must be from her hair - I don't know what else it could be from.


AH!!

I just figured it out. It is from her hair. There were two lights, one was a little behind her - the shadow is coming from that light.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

You had two lights on the same side?

 

[Josh66]

Yeah.

(They're connected - Couldn't have moved one to the other side. I can only get them about 4 feet away from eachother.)


They're just halogen work lights, like you would have in the garage. Cheap, but hey - it works. It's pretty much all I have for light at the moment.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Here are my studio lights. All I did to modify them is stick a dimmer on one of them.

Marco Adjustable Desk Lamp - Adjustable Desk Lamps at Desk Lamps

Whatever gets you through the night....

Just put a switch on one of them so you don't have to have both on.

 

[Josh66]

They both have a 3 position switch (Off, 500 watt, 1000 watt).
I had both of them on to get my shutter speed fast enough.
(I wasn't sure if she could have stayed still for longer than 1/25th.)

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Wow, ok.

 

[Crazydad]

You have a great neice Josh, looks like she is having fun. Round 2 definitely was the better set.

While I am certainly no expert on portraits, I do have a couple of suggestions that might help.

With the lighting, I think hanging a white sheet between the lights and your neice would have helped diffuse the light and make it a bit softer on that side. Plus maybe a small light like an off camera flash (or flashlight) going through some paper to soften it on camera left to reduce the shadows.

But I think the bigger issue is the pose. Straight on is rarely how you want your subject. At the least, the shoulders should be at about a 45 degree angle from the camera. Then have her tilt her head at some different angles. And maybe raise or lower the camera too.

Here is a great link for tips on portraits: Benji's Studio Lighting and Posing Tutorial

Just my 2 cents on it.