my hubby...my flash photo model

Elaine

I would really like to gain some knowledge and comfort level with using my flash, so I put my husband to work as my model. I think I may be shooting some seniors this year, and my first will be a young man, so that's another reason to practice with my husband. First up...some headshots. These were shot with the 17-55 2.8 IS, f/3.5, 580EXII flash on camera (Canon 40D), 1/4 CTB gel held in place with the flash's diffuser panel, cloudy WB, manual exposure, FEC around -1 1/3 to -1 2/3. I'm trying to channel jeffreaux2, don't ya know! :rofl

#1


#2


#3


#4 - This is my favorite expression/comp, but I don't think I was careful enough with my focusing as the eyes aren't as sharp as they should be. :cry His eyes are a little small, so maybe the focus jumped to his eyebrows. And f/3.5 is pretty shallow. Anyway, I don't usually have focus issues, so I think I just need to be more careful.


What I was pleased with:
It sure is great to have that high speed sync!
The white balance...I'm not exactly sure why it worked, but I didn't adjust it at all in ACR. Yay! I hope it looks good to others, and I'd like to hear if it doesn't.

What needs work:
I'm not confident in my posing/placement direction and this makes me the most nervous about shooting for other people.
Post processing...I'm feeling stuck in a rut. I like to keep things relatively simple and natural looking, for the most part. I've never used actions, and I'd kinda like to try it, but I don't have CS3 yet.

Anyway, I'm open to any and all feedback! Thanks in advance!

Awais Yaqub

Elaine
I never knew you are a female

Great portraits !

urbanaries

These are GREAT, Elaine! Wow. Lovely detail and sharpness in his face (not seeing any issues here) with a wonderful DOF.

Very curious to hear the position of the sun, shutter speed, focal length and how you were able to shoot him from above so nicely.

Oh and if you don't mind me saying, he is quite a hunk!!! (does he have any single brothers?)

Elaine

Awais Yaqub wrote:

Elaine
I never knew you are a female

Great portraits !

rofl
Elaine is definitely a female name.

Here I am.

ladytx

They look great. He looks a little green on the chin and cheeks in his beard area though on my monitor. Probably reflection from grass. Beautiful eyes.

Elaine

urbanaries wrote:

These are GREAT, Elaine! Wow. Lovely detail and sharpness in his face (not seeing any issues here) with a wonderful DOF.

Very curious to hear the position of the sun, shutter speed, focal length and how you were able to shoot him from above so nicely.

Oh and if you don't mind me saying, he is quite a hunk!!! (does he have any single brothers?)

Oh, thank you, Lynne!
Let's see...I took these at about 3:30 with mostly sunny skies (a few clouds). The sun was up and off to my right. He was down on one knee in the open shade of a tree (big sunny area behind me). ISO 400 - could have dropped that as the shutter was 1/640. Focal length was 45-55mm.

:DYes, he is my handsome dude, but he has no brothers...three sisters...which is why he is such a great husband!

Elaine

ladytx wrote:

They look great. He looks a little green on the chin and cheeks in his beard area though on my monitor. Probably reflection from grass. Beautiful eyes.

Thank you, and you're right about a bit of green. That's my nemesis! I wonder if I threw down a big white sheet in front of him if that would help. This issue drives me crazy, so I have to choose not to stress over it too much.
Thanks for the comments!

Swartzy

Nice job Elaine! I'm seeing some yellow/green cast as well. Good poses and nice and sharp.

urbanaries

Elaine wrote:

Oh, thank you, Lynne!
Let's see...I took these at about 3:30 with mostly sunny skies (a few clouds). The sun was up and off to my right. He was down on one knee in the open shade of a tree (big sunny area behind me). ISO 400 - could have dropped that as the shutter was 1/640. Focal length was 45-55mm.

Ok forgive my ignorance. Since the sun was so bright, did you expose for the grass, and let the flash expose his skin? Or did you expose for him? I have a hard time balancing flash and ambient in bright sun without resorting to underexposing the bg overexposing the flash (which at -1ish FEC you obviously didn't do). I'm so bad when it comes to numbers

The green is very easily fixable in CS2/CS3, just draw a loose lasso around his face, "Replace color" and sample the greenest area, then alter the hue and saturation to taste. Works really well for red-rimmed eyes (did it a few times on the groom in my engagement series!)

Oh and you guys are the most gorgeous, sweet looking couple ever! If I'm ever in the area I will have to shoot you!

1pocket

Elaine, I am wondering what you are using for a white balance. Is it possible that the green is a wb issue, because it seems mostly in the facial areas that would have been lifted by the flash, whereas his ears and forehead look like they received more of the ambient light. Or, it's just a reflection from the grass, lol. It is even in the shadow area between his eyes and eyebrows. It's definitely not coming from above.

I know I have decided my gold reflector is a little too goldy-green sometimes.

Elaine

1pocket wrote:

Elaine, I am wondering what you are using for a white balance. Is it possible that the green is a wb issue, because it seems mostly in the facial areas that would have been lifted by the flash, whereas his ears and forehead look like they received more of the ambient light. Or, it's just a reflection from the grass, lol. It is even in the shadow area between his eyes and eyebrows. It's definitely not coming from above.

I know I have decided my gold reflector is a little too goldy-green sometimes.

I used cloudy white balance for this set, and a 1/4 CTB gel on my flash. I'm quite sure the green issue is a grass reflection issue. It's skunked me before! I welcome any suggestions for avoiding this! Perhaps if he had been standing up and I had gone up a ladder to get the same angle, rather than putting him down closer to the grass by kneeling? Maybe that would have helped...

Elaine

Swartzy wrote:

Nice job Elaine! I'm seeing some yellow/green cast as well. Good poses and nice and sharp.

Thanks, Swartzy! Is the yellow you're seeing an overall warmness issue, or just related to the grass reflection issue?

Elaine

urbanaries wrote:

Ok forgive my ignorance. Since the sun was so bright, did you expose for the grass, and let the flash expose his skin? Or did you expose for him? I have a hard time balancing flash and ambient in bright sun without resorting to underexposing the bg overexposing the flash (which at -1ish FEC you obviously didn't do). I'm so bad when it comes to numbers

The green is very easily fixable in CS2/CS3, just draw a loose lasso around his face, "Replace color" and sample the greenest area, then alter the hue and saturation to taste. Works really well for red-rimmed eyes (did it a few times on the groom in my engagement series!)

Oh and you guys are the most gorgeous, sweet looking couple ever! If I'm ever in the area I will have to shoot you!

Hmm...good question. I think in this case, I exposed for his face and just watched my highlights. I knew I didn't want too much flash, so I figured if my highlights were blown, I would turn that down before I adjusted my exposure. Does that make sense? I'm really learning as I go here, so don't pay too much attention to me!

Thanks for the tips about the green stuff. I'm still using PSE 5 (CS3 is next on my list). I'll see if I can do something similar.

And you are so sweet! Come to Oregon and I will definitely take you up on that!

Elaine

I think Lynne's suggestion worked...and it wasn't that hard! What do you think? Are the green reflections on the face improved in the second shot?

Before:


After:

searching the soul

Some tips
I always try to keep fill flash at about 1/2 stop underneath the ambient light . It will allow the image to not look over powered from the flash .
A nice white reflector can be great low under the eyes to keep from the eye sockets looking dark or deep . The longer mm lens will give a great compression of the background and will not distort body image . 85 mm to 105 also makes the fill flash easier to control . When shooting a H/S pose try to crop mid bicep and not below the elbow .

Elaine

searching the soul wrote:

I always try to keep fill flash at about 1/2 stop underneath the ambient light . It will allow the image to not look over powered from the flash .
A nice white reflector can be great low under the eyes to keep from the eye sockets looking dark or deep . The longer mm lens will give a great compression of the background and will not distort body image . 85 mm to 105 also makes the fill flash easier to control . When shooting a H/S pose try to crop mid bicep and not below the elbow .

Thanks for the great tips! More info for my arsenal!

Scott_Quier

Elaine,

Some more tips re: gels and flashes

• Shooting in the shade - think about using a blue gel. When you correct WB for your subject you will be warming up the photo. Thus, the background (illuminated by more direct sunlight) will go warmer - can be a very nice effect.
• With face near objects reflecting green - I'm thinking (but never tried it) that a green gel might be the key. Here's why - The light from the flash will more closely match that which is reflecting from the green vegetation. When you correct your WB, you will be corrected for both light sources - result should be more pleasing.
• For attaching a gel to the flash - I use a simple piece of transparent celephane tape? If the flash head is 2" x 3.5", then the tape might be 4.5" long and would run through the middle of the flash from one short side to the other. The nature of the tape is such that it would not alter the temperature of the light any and you don't have to worry about the diffusion screen scattering the light more than you want.

jeffreaux2

Elaine....ya done good!!!....and you have been paying close attention ...your opening explaination of technique sounded dead on. Your flash balance here looks perfect IMO. You have filled what needed filling, but have not introduced new shadows. Great job there! I only see a slight shadow under his chin in the last, but it is nice and soft and looks like a natural light shadow.

The green is relected light, and is common for outdoor natural setting type work. Your correction appears well done. It can be trickier sometimes against other colored surfaces.

Overall It appears you have it down pat. F2.8 is dead accurate on my camera....with that lens....just trust it!!

Elaine

Scott_Quier wrote:

Elaine,

Some more tips re: gels and flashes

• Shooting in the shade - think about using a blue gel. When you correct WB for your subject you will be warming up the photo. Thus, the background (illuminated by more direct sunlight) will go warmer - can be a very nice effect.
• With face near objects reflecting green - I'm thinking (but never tried it) that a green gel might be the key. Here's why - The light from the flash will more closely match that which is reflecting from the green vegetation. When you correct your WB, you will be corrected for both light sources - result should be more pleasing.
• For attaching a gel to the flash - I use a simple piece of transparent celephane tape? If the flash head is 2" x 3.5", then the tape might be 4.5" long and would run through the middle of the flash from one short side to the other. The nature of the tape is such that it would not alter the temperature of the light any and you don't have to worry about the diffusion screen scattering the light more than you want.

Scott - I did use a blue gel...1/4 CTB. And then I didn't correct for WB at all. This was as I shot it (cloudy in camera). Are you saying I should have warmed it up?

Intriguing thought about the green gel.

Thanks for the tape tip!

Elaine

jeffreaux2 wrote:

Elaine....ya done good!!!....and you have been paying close attention ...your opening explaination of technique sounded dead on. Your flash balance here looks perfect IMO. You have filled what needed filling, but have not introduced new shadows. Great job there! I only see a slight shadow under his chin in the last, but it is nice and soft and looks like a natural light shadow.

The green is relected light, and is common for outdoor natural setting type work. Your correction appears well done. It can be trickier sometimes against other colored surfaces.

Overall It appears you have it down pat. F2.8 is dead accurate on my camera....with that lens....just trust it!!

Well, I think "down pat" would be overstating it, for sure! Yes, 2.8 is accurate on mine too, I was working some angles and didn't want the DOF to be too shallow and have parts of his face go too soft. As it was, if you look closely, one eye is often sharper than the other. Not sure how picky to be about this.
Glad the green fix seems to have worked!
Thanks for the pat on the back!

Elaine

Thought I'd throw one more in...not sure why I didn't work this one up to begin with. I think the eyes might be the best here. Perhaps a tighter crop is needed, to lose the distraction of his shorts at the bottom. And his shirt kept bunching up around his neck. Ah well, just practice!

Scott_Quier

Elaine wrote:

Scott - I did use a blue gel...1/4 CTB. And then I didn't correct for WB at all. This was as I shot it (cloudy in camera). Are you saying I should have warmed it up?

Intriguing thought about the green gel.

Thanks for the tape tip!

I missed the part about 1/4 CTB in your OP. When you set the WB to cloudy, you caused the camera to warm the photo up for you just a bit. So, it appears you already did everything I was talking about


Maybe, next time, I'll read the OP completely Sorry for the confusion.

P.S. - I think that last one is really super - you got his eyes sooooo sharp!!! Nice.