Self portrait - off camera flash

[Skyblot27]

Tech Spec

Canon EOS R7 18-150mm lens.
1/250sec, f 6.3 ISO 200, manual exp. Almost a completely black image without flash.

Lighting
Godox TT350 off camera, bounce flash off wall, approx. ¼ power. Dimly lit interior room mid morning.

Post processing
Canon DPP with exposure lightening 0.83 plus spot lightening in palm of left hand (supporting lens). Cropped, and exported to JPG at best quality.
Image flipped horizontally in Corel PSP 2023.

Goal
Aim was a learning exercise with the recently bought R7, using manual exposure with off camera manual flash to achieve a side lit self portrait, a sort of “looking at the world through 2 eyes” theme.

I learned lots. The outcome is more or less what I wanted, but I would like more contrast between the lit and shadow sides. The background is too distracting, and I’m not convinced the focus on the eye was nailed. I was arguing with the AF about that.

The light/shadow I think is a result of the flash bouncing off a large wall and ceiling giving too much scattered light. A smaller reflector or (better) a soft box/umbrella would be more directional yet soft. I tried direct flash from the side and it was too harsh I thought.

So I have a list of physical things I will change when I have another go, different flash bounce, background etc.


The real challenge I have is post processing. In this image the shadow area in the left hand has lost detail and shows a dark grey/deep red fill. The out of camera jpg is a little worse, but DXO Pure Raw export to JPG and Tiff have large areas of solid colour blocking out all detail. The detail is there in the raw image but is being crushed in the conversion processing. I suspect it’s too much pixel peeping and if it was printed on 6x4” you’d never know, but it would still be nice to not have the heavy banding! The smaller image is processed with Affinity and is to illustrate the banding/blocking in the shadow detail.

Raw to jpg conversion tips welcome!

 

[zombiesniper105]

but I would like more contrast between the lit and shadow sides. The background is too distracting,

So this is all part of the inverse square law. Getting the light closer to the subject will show a great drop off of light across the subject. It will also help take care of darkening the background however getting more subject to background separation will help as well.
If the light is too harsh with the flash and you don't have a modifier you could always try placing a white sheet, pillow case or even a sheet of paper between the subject and the flash. It won't be a soft box but it will help.

I’m not convinced the focus on the eye was nailed. I was arguing with the AF about that.

You are correct. If you look at the image it's your middle finger and the Canon logo that are in focus. For this I would use a single AF point on the eye. Since the contrast AF will usually hit the spot with the most contrast and in this image it is the Canon label.

DXO Pure Raw export to JPG and Tiff have large areas of solid colour blocking out all detail.

If it's not there in the raw file it has something to do with the compression algorithm or colour profile used. Can you provide more detail on the export settings?