PP on these kids...works?

[Bend The Light]

Hi all,

I am currently doing some of my first photo shoots, with studio lights. I posted one of the pictures on a thread earlier.
I am trying to see what I can do with the shots I got (which were ok for a first shoot, but obviously needed something else). So, here I am asking your opinion on the processing of these shots, whether it suits the kids in the shot.
I know the background is not so good, but it's all I had. I am replacing it with a white sheet next time, however, I actually quite like it in this PP, but what do you think?


ellie LOMO by Bend The Light, on Flickr


ethan lomo by Bend The Light, on Flickr

Thanks, in anticipation of your feedback.

 

[oldmacman]

The girl has a green cast. The boy shot is better, but that red-orange really competes for visual attention.

 

[oldmacman]

Hi all,

ellie LOMO by Bend The Light, on Flickr

ethan lomo by Bend The Light, on Flickr

Thanks, in anticipation of your feedback.

Here she is with the colour corrected so you can see the difference:

 

[D-B-J]

as stated, the girl has a green cast. I personally think they are too close to the backdrop, or your aperture was too closed. For an effective portrait, you want the background blurred, so you do not see the wrinkles and such. The fact that it is perfectly in focus distracts my attention from the subject, to the background.

On a technical note, the composition and focus are spot on. Good job with the lighting, cant wait to get mine!

What type of setup did you use?

 

[Bend The Light]

Thank you, everyone. I am colour blind, so couldn't really see the green cast. I CAN see the difference with the one OldMacMan did, though.

Thanks DBJ for the bit about focus, composition etc.

The lighting was my FIRST EVER set up, with borrowed lights from my camera club.

I had a reflector umbrella camera right, full power, high up. And a softbox above the subjects right shoulder, 1/2 power. That's it.

I know about the backdrop issue. There wasn't enough space for separation, to be honest, and I dialled in to high an f-stop to blur it...but lower f-stops caused overexposure, and I couldn't dial down the lights, or move them anywhere.

Done another shoot today, with plain white...will see how that worked!

Cheers