Staff Portraits - First time at this

[fokker]

My boss asked me to take pictures of the staff for our website, I told him I didn't mind doing it for nothing on company time.
I painted two pieces of plywood black to use as the background (boss wanted black), and I have three speedlights available for lighting. I took the following portrait of my work colleague on Friday (beats working on a Friday afternoon!) as a practice shot. this was only using two speedlights, both bare (I don't have umbrellas or anything) about head height close in camera left and right. I plan to use a third light as a hair light when I shoot the actual portraits this week. I will use my home-made grid on the hairlight to keep it focused, and I also plan on putting some homemade snoots on the other two lights to keep stray light off the background so I don't have to mask it out completely black.

Sound like a good plan?

My C&C, I don't like all the shadows, but I'm not sure if there's a way of avoiding this without going to large modifiers (Which I don't have and would light the background too much? Actually as I typed that I realised I could just move the subject further from the background to stop stray flash hitting it...
How does the pose look? I told him where to position his feet, shoulders and head, then told him a joke and hit the shutter.
They shouldn't be wearing black shirts in the actual shots either.

Comments welcome.

 

[cgipson1]

Not bad.. straighten him up so he isn't at such an angle, and get an umbrella or two! They are cheap! You need a larger light source. That will soften the shadows up...

 

[GeorgieGirl]

I don't mind the back shirts, if that is the comany logo its good to keep it in there. I don't see stray light on the background, but you do need separation and there is some here. The shadows crossing from right across to the left from up above is the problem, and you did indeed point that out. Did you have this at a 90 degree and slight behind the subject angle to the camera? This is nice and sharp and clean shot and that I do like, and I like the pose to in anser to your specific question.

 

[tirediron]

For this sort of work, I like to use a single light and a reflector. My basic formula is: One speedlight high and left (or right, as suits your situation) with a small or medium SB about 15-20 deg off lens-axis and then a reflector 90 on the subject's unlit side; I use a 60" Lastolite panel.

What I see here, in addition to what's already been commented on are the distracting shadows caused by his glasses; try a lower light output and larger aperture to help deal with this.

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.

~John

 

[Mach0]

Not bad. If you dont have modifiers, maybe find a wall or reflector to bounce it off to one side. You can get some rice results that way. What I suggest for the next time if you have access, bounce flash, and use a reflector to fill in shadows.

 

[jamesbjenkins]

If they're going to wearing black shirts on a black background, you should probably allow the hair light to fall on the shoulders a bit too. That would provide some nice separation...

Get a couple of small softboxes too, they aren't too pricey...

Otherwise, looks like you're gtg.

 

[Designer]

You could probably make some kind of homemade light modifier. You could also use bounce light for fairly cheap using foamcore or something similar.

I see nothing wrong with photographing men in low key, and women in high key.

Are these photos going to be published in print or on the website? If so, check with the publisher to see what limitations will be placed on the lighting. For instance; does each person's photo need the same level of illumination?