This failed....why?

Pallycow · Jan 19, 2013

More fails from me. I tried another new type of lighting and didn't do well.

I had light above camera...about a foot higher than camera, maybe...reflector pretty much in her lap...angled to fill on face accordingly. Metered at 5.6.

Heavy shadow under eyes...made bags look worse than they really are. It just looks bad to me, overall. Or is it ok and I'm just tired?

My assessment is camera too high, and no light on backdrop really visible. I'm not sure why but I chose to meter that at 2.8 for some reason. I guess I thought it would be more visible than it came out. Other than those two things, I dunno.

The whole thing is appearing underexposed to me, but I metered light at 5.6 and camera was like 3 feet away from her face...if even that far. So it's not technically underexposed...but it's looking like it...I think. I dunno...I"m sleepy. lol

Here is a single shot, and a couple shot using same lighting.

Is it just that simple...those two things F'ed up my 'vision', or am I missing something else?

No PP really to speak of...just slight wb adjust, raw to jpg, etc. Didn't bother finalizing as I just wanted feedback before I spent any real time on them.

Thanks.

Pallycow · Jan 19, 2013

Mother F'er. Wrong images. One sec.

Pallycow · Jan 19, 2013

Ok, right images are up now.

amolitor · Jan 19, 2013

The catchlights in the eyes are dull to non-existant, which is certainly part of the problem.

Pallycow · Jan 19, 2013

amolitor said:
The catchlights in the eyes are dull to non-existant, which is certainly part of the problem.

Not very helpful. What's your idea on correcting that issue you pointed out?

Robin_Usagani · Jan 19, 2013

#1 looks good. #2 needs more background light. Regarding eye bags, easy PP man. Ill edit when im on puter

Pallycow · Jan 19, 2013

Robin_Usagani said:
#1 looks good. #2 needs more background light. Regarding eye bags, easy PP man. Ill edit when im on puter

I guess I'm just tired then. I can deal with the bags...I just feel my choice in lighting and/or incorrect usage of it made it stand out more. I'd always be curious to see your version of the bag removal though, so feel free.

That was my first thought in #2, just wanted to get other eyes on it to see if I missed anything. Other than the fact his hair disappears, lol....I wasn't sure what else was going on there making go "eh....".

Sw1tchFX · Jan 19, 2013

In the catchlights that are in the eyes, it looks like you wanted to do clamshell lighting. Your fill light on the bottom wasn't bright enough, crank it up a notch and those bags and shadows go bye-bye!

Pallycow · Jan 19, 2013

full size link if you want it.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8196/8395383919_b345761a8d_o.jpg

Pallycow · Jan 19, 2013

Sw1tchFX said:
In the catchlights that are in the eyes, it looks like you wanted to do clamshell lighting. Your fill light on the bottom wasn't bright enough, crank it up a notch and those bags and shadows go bye-bye!

Yeah saw it in a vid I watched and their result looked great. Also, if I recall, they said it doesn't always work on some people, you have to watch your subjects facial makeup. I'd be curious to see if simply more fill would fix it. So I'll play again.

Thanks.

Pallycow · Jan 19, 2013

Is the angle not "goofy" looking to anyone? I thought maybe I had the camera too high...but for some reason I wanted that sort of angle. I think if she had her hair down it would not look funny to me..maybe. lol

I suck so bad at poses....I can't wait until I finally learn it. lolol

Robin_Usagani · Jan 19, 2013

kathyt · Jan 19, 2013

Pallycow said:
Is the angle not "goofy" looking to anyone? I thought maybe I had the camera too high...but for some reason I wanted that sort of angle. I think if she had her hair down it would not look funny to me..maybe. lol

I suck so bad at poses....I can't wait until I finally learn it. lolol

The first pose of just her is really cute. The couples pose is lacking a connection between the two of them and is making her look bigger than him. Which of coarse you don't want to do. Have you tried just searching Pinterest for posing ideas? Here are all of my posing boards. Kathy Thorson (kathythorson) on Pinterest

Pallycow · Jan 19, 2013

Robin_Usagani said:

Just do a little dodging of deeper shadow area?

I went ahead and played with it, over PP a tad but was fun. I'll post it up in a bit.

Pallycow · Jan 19, 2013

kathythorson said:
Pallycow said:

Is the angle not "goofy" looking to anyone? I thought maybe I had the camera too high...but for some reason I wanted that sort of angle. I think if she had her hair down it would not look funny to me..maybe. lol

I suck so bad at poses....I can't wait until I finally learn it. lolol

Click to expand...

The first pose of just her is really cute. The couples pose is lacking a connection between the two of them and is making her look bigger than him. Which of coarse you don't want to do. Have you tried just searching Pinterest for posing ideas? Here are all of my posing boards. Kathy Thorson (kathythorson) on Pinterest

Yeah, I searched many places for ideas, not pinterest though. I just have to find my groove on it. Many of the side by sides like in two were like that, his head small...way smaller than hers, lol. I am finding many of mine are lacking connection too.

Keep in mind I really only post my bad stuff and fails on here. It's how I learn. I don't post the good ones up often. I have a few that show connection with them and that sort. But no need to put 'em up as there are no major flaws I cannot recognize to learn from. ;-)