Practice dummy, I mean subject.

ronlane · Mar 9, 2022

Got to keep the skills sharp and ready for the senior rush that is coming. Got out the stuff and made the boy sit down for a few images. This was my favorite. One light, Explor 400 in a 2x3 soft box and a grid. Can't decide if I like it in color or b&w. All post processing was done in LR.

Warhorse · Mar 9, 2022

I'm rather fond of the color shot, though by no means is the B&W version bad.

ac12 · Mar 9, 2022

I really want to get into informal portrature.
I just need to get off my butt and clear the garage.

vintagesnaps · Mar 9, 2022

I like both. I think the photo(s) captured the expression on his face well.

adamhiram · Mar 9, 2022

I like the color version a lot. Great skin tones, and love the muted colors in the background.

Jeff15 · Mar 10, 2022

Good shot but colour one for me.....

smoke665 · Mar 10, 2022

Both please, they each have their strong points. lighting looks good, there's a nice smooth transition in the shadows. One suggestion I might make on the B&W is to crop tighter. One of the fascinating aspects of B&W to me is the ability to render micro skin details better than color. You lose that as you move away.

ronlane · Mar 10, 2022

Thank you all.

smoke665 said:
Both please, they each have their strong points. lighting looks good, there's a nice smooth transition in the shadows. One suggestion I might make on the B&W is to crop tighter. One of the fascinating aspects of B&W to me is the ability to render micro skin details better than color. You lose that as you move away.

I like that suggestion Smoke. I have one that was closer up of him that he like in b&w. I'll look at it this evening and may post it for you.

ronlane · Mar 10, 2022

@smoke665, here is the other image. I went in and did some more editing to it but the crop is tighter.

smoke665 · Mar 10, 2022

@ronlane either would work, but I actually might prefer the first one, the expression is better. I did a little experimenting in LR, from the looks of it, I think your light was to close/small, causing some serious hard light with a lot of specular highlights, and hard edge shadows in the pores and hair. I use the rule of thumb the light's maximum distance to subject should be no more than 2x its largest dimension...a 36 x 48" softbox should be no more than 96" away, a 24" square softbox should be no more than 48" away, etc. Finding the sweet spot is going to be inside that maximum somewhere. One of the reasons I love the 7' brolly with diffusion is it's so big, I never have to worry about hard light.

When I said crop in, I meant go bold, be rutheless in your crop, there is no "halfway" in a portrait. This is just my opinion (no better or worse than others), but in portrait photography the eyes are going to be the "focal point", that's where you want the viewer's attention. Skin textures and tone, will be the second point. Unless it's an environmental shot where context is needed, I'm going to minimized or eliminate everything so there's no competition with my focal point. Especially in a B&W you really don't want textures or patterns competing with your subject. Cropping in tight on a portrait draws you into the subject.

ronlane · Mar 10, 2022

That soft box is a 2x3 and wasn't but about 4 feet away from him. I agree that the expression in the first image was a lot better. I just moved closer to him in the last one.

smoke665 · Mar 11, 2022

ronlane said:
That soft box is a 2x3 and wasn't but about 4 feet away from him. I agree that the expression in the first image was a lot better. I just moved closer to him in the last one.

Funny how the most subtle of differences in expression in a portrait can change the feel of an image so dramatically.