Baby + Cake (CC request)

adbsgicom

Friend's baby turned one the other day, and she asked me to take the pictures (good think I brought my camera -- I was kinda tired and didn't think I'd really feel like shooting anything). Anyhow, she is thrilled with the shots, though I have some misgivings. I think the shadowing might be too harsh in some of these, but any feedback would be appreciated. These are 5 that she liked, though she picked out about 20 or more from the 100+ I shot. These were all shot with bounced light from my 550ex on camera.

1. He started out very uninterested in the cupcake, but got very interested when mom took it away for a moment.


2.

3. Big brother was totally into the cupcake...


4.

5.

C&C appreciated. Thanks.

kidzmom

Cute kid! I like the shots! Nice job Looks like everybody had fun....the little guy with the cake and you with your camera.

AlbertZeroK

I like them - especially number 4, but everything is so centered. I love the gradient on the back wall and the catch lights in 4, but too much window.

Kids are so hard to capture, but these have to be great shots for mom! You did a great job of capturing the day!

adbsgicom

Thanks. I played around with the crops some, but nothing really worked. The baby was parked at the end of the table and additional space left or right was always partial arms and such. I ended up with a couple of square crops to move him off center in a meaningful way in some cases where we didn't lose too much of him.

lilmomma

I like the lighting best in 1 and 4, looks like it hit too high in the rest. Maybe it even hit high a little on 4 but it worked with the head tilted.

Other than that they are nice and sharp. Very cute series, and i'm sure the mom will love them!

adbsgicom

Thanks.
I knew that shooting straight on wouldn't work at all, even with a small diffuser, I think the light would have been too close and too flat. I was generally about 3-5' away. To my right was a big open space and to the left was a big open space, so the only place to bounce the light at all was up and to the side, which you notes was too high.

I see you have the LS has a tool in your sig. Is the one of those situations where the LS is really handy? I've never played with one, so I'm curious about what situations it is really best for.

Thanks,

lilmomma

yes, i love the lightsphere, and is great for a scenario such as this. When I go home for my lunch i'll find my test shots that I did for the LS and show you the light difference. I had a post on it, but I deleted the files from my site.

adbsgicom

Thanks a ton!

lilmomma

ok here they are (note these were for testing purposes only and SOOC Raw converted to JPEG):

1. Straight up bounced flash



2.GF sphere with the dome on the top, which is what i was doing for a while when I first got it. I was dissatisfied because i felt it was too "flashy"



3. My "ah-ha" moment, when I realized the best results were without the dome on the top. this way, the light gets to bounce but some still goes forward to fill in and reduce shadows in the face.



Some people take it further and put something towards the back of the sphere to lessen the light going behind you and bump up the light pushing forward. I guess by then it's probably similar results to a lumiquest bouncer, or scotts "better bounce card" But i'm not bothered by the light spill behind me, i mostly like the results best that way, for casual shooting anyway.

adbsgicom

Thanks a bunch for putting the SOOC images out there. Is the LS directional? I.e., could you bounce the light a little off-vertical to get a little bit of left-right differential? Removing the dome clearly reduces the hard shadows under the neck, and the diffusion seems to work real well to get her eyes well lit.

I'm totally amazed how still she sat while you were tinkering with the LS and dome!!