self portrait C&C

[JbleezyJ]

Was bored at home and decided to take a self portrait. I usually am camera shy and don't like my photo taken by others so thought I'd give it a try and put myself in front of one.

Was testing out my softbox. C&C please on the shot, lighting, my pose, etc...

 

[tirediron]

Not bad, but you need to dial the light back 1/2 - 2/3 stop. You've lost almost all detail around your right cheek.

 

[JbleezyJ]

Not bad, but you need to dial the light back 1/2 - 2/3 stop. You've lost almost all detail around your right cheek.

Thanks. I kind of like the little overexposure on my face for some reason. Here is it stopped down a bit. I don't know why but I like the first one a bit more haha.

 

[OrionsByte]

Looks to me like you've turned your face to look directly at the softbox... so you've got some nice off-axis lighting but your face is effectively on-axis with the light, so the resulting lighting on your face is kind of flat. I think that's why you like the slightly blown look a little better - it makes it look like there's a little more contrast.

Just my opinion.

 

[JbleezyJ]

Looks to me like you've turned your face to look directly at the softbox... so you've got some nice off-axis lighting but your face is effectively on-axis with the light, so the resulting lighting on your face is kind of flat. I think that's why you like the slightly blown look a little better - it makes it look like there's a little more contrast.

Just my opinion.

Yeah I think thats kind of why I like it because the other one does look a bit flat to me. Is it ever ok to blow out some detail in somebodys face like the first photo? haha I know it is a bit blown out in the first one but I I feel its not too much. Well maybe I'll reshoot later and practice more with my light.

 

[OrionsByte]

Is it ever ok to blow out some detail in somebodys face like the first photo? haha I know it is a bit blown out in the first one but I I feel its not too much. Well maybe I'll reshoot later and practice more with my light.

Yeah lighting takes practice.

What you're basically looking for is more contrast, and you're trying to achieve that by cranking up the exposure until it blows out, which doesn't really add contrast, it just draws the eye to those spots more than others and makes you think you're seeing contrast. However, those areas have absolutely no detail to them any more when you do that.

So instead of cranking up the exposure, think about where your shadows are, and how to get more of them. Your light position, distance, and power will all play a part. When you are setting up your light, don't think only about where you want the light to fall, but think about where you want the shadows to fall as well, because the shadows are what will give you contrast.

 

[fjrabon]

I think you, like most people, are trying to hide some of your natural blemishes, by blowing out the light, a bit. First, I think we all are more self conscious of our face than others, so we all will probably try to hide it more than is necessary.

You kind of went in opposite directions here. Your light is really bright and hard, which can be effective in portraits, if it's off axis and you're oriented off axis to it. However, you're looking nearly directly into the lighting, giving you kind of an alien-ized, featureless face. If you want a softer, less harsh face, dial down the lights a few stops and maybe use photoshop to smooth the skin tones a bit. If you want that dramatic light, look off axis to the lighting.

 

[DiskoJoe]

I kinda dig it.