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The other problem is that it's a direct flash. That's going to give you harsh shadows. You could fill in the shadows with ambient or reflector or something, but another way to do it would be to just use a bigger and more diffuse light source -- umbrella, soft box, etc. That'll give you a smoother transition to shadows, so it'll look nicer.
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Jun 6, 2011 21:05
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I just found out that the music teacher association in my state wants a photographer for their convention. They will supply a piano and all I would be doing is taking pictures of kids sitting at the piano and the parents could buy prints from my website. I would have different galleries dependent on the time of day and which day to make finding their picture easy. I haven't gotten exact details yet, nor am I sure I'll be doing it. I was thinking about getting a simple strobe setup. Do you think a single Alienbee with a large softbox or octobox would be sufficient? I also already have a backdrop and would tether a laptop to at least show the results. Aeka 2.0 fucked around with this message at 22:36 on Jun 6, 2011 |
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Jun 6, 2011 22:32
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Have you seen my apex seals? I seem to have lost them.
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One Octa would be more than enough. It's nice to have a second, but if there's enough ambient light, you won't need it.
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Jun 6, 2011 23:29
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AIIAZNSK8ER posted:One Octa would be more than enough. It's nice to have a second, but if there's enough ambient light, you won't need it. Thanks that's what I was hoping. I assume I'll keep it dialed down low and let the ambient fill the rest?
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Jun 7, 2011 07:44
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Aeka 2.0 posted:Thanks that's what I was hoping. I assume I'll keep it dialed down low and let the ambient fill the rest? Set your light for whatever fstop exposure you want, then slow down your shutter speed to allow more ambient in. Aperture controls overall subject exposure and shutter speed controls ambient light.
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Jun 7, 2011 16:26
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AIIAZNSK8ER posted:Set your light for whatever fstop exposure you want, then slow down your shutter speed to allow more ambient in. Aperture controls overall subject exposure and shutter speed controls ambient light. yeah, I know, I should have chosen my words better. I've done a lot of "bar" style photography with a hand held flash and ran long exposure times to let in the ambient. Works quiet well.
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Jun 7, 2011 21:44
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INTJ Mastermind posted:The shot was taken in broad daylight, so that setting was the only way to darken the sky enough. Ideally I needed some way of lightening the shadows on his face, while keeping the ambient at the same low level. quote:I tried adding fill light in post but that lightened the sky as well as the shadows on his face
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Jun 7, 2011 22:47
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Probably will cross-post this to PAD once I am awake enough to form critiques. Taken a few hours ago - if you click on this link it'll take you to a blog entry with six images where you can view the SOOC images as well.     I realize I hosed up the exposure on the last one, which is why her skin tone is off. Oprah Haza fucked around with this message at 07:57 on Jun 9, 2011 |
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Jun 9, 2011 06:54
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Those are nicely lit and I like the poses but I think you need to move the model away from the backdrop a bit. The paper texture is distracting.
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Jun 9, 2011 08:52
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I'm not getting much separation between her background and hair on my monitor. Might want to rim that.
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Jun 9, 2011 10:53
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Paragon8 posted:I'm not getting much separation between her background and hair on my monitor. Might want to rim that. Ditto, you also could have increased your exposure by about half a stop and been good. I'm sure it's completely fixable in post. I dig the the light though!
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Jun 9, 2011 14:49
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Last picture in that set made me laugh. Nice capture (even if the lighting there is crappy). Thirding the "more distance from background" and "add hairlights" requests.
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Jun 9, 2011 21:05
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Thanks for the comments, guys! I... actually like the texture of the seamless though.  I agree with the need for a hair lighting - I need a grid for my strip box, the light spill was a bit overpowering and didn't balance well in the photos. Here are a few more from last night's session. It would've been nice to have another light to put some fill on the left side of her face (camera left).    Thanks again, let me know what you think.
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Jun 10, 2011 05:09
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They're good except the hair/rim light. To be honest I am awful at black background stuff so I tend to mainly do white/grey backgrounds because of that - so you're doing a better job than I would at any rate!
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Jun 10, 2011 15:28
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Yea I think it'd benefit a lot from some rim light/backlit hair. Otherwise its pretty great.
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Jun 10, 2011 19:40
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The only other thing I noticed aside from the seperation is that the skin on her arms looks blotchy. I dont think thats a lighting problem, but something you might consider cleaning up in post. Or maybe try to hide it with lighting? (I've dunno how you would)
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Jun 10, 2011 21:32
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Anybody else like Breaking Bad? They just posted portraits of the cast on their website. http://blogs.amctv.com/photo-galleries/breaking-bad-season-4-character-portraits/walter-white.php
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Jun 10, 2011 23:27
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TheAngryDrunk posted:Anybody else like Breaking Bad? Those are all really weird. That's about the best word for it that comes to my mind.
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Jun 10, 2011 23:35
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McMadCow posted:Those are all really weird. That's about the best word for it that comes to my mind. Some are better than others, but I think the shadows are too dark on some, IMO. I realize they're going for mood, but I think the mood could still be accomplished with more fill.
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Jun 10, 2011 23:40
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Crit me please goons! I've been asked to do another shoot like this and I know there's things I'm missing out on. As a matter of interest, I was shooting a single Canon 430exii flash in a brolly and used a reflector to try and balance the rest of the light, the makeup was done by someone else and I didn't have any say in how much or little was used, I was simply tasked with taking a photo of the end result. I've already booked a Profoto rig for the next shoot (beginning of July) - 2x 500w heads, brollys, stands, the works. It should result in a more consistent tone in the pictures, buuuuut .. Well, I'm still learning so I'll see afterwards.  Makeover Photoshoot-8 by sildargod, on Flickr  Makeover Photoshoot-19 by sildargod, on Flickr  Makeover Photoshoot-25 by sildargod, on Flickr  Makeover Photoshoot-37 by sildargod, on Flickr  Makeover Photoshoot-43 by sildargod, on Flickr Shooting people you've never met / spoken to is intimidating!
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Jun 14, 2011 14:29
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Number 2 looks good (except for her upper lip being very light?). The others are low contrast/low saturation/low exposure- in particular the last photo. Were you aiming for a grey background or a white one? If the latter you need to add some light there.
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Jun 14, 2011 23:03
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sildargod posted:Crit me please goons! I've been asked to do another shoot like this and I know there's things I'm missing out on. I do not understand why you shot #2 at f/2.8, you loose all your detail in the hair. If you do not want shadow behind your model sit them further from the screen. Is the last model a vampire? Her skin is so white ... I hope you had fun doing these it looked like it was! My turn ! I had a newborn and geeez it's hard to take picture and I lack imagination on pose... This is my 3rd son and I did a little shoot. I have a 430ex and I do not master the flash at all. I took all these shot in my garage, I need more lighting. I am thinking of taking a studio class. I am also planning on buying another flash(strobe) in the near future. Any suggestion / critique is welcome.  ADAM by JY-G, on Flickr  ADAM by JY-G, on Flickr  ADAM by JY-G, on Flickr
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Jun 15, 2011 01:40
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Cross_ posted:Number 2 looks good (except for her upper lip being very light?). The others are low contrast/low saturation/low exposure- in particular the last photo. Were you aiming for a grey background or a white one? If the latter you need to add some light there. Ugh.. the white upper lip, don't get me started. The MUA had some rather interesting ideas about makeup composition, and made the people up in her view. I only realised the issues when editing the pics in post. I wanted a white background, but working with a single lonely flash really messed with my ability to control the light. I tried to angle it in such a way to flood the backdrop too, but that just killed any decent light on the model. So much to learn, so much to learn. Niagalack posted:I do not understand why you shot #2 at f/2.8, you loose all your detail in the hair. If you do not want shadow behind your model sit them further from the screen. Is the last model a vampire? Her skin is so white ... I hope you had fun doing these it looked like it was! I actually shot a few of #2 at a more decent f/8, but I quite liked the effect shooting wide open had on her. She is a very soft spoken and quite timid lady, so taking a softer picture seemed appropriate. As to the last lady, she is very, very pale. I didn't see any vampire teeth though, but you never know... It was fun, though rushing through the various models made it quite difficult to engage with anyone. I'm looking forward to the next one though, having decent lighting should make a big difference to the final images and I'll feel a lot more confident with the ladies too. Thank you goons! edit : I use "alas" WAY too much. sildargod fucked around with this message at 11:11 on Jun 15, 2011 |
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Jun 15, 2011 09:02
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sildargod posted:I only realised the issues when editing the pics in post. quote:I actually shot a few of #2 at a more decent f/8, but I quite liked the effect shooting wide open had on her. She is a very soft spoken and quite timid lady, so taking a softer picture seemed appropriate.
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Jun 16, 2011 02:15
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I need some quick advice! A photographer is going to let me use his studio this week to practice portraiture. I've never done this before and can really use some advice on how to pose someone decently. Unfortunately I can't move his lighting around, and I gather that it'll be one or two Alien Bees (or such) softboxed. Would it be helpful to bring a few photos on my Android tablet to use as guides and show my model?
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Jun 20, 2011 00:36
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Iron Squid posted:I need some quick advice! Yes. I use my iPad for this all the time. Good luck!
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Jun 20, 2011 00:44
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I need to start taking photos of people in more controlled environments instead of just random candids. The post thing in the background behind her is driving me nuts, but I can't seem to edit it out without her hair looking obviously photoshopped. What do you think? I'm also terrible at white balances, and this started out really underexposed on her face and kind of red. I hope it looks kind of reasonable now... 
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Jun 21, 2011 05:16
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akulol posted:I need to start taking photos of people in more controlled environments instead of just random candids. The post thing in the background behind her is driving me nuts, but I can't seem to edit it out without her hair looking obviously photoshopped. Yeah, that post is kinda distracting but the first thing which caught my eye was that it now looks rather overexposed and somewhat yellow, I think.
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Jun 22, 2011 01:48
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I'm usually a landscape guy, but I ventured out of my comfort zone during a trip to Napa Valley. Here's a couple of a friend.  IMG_1384 by Shane Duff, on Flickr  IMG_1368 by Shane Duff, on Flickr
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Jun 22, 2011 05:29
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sildargod posted:I've already booked a Profoto rig for the next shoot (beginning of July) - 2x 500w heads, brollys, stands, the works. It should result in a more consistent tone in the pictures, buuuuut .. Well, I'm still learning so I'll see afterwards. I would consider grabbing yourself some softboxes, too - they're great for soft lighting and would work a treat for makeover style shoots, because they're there to have a photo of them "looking nice" so a decent sized softbox would work nicely in getting some soft, even lighting. Find a victim to practice on when your lights arrive and practice, practice, practice. Not posted for a while - I've been undertaking the gruelling job of photographing beautiful women who were all really nice. Don't even get me started on the punishing 11am start. Brutal. Anyway, sorry - here are a couple, I have far, far too many to make any sort of informed decision on which I like the most, not to mention not enough time to give them all enough attention.    
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Jun 22, 2011 19:35
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^^ #4 rocks.
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Jun 22, 2011 19:50
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Gazmachine posted:Why does she have no facial features or bone structure?  You might have gone a little wild on the skin smoothing. She's kinda doll-like.
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Jun 22, 2011 19:58
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Ha! Well that's about as polarised as two opinions can get, I guess. I like that
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Jun 22, 2011 20:07
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Gazmachine posted:Ha! Well that's about as polarised as two opinions can get, I guess. I like that Well, what he says is true, but I assumed you were going for that look. It's not a realistic image, but I think it looks nice.
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Jun 22, 2011 20:48
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TheAngryDrunk posted:Well, what he says is true, but I assumed you were going for that look. It's not a realistic image, but I think it looks nice. Yeah, that was indeed the intention. Same as the vignetting on #1 trying to be like a wartime 40s sort of thing.
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Jun 22, 2011 20:50
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Gazmachine posted:Yeah, that was indeed the intention. Same as the vignetting on #1 trying to be like a wartime 40s sort of thing. ..and it came out really well. The red hair might be a bit too intense but other than that it looks great. Falco posted:
Cross_ fucked around with this message at 21:04 on Jun 22, 2011 |
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Jun 22, 2011 21:02
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Something weird is going on with her eyes, almost looks like glare off contact lenses?
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Jun 22, 2011 21:07
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Paragon8 posted:Something weird is going on with her eyes, almost looks like glare off contact lenses? Ok, so I'm totally into the 40 wartime photo aesthetic you're going for, but I agree there's something wrong with the eyes. Specifically, I think they're too sharp, I can't stop staring at the lashes and their reflection in the eyes. But overall, these are amazing, I'm super jealous of the way the background color plays off the hair in 4. Shots like these make me want to shoot color again. I'm sure y'all would prefer to do this digitally, but put some vaseline on that lens.
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Jun 22, 2011 21:53
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Yeah, the softboxes are so close that it gives that slighty odd effect. I say effect, I mean unintended mistake. I love getting the softboxes super close for this ultra soft lighting but that's one of the drawbacks. How could I alter the positioning without losing the softness by taking them too far back? Maybe I just need a larger main softbox (like an Octabox)? I do like to rent them, so maybe I'll go ahead and buy while I have the work coming in. Thanks for the crit on the sharpness - I have a good sharpen algorithm but it's a little too effective on hair and lashes, due to it having a tiny pixel radius. Then I resize smaller and I agree, it's just too sharp. It probably didn't need sharpening in the first place - bit of a bad habit of mine is "everything must be sharpened no matter what it is!" Thanks for the crits
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Jun 22, 2011 22:07
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I love the first one. 2 soft boxes I assume? What was the positioning?
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Jun 24, 2011 00:39
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