my mom and her beau

urbanaries

My mom hates pics of herself and claims that even I can't take one of her that she likes. BUT she really wanted some pics with her significant other so I guess we'll see if I got any closer! I am still not sure why she thinks she's so un-photogenic....:dunno C&C welcome! (and yes, she's old enough to be my mom, and I'm 30! )

1.


2. I don't think she will like this one but I :lust it!


3.


4. And a more traditional Christmas-y pic inside:

Elaine

Your mom is adorable, Lynne! I think she looks GREAT in all of them. He is a lucky beau. I like his expression best in 3 & 4.
I really like the colors and conversions. It especially brings out their eyes in #3.
The inside one is so nicely lit. Please share how you did this!

urbanaries

Elaine wrote:

Your mom is adorable, Lynne! I think she looks GREAT in all of them. He is a lucky beau. I like his expression best in 3 & 4.
I really like the colors and conversions. It especially brings out their eyes in #3.
The inside one is so nicely lit. Please share how you did this!

Aw, thanks! It's great to see her so happy! He's a handsome bloke in person but I have a tough time getting a good angle on him. When he smiles you can't see his eyes very well so I stood above them, which wasn't the best angle on his head!!! Can't win em all, but I hope they're both happy with #3. He's an amateur photog too so I wanted to do a really good job and impress him! (he took some cute shots of Harry and I I'll put up tomorrow!)

Indoors, I put a 580 EX with a 1/2CTO gel + cloud lightsphere with the top off. It was behind me on a shelf, about 3 feet camera left and 7 feet behind me. I am so thrilled with the radio poppers because I love putting lights behind the camera rather than between me and the subject.

Thanks for commenting Elaine!

Elaine

urbanaries wrote:

Aw, thanks! It's great to see her so happy! He's a handsome bloke in person but I have a tough time getting a good angle on him. When he smiles you can't see his eyes very well so I stood above them, which wasn't the best angle on his head!!! Can't win em all, but I hope they're both happy with #3. He's an amateur photog too so I wanted to do a really good job and impress him! (he took some cute shots of Harry and I I'll put up tomorrow!)

Indoors, I put a 580 EX with a 1/2CTO gel + cloud lightsphere with the top off. It was behind me on a shelf, about 3 feet camera left and 7 feet behind me. I am so thrilled with the radio poppers because I love putting lights behind the camera rather than between me and the subject.

Thanks for commenting Elaine!

Would it not work to put the camera in that position with the STE2? Have you ever had trouble with your own shadow showing up in the shot, or is it high enough and bouncing so that doesn't happen?

vintagemxr

Your mom reminds me of Patricia Richardson of the "Home Improvement" TV. (Don't tell my wife!)

As for the bald head angle issue, as a baldy myself I can say that getting a good angle on a semi-covered pate is challenging, especially with dark hair against light skin. Often times for photos of myself I'll wear a cap, not because I care about being bald in a photo but because the vast expanse of "half dome" tends to draw the viewer's eye away from the ruggedly handsome face. A stylish, short brim cap of the classic British herringbone variety rather than a favorite old ball cap is a good choice if the gentleman is comfortable with it.

Doug

Scott_Quier

Hey there!

I don't know about your mom, but I like #2 FTW - it is so natural and has an intimate, unposed feel to it. Of course, the B&W conversion is pretty nice too.

As for why you mom doesn't like photos of herself - maybe it's because her natural smile looks like forced? Don't get me wrong - she's a lovely lady .... it's just what I see.

Agnieszka

Oh, these are adorable. I think #3 will be the winner ... even though I really like #2 too .....

But tell me ... what happened with the stocking in the last one???

Swartzy

You done her well Lynne. Very nice all around. #3 is great!

urbanaries

Agnieszka wrote:

Oh, these are adorable. I think #3 will be the winner ... even though I really like #2 too .....

But tell me ... what happened with the stocking in the last one???

I noticed that this morning, apparently my copy and paste settings in Lightroom included a clone stamp....whoops!!! This one is even funnier...the cyclops stocking:



Thanks Angie for commenting!

urbanaries

Scott_Quier wrote:

Hey there!

I don't know about your mom, but I like #2 FTW - it is so natural and has an intimate, unposed feel to it. Of course, the B&W conversion is pretty nice too.

As for why you mom doesn't like photos of herself - maybe it's because her natural smile looks like forced? Don't get me wrong - she's a lovely lady .... it's just what I see.

Thanks for the input on the conversion! I feel so much better about mine since getting a better monitor setup. Boy did I used to plug the blacks!!!

You are right, she does have a very intense smile. That could be it! Thanks for commenting Scott!

urbanaries

Swartzy wrote:

You done her well Lynne. Very nice all around. #3 is great!

thank you Dave!!!

jeffreaux2

Very nice processing....especially the color ones. The blacks in the BW still look a bit heavy to me....but I like the contrast.

I have had some success in locating a flash behind me..with STE2..or around corners in the confines of a living space. the IR beam it seems bounces around pretty good in smaller spaces, but it has to be tested before you can safely assume the flash will fire.

pathfinder

With an off shoe cord and an angle bracket, you can arrange to point your ST-E2 backwards over your shoulder, towards a wall behind you, and trigger a flash behind you indoors.

I like #3 the best - the faces seem relaxed and more natural to me.