Off camera flash practice

picturegirlpicturegirl Registered Users Posts: 245 Major grins
edited January 27, 2009 in People
Here are some shots of my niece, she let me practice some shots with my new outdoor stands and umbrellas. I'm used to shooting with umbrellas in the studio but outside is much different. Comments and crituque is welcome as I am curious to how I did!! Please let me know what you think of the processing too!

1.458394052_tFaFZ-M-1.jpg
<br>
This one has a little photoshop, sepia added and more contrast
2.458411791_8N3Nt-M-1.jpg
<br>
3.458395657_9Ai7o-M-1.jpg
<br>
4.458400412_E2kT5-M-1.jpg
<br>
Just for fun! I don't normally like to cut faces in half but I think it worked here,
I also brought the color back in her eyes
5.458410520_YLA5v-M-1.jpg
<br>
The rest of the photos can be seen here:
http://picturegirl.smugmug.com/gallery/7140160_sSXff#458400412_E2kT5
I actually like the sepia images the best in this session.

Comments

  • QarikQarik Registered Users Posts: 4,959 Major grins
    edited January 22, 2009
    The execution seems okay for theother shots. But I really do like 2!thumb.gif Great lighting, setup, composition, and PP.clap.gif
    D700, D600
    14-24 24-70 70-200mm (vr2)
    85 and 50 1.4
    45 PC and sb910 x2
    http://www.danielkimphotography.com
  • HackboneHackbone Registered Users Posts: 4,027 Major grins
    edited January 22, 2009
    Love the light balancing in the first one especially. Great exposure on the backgound and subject. You used a broad light on the face which makes it look fatter than it is. As she gets older she will not like you quite as much so watch out for broad lighting on ladies.
    Charles
    www.cameraone.biz
  • picturegirlpicturegirl Registered Users Posts: 245 Major grins
    edited January 22, 2009
    Qarik wrote:
    The execution seems okay for theother shots. But I really do like 2!thumb.gif Great lighting, setup, composition, and PP.clap.gif

    Thanks! #2 is one of my favorites as well!
  • picturegirlpicturegirl Registered Users Posts: 245 Major grins
    edited January 22, 2009
    Hackbone wrote:
    Love the light balancing in the first one especially. Great exposure on the backgound and subject. You used a broad light on the face which makes it look fatter than it is. As she gets older she will not like you quite as much so watch out for broad lighting on ladies.

    Thanks for the comments! I used my 580ex with a bounce umbrella for these. I dont remember exact settings. My niece does has a wide face and I had a hard time posing her. I found that shots from above made her face look much thinner, but it was very difficult and I tried my best to minimize the wideness. Regarless I think she's adorable!!
  • rwellsrwells Registered Users Posts: 6,084 Major grins
    edited January 22, 2009
    Shot #1 looks like it was shot against a green screen, then the background put in. Lighting angles/shadows to the background contribute to this.


    I think #4 is the best shot, lighting wise. As to the comp, I would have like to have seen her not so centered.


    Overall, I like them. That off-camera flash is going to be your friend thumb.gif
    Randy
  • NateWNateW Registered Users Posts: 137 Major grins
    edited January 22, 2009
    picturegirl wrote:
    ...My niece does has a wide face and I had a hard time posing her. I found that shots from above made her face look much thinner, but it was very difficult and I tried my best to minimize the wideness. Regardless I think she's adorable!!

    You might try (given a repeat chance) to have her pose following the 3-1-2 rule (did I get that right by name? I just remember the concept, not the name....) and light from the short side of her face (just a minimal bounce or something to fill the other side).

    Her pose in #1 seems to be pretty much straight on, so you might try having her crank her body 45 deg around to the camera, head 15ish deg back the other way, and eyes back to the camera. Then light the cheek that's facing away from the camera and use a minimal bounce to get the other side filled in.


    I'm just jealous you've got a willing subject! I cant get my daughter to sit for it very often anymore.... (hamming it up apparently gets old after a while.)

    Have fun!
    NateW
    NTWPhotos.com
    Member, Livingston County Photographers Group (http://livcophotographers.com)

    If responding to a picture I've posted: please, provide constructive criticism. Destructive criticism can go take a flying leap.
    If we don't know what could be improved or could have been done differently, we'll never know how to get better at what we're doing.
  • divamumdivamum Registered Users Posts: 9,021 Major grins
    edited January 22, 2009
    NateW wrote:
    You might try (given a repeat chance) to have her pose following the 3-1-2 rule (did I get that right by name? I just remember the concept, not the name....) and light from the short side of her face (just a minimal bounce or something to fill the other side).

    Her pose in #1 seems to be pretty much straight on, so you might try having her crank her body 45 deg around to the camera, head 15ish deg back the other way, and eyes back to the camera. Then light the cheek that's facing away from the camera and use a minimal bounce to get the other side filled in.


    I'm just jealous you've got a willing subject! I cant get my daughter to sit for it very often anymore.... (hamming it up apparently gets old after a while.)

    Have fun!

    And the "3-1-2 rule" would be...?

    Enquiring minds want to know :)

    OP, these shots are terrific! I find the first one ever so slightly flash-dominant for my taste (I tend towards more ambient than flash in my preferences), but I think you absolutely nailed the others thumb.gif. And now I just can't wait for some decent weather so I can play with my new STE2 outside to see what I can get!
    facebook | photo site |
  • NateWNateW Registered Users Posts: 137 Major grins
    edited January 23, 2009
    divamum wrote:
    And the "3-1-2 rule" would be...?

    Enquiring minds want to know :)
    I stole the idea straight from Benji's Tips (see the sticky at the top of the People Forum for a link to it). (Thanks Benji! Great tutorials!)

    For a quicker link (heh)...

    I got the name wrong (surprise), but at various times he calls it the 1-2-3 rule and the 1-3-2 rule. Either way, the idea seems good, so I'm up for it.
    NateW
    NTWPhotos.com
    Member, Livingston County Photographers Group (http://livcophotographers.com)

    If responding to a picture I've posted: please, provide constructive criticism. Destructive criticism can go take a flying leap.
    If we don't know what could be improved or could have been done differently, we'll never know how to get better at what we're doing.
  • picturegirlpicturegirl Registered Users Posts: 245 Major grins
    edited January 27, 2009
    rwells wrote:
    Shot #1 looks like it was shot against a green screen, then the background put in. Lighting angles/shadows to the background contribute to this.


    I think #4 is the best shot, lighting wise. As to the comp, I would have like to have seen her not so centered.


    Overall, I like them. That off-camera flash is going to be your friend thumb.gif

    Thanks for taking the time to look! I guess I didn't really think about off centering her in shot 4 I will have to try that! I can't wait to go out and practice some more with the the off-camera flash, I definitely think it's going to be my friend!
  • picturegirlpicturegirl Registered Users Posts: 245 Major grins
    edited January 27, 2009
    divamum wrote:
    And the "3-1-2 rule" would be...?

    Enquiring minds want to know :)

    OP, these shots are terrific! I find the first one ever so slightly flash-dominant for my taste (I tend towards more ambient than flash in my preferences), but I think you absolutely nailed the others thumb.gif. And now I just can't wait for some decent weather so I can play with my new STE2 outside to see what I can get!

    Hi Divamum, thanks for stopping by to check out my pics. I think I agree about the first one, I'm kind of having mixed feelings about it. I was really happy with the other shots overall. Have fun when you finally get out there!
  • picturegirlpicturegirl Registered Users Posts: 245 Major grins
    edited January 27, 2009
    NateW wrote:
    I stole the idea straight from Benji's Tips (see the sticky at the top of the People Forum for a link to it). (Thanks Benji! Great tutorials!)

    For a quicker link (heh)...

    I got the name wrong (surprise), but at various times he calls it the 1-2-3 rule and the 1-3-2 rule. Either way, the idea seems good, so I'm up for it.

    Hi NateW, thanks for this link! I appreciate you taking the time to check my pictures out! I will try angling her a little more next time, we'll see what I come up with!
Sign In or Register to comment.