Portfolio Shoot / TfCD ... would appreciate any C&C

[iolair]

I did some shots of my girlfriend's son who's interested in modelling, to help him kick-off a portfolio. I think for a first go he did pretty well at following direction and coming up with some pose ideas - hopefully with a bit of experience he'll vary it up a bit more. Anyway, here's some of the best shots, any C&C (of the photography or the modelling) would be appreciated.

1.

John by Neil Gratton, on Flickr

2.

John by Neil Gratton, on Flickr

3.

John by Neil Gratton, on Flickr

4.

John by Neil Gratton, on Flickr

5.

John by Neil Gratton, on Flickr

Cheers

 

[The_Traveler]

I think #1 is the best
In every shot but 4 there are burnt out highlights.
Lighting is really harsh
In #4 the clothes are not falling well, his pants especially look unflatteringly rumpled and his tie is badly tied.
If he doesn't have superly fitting stylish expensive looking formal clothes stick with casual.

 

[DiskoJoe]

I agree with the traveler. The lighting needs some work.

 

[iolair]

Thank you both for the feedback ... This is only the second attempt I've had at a proper shoot and I'm still on the steep end of the learning curve!

I was struggling with balancing my flash lights against each other and against the natural light. Part of the issue is that my flashes are OLD ones (reaaaaaaally old) that have no kind of power adjustment; it's all or nothing. (The three have listed GN's of 28m, 29m and 17m).

On #1 and #5 I did want to use my softboxes but the wind was very strong and it seemed I couldn't weigh down my light stands sufficiently for them to stay standing, so I ended up with just a bare flash. Unfortunately that meant I could have only balanced the flash properly with the natural light if I'd had a stupidly long shutter speed that was going to cause motion blur.

On #1 I like the way the flash accentuates the pattern of the background with shadows, but would like to have eliminated the brighter area top-left ... I'm actually not totally sure how I'd do that though.

On #2 I didn't even try it with the softboxes but should have done - I was just being lazy. Next time ...
I also needed to get more light onto his legs; I'm not happy with how much darker they are than his top half.
I had a few attempts at the running shots and didn't quite get exactly what I wanted on any of them.

On #3 the lighting was deliberately harsh and overall I'm pleased with the result; I'd have liked to have kept more detail in the bright areas of his shirt though.

I don't think the lighting's harsh on #4 ... I had two softboxes quite close to him (there was a bare flash pointed at the background too) ... I did notice that the suit was not very well fitting but everyone else seemed keen on getting some suited shots so I gave it a go. The spillback of light from the wall is a little extreme on his edges at the viewer's right though. I guess the easiest way to cut that down would be a greater distance between subject and background, but that wasn't an option in the space I had to work.

I actually really like the look of #5 with the bare flash; not to say it couldn't be improved on but I'm pleased with how it came out.

 

[Fotofashion.no]

in general I think better light countroll will help you.
if you look at the nose shadow on the first image.. the light is either not high enough up.. (so you don't get the nose drawing in mid of his face).. or not enough behind if you want dramatick lightning and lighting only half of his face.

Posing is ok.

 

[Destin]

2 quick tips for the lighting.

1.) if the light is too bright, and it has not power adjustment, you can simply move it a little farther away from the subject. Light falls off according to the inverse square law. It sounds complicated, but it's really simple once you get used to it. If the light is too harsh and it's too windy for a softbox/umbrella, consider bouncing the flash off of something, or feathering it so just the edge of the light is hitting the subject rather than the center of the beam.

2.) As far as balancing ambient and flash, there is one simple rule to follow. Changes in Aperture and ISO will affect both flash and ambient exposure, while shutter speed will affect only flash exposure, and not ambient. It kind of sounds like you know this, but I'm just making sure.

 

[cgipson1]

Ok.. somewhat detailed nitpick....

#1 - his nose... was he flaring his nostrils (looks like he is channeling Miss Piggy) ? No.. bad light. The eye socket shadow on the left eye makes him look like he lost a fight. Harsh light on right of face.. shadow from nose, shadow on throat on the left. The right background is way too bright (slightly blown), and left background has way too much shadow....

Not going to do them all.. lighting is to harsh in all of them, even #4 (getting backlit flare off the background).

Bare flash is ok sometimes.. but there is never a need for bare flash unless you want to use it. Make a bounce card (cardboard, foam plate, anything..) and tape / velco to your flash... heck, tape a layer of white fabric over your flash.. or multiple layers to cut output if you have too....

Not trying to be rude... but you asked, and then you try to justify the issues that were brought up.....

Oh.. and tell him to lose the earring.. I wouldn't want that in 90% of portfolio shots..

 

[iolair]

in general I think better light countroll will help you.
if you look at the nose shadow on the first image.. the light is either not high enough up.. (so you don't get the nose drawing in mid of his face).. or not enough behind if you want dramatick lightning and lighting only half of his face.

Sounds a good call ... I should have used one light to get the differences on the background and a second higher up to light his face...

 

[iolair]

quick tips for the lighting.

If the light is too harsh and it's too windy for a softbox/umbrella, consider [-] feathering it so just the edge of the light is hitting the subject rather than the center of the beam.

This sounds worth practising ... I'll give it a go.

 

[iolair]

Ok.. somewhat detailed nitpick....

#1 - his nose... was he flaring his nostrils (looks like he is channeling Miss Piggy) ? No.. bad light. The eye socket shadow on the left eye makes him look like he lost a fight. Harsh light on right of face.. shadow from nose, shadow on throat on the left. The right background is way too bright (slightly blown), and left background has way too much shadow....

Not going to do them all.. lighting is to harsh in all of them, even #4 (getting backlit flare off the background).

Bare flash is ok sometimes.. but there is never a need for bare flash unless you want to use it. Make a bounce card (cardboard, foam plate, anything..) and tape / velco to your flash... heck, tape a layer of white fabric over your flash.. or multiple layers to cut output if you have to....

Thank you, the detailed feedback is useful ... If he's up for it I might actually try and reshoot a couple of those scenarios with a bit more refinement to the lighting.

I did actually try masking one side of the background light in some of the indoor shots prior to #3 and #4 just as an experiment, and couldn't really see the difference on the camera screen but since reading your feedback and flicking back it's actually quite obvious, and was clearly worth doing ... It's clearly worth keeping some variety of "bounce card" in my lighting bag.

Incidentally, are these plastic diffusers that fit over the flash heads any use at all?

 

[Destin]

Ok.. somewhat detailed nitpick....

#1 - his nose... was he flaring his nostrils (looks like he is channeling Miss Piggy) ? No.. bad light. The eye socket shadow on the left eye makes him look like he lost a fight. Harsh light on right of face.. shadow from nose, shadow on throat on the left. The right background is way too bright (slightly blown), and left background has way too much shadow....

Not going to do them all.. lighting is to harsh in all of them, even #4 (getting backlit flare off the background).

Bare flash is ok sometimes.. but there is never a need for bare flash unless you want to use it. Make a bounce card (cardboard, foam plate, anything..) and tape / velco to your flash... heck, tape a layer of white fabric over your flash.. or multiple layers to cut output if you have to....

Thank you, the detailed feedback is useful ... If he's up for it I might actually try and reshoot a couple of those scenarios with a bit more refinement to the lighting.

I did actually try masking one side of the background light in some of the indoor shots prior to #3 and #4 just as an experiment, and couldn't really see the difference on the camera screen but since reading your feedback and flicking back it's actually quite obvious, and was clearly worth doing ... It's clearly worth keeping some variety of "bounce card" in my lighting bag.

Incidentally, are these plastic diffusers that fit over the flash heads any use at all?

I'm assuming that the plastic diffuser you're reffering to is a stoffen. It's what come's with most new flash units. It does spread the light a bit more, but it's so small, and so close to the light source, that it's not really going to be noticable in shots like the ones you've posted. It's good when you are bouncing flash off the ceiling, because it throws a little light straight forward and makes the photos more natural looking.

As far as diffusion, spend a few dollars and get a lightstand and an umbrella. It's the best, cheapest way to soften your light up. It's also worth keeping a roll of gaffer tape in your bag, and some different shaped/sized pieces of cardboard. I paint the pieces a flat white, and then cover one side in gaffers tape. That allows me to have a bounce side, and a "flag" side, that aborbs light rather than bouncing it. Useful for stopping light from reaching the background or something. My pieces of cardboard range from 2"x4", to 4"x8". using 4 of them I can even make a quick makeshift snoot if i need to.

The single BEST place in the world to learn about off camera lighting is strobist.blogspot.com. I can't reccomend it enough.

 

[cgipson1]

Thank you, the detailed feedback is useful ... If he's up for it I might actually try and reshoot a couple of those scenarios with a bit more refinement to the lighting.

I did actually try masking one side of the background light in some of the indoor shots prior to #3 and #4 just as an experiment, and couldn't really see the difference on the camera screen but since reading your feedback and flicking back it's actually quite obvious, and was clearly worth doing ... It's clearly worth keeping some variety of "bounce card" in my lighting bag.

Incidentally, are these plastic diffusers that fit over the flash heads any use at all?

Like Destin said, the Stoffen isn't that great for outdoors (nor the Fong)...

Check out the Demb Flip-it.. there are several of us here that use one.. (the bigger the better!) ... and I even keep a 6x8 cheap Fotodiox on-flash softbox in my bag.. mostly for macro.. but would work for your shots also. They also make a 8x12 that I carry for outdoor stuff, when I don't want to set umbrella's and stuff. I have a cheap lightstand with a flash mount I take just for stuff like that, so I don't have to take my good ones.

Or make your own.. lots of websites with DIY flash mods.....

http://www.dembflashproducts.com/flipit/

http://www.amazon.com/Fotodiox-Softbox-Speedlight-Speedlite-Panasonica/dp/B003Y322RO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1314767081&sr=8-3

http://www.amazon.com/Fotodiox-Softbox-Speedlight-Speedlite-Panasonica/dp/B003Y30334/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1314767081&sr=8-7