Self-Portrait for CC

cherylynne1 · Feb 7, 2017

I'm really behind on posting things that I would like to get feedback from, so you guys will just have to bear with me for awhile.

Here's a photo of me (hi everybody!) I was just practicing with studio lighting, and particularly with using a hair light to separate dark hair from a dark background. The idea behind it was sort of a business/profile picture, hence the 1x1 crop.

DSC06208 by cherylynne1, on Flickr

EXIF: Sony a6000
Nikkor 105 2.5 AI
F4 (I think?? Might have been 2.5. It's manual, so it doesn't record.)
1/125
ISO 100

Octobox on camera right, bare flash behind and above.

Any thoughts are appreciated!

Derrel · Feb 8, 2017

Hey, wow! I had no idea you were so young and vibrant! I had you figured for a woman 25+ years older! Huh....and how in the heck did this shot NOT get any replies in the last six hours? How is this on page 2 already?

Oh, the Nikkor 105mm f/2.5--a great lens!

C&C...I think the hair needs just a bit more separation on the camera left side. Or maybe a very light dodging of the hair on the sides. The top lighting of the hair looks a bit smaller than optimal. I think the framing on this needs a slight re-adjustment; not quite the right eue height or chin height within this square frame. My gut feeling just looking at it is that the raw file has enough expiosure that "digitial fill light" could make the hair separation happen in post, and that a taller, narrower frame would look a bit better. I think your eyes and chine chin are too low in the frame.

cherylynne1 · Feb 8, 2017

Derrel said:
Hey, wow! I had no idea you were so young and vibrant! I had you figured for a woman 25+ years older! Huh....and how in the heck did this shot NOT get any replies in the last six hours? How is this on page 2 already?

Oh, the Nikkor 105mm f/2.5--a great lens!

C&C...I think the hair needs just a bit more separation on the camera left side. Or maybe a very light dodging of the hair on the sides. The top lighting of the hair looks a bit smaller than optimal. I think the framing on this needs a slight re-adjustment; not quite the right eue height or chin height within this square frame. My gut feeling just looking at it is that the raw file has enough expiosure that "digitial fill light" could make the hair separation happen in post, and that a taller, narrower frame would look a bit better. I think your eyes and chine chin are too low in the frame.

Haha, thank you! I'm turning 30 in a few months, so I feel old!

Agree on all points. The light didn't reach quite where I wanted it to...maybe if I could have angled it better, or maybe it was the zoom on it. I was a little scared to try to fix it in post, I worried it would look unnatural or have a halo. Maybe an adjustment brush to lift shadows? I also agree about the crop, it would be better if my eyes were on the upper third line, it's just that doing that would cut off my hair, which was what I was trying to get right, lol! 1x1 portraits are odd, I think I'll have to look around and see how others handle them. It would surprise me if they often cut off the top of the head or pull back further.

Thank you so much!!

Derrel · Feb 8, 2017

I looked at it in LR, did a bit of hair dodging on the left side--and on an already-processed JPEG, it's almost got enough info to lighten the hair up the way I envision it, so on the raw, there's probably more detail by far in the shadows, but it does posterize a bit when dodged heavily. I made a crop and a lightermbrighter overall look which I think looks pretty good as a very small thumbnail-type headshot.

And that's the thing about thumbnails/headshots: they need to be appealing when seen SMALL! I think this crop looks pretty good when shown small...cropped down, makes your smile and eyes look pretty good, vibrant, engaging, and the taller image looks less squat and frumpy than the 1:1 ratio. (And that is why I posted this as a thumbnail, and not Full Size!)

cherylynne1 · Feb 8, 2017

Yes, that does look better! I think sometimes I get caught up in focusing on the technical aspects that I forget to look at it as a whole.

Thank you so much!

Derrel · Feb 8, 2017

I really think changing the aspect ratio of the shot from the 1:1 to a 'tall" really makes the shot POP! much more; that cropping just changes where you are, within the frame! I think self-portraiture is perhaps THE most-difficult type of studio lighting shot to pull off...so,so many hassles with it! Getting the right focus, the right framing, and so on. And you can not see exactly what the camera sees!

cherylynne1 · Feb 8, 2017

I agree. I've never really liked 1:1, but so many things require it nowadays. It's sort of a necessary evil on social media.

And ugh, trying to get it focused correctly was such a pain! Luckily, I can use my phone as a tether/remote, so I could see what the camera sees, but it's still tricky getting the flashes positioned just right.

Derrel · Feb 8, 2017

cherylynne1 said:
I agree. I've never really liked 1:1, but so many things require it nowadays. It's sort of a necessary evil on social media.

And ugh, trying to get it focused correctly was such a pain! Luckily, I can use my phone as a tether/remote, so I could see what the camera sees, but it's still tricky getting the flashes positioned just right.

I ttoally agree with you about getting the flashes positioned right when shooting a selfie!

I was taught that one of the keys to positioning a studio flash in just the right position is to actually take the light stand, and raise and lower the main light, to see where the nose shadow falls and where the ctahclights land on the eyeballs--based on the height of the main light in relation to the portrait subject. And then after establishing the HEIGHT of the main light, to take the light, and literally move it through an arc on the floor, to see what the optimal angle placement is in terms of facial modeling. and then to take the light and "waggle it" a bit side to side, to see how to feather the light for the best effect. This is like a three-step process, and is basically, impossible to do in a selfie type scenario.

cherylynne1 · Feb 8, 2017

Yep, almost impossible to do by myself and I don't have anyone that's willing to be patient while I experiment on them! Maybe I need to start bribing people....