sepia boy

Elaine

I'm having some fun playing with my very basic lighting set up (shoot thru umbrella with reflector). I asked the kiddo to pose with Daddy's hat on tonight. I didn't get much time with him, and I didn't get to change my lighting once it was set, so I just shot and hoped for something I'd like! This one fit the bill. Sepia seemed like the right treatment here.

I'm also trying to glean what I can from these short bits of experimentation...trying to learn about light and shadow and trying to get what I want in camera. I've got a long ways to go. Please feel free to share any wisdom about what I can do better. I feel like I'm still at the stage where I'm not sure what my questions should be!

Scott_Quier

Only two thoughts come to mind:

1. Raising your light a bit might improve the angle of the shadows on his face. On the other hand, this could cause the hat to cast a not-so-nice shadow across the upper portion of his face.
2. Turn on some lights in the room if you would like to see slightly smaller pupils. When shooting with flash, it's common for the ambient light to be high enough to have an effect on the eyes without being bright enough to be a significant contributor to the exposure - that is, as long as the ambient is 5 stops less than your strobes it will have no appreciable impact on the exposure.

rwells

Elaine,

I think this is a superb image ~ a timeless quality to it, not only the post but the simple and effective comp.

Elaine

Thanks much, Randy and Scott! I'll remember about the ambient for next time. I was shooting in the d.a.r.k. I wondered about that nose shadow. It kinda bugged me, but with the hat, I wasn't sure what I should have done. Is it more desirable to have that little shadow pointing lower, or is there some way to have it go away without making flat light?

Scott_Quier

Elaine wrote:

Thanks much, Randy and Scott! I'll remember about the ambient for next time. I was shooting in the d.a.r.k. I wondered about that nose shadow. It kinda bugged me, but with the hat, I wasn't sure what I should have done. Is it more desirable to have that little shadow pointing lower, or is there some way to have it go away without making flat light?

Two part answer:

- Pointer lower? ---> well, that all depends on what you are wanting to accomplish. The "classical" loop lighitng would have it pointing down (the light above the level of his nose), but that's just a rule that's meant to be broken.

- If you want a shadow (and I think that's very much preferable to not having a shadow) and, at the same time now completely throwing his forehead in shadow, you could raise your light a bit (for the loop lighting) and then move your reflector a bit lower and closer. The re-positioning of the reflector would throw additioniona (and stronger) light up into the shadow from the hat and fill it a bit. The real question then is, "How close and how low?" Well, that's something that only you can figure out - through experimentation.

As for shooting in the dark - I wonder if we don't all start there. I know I did. So, don't kick yourself too hard over that one. Just remember that, whatever your strobe(s) is/are doing, you want your ambient to be at least 5 stops lower ... unless you want the ambient to contribute to the exposure and that's a whole 'nother can of worms

kidzmom

Awww. What a sweetie! I love it! Very timeless and precious. I love his large pupil size. He looks like such an angel. I agree that hat lighting is TOUGH! For me the biggest problem is a. shadowing and b. focus. I often end up getting a brim when I was going for the eyes. Your pic is crystal clear and I agree that a touch of harsher shadow would be neat, but this is also fabulous. Good work with your umbrella. I'll be asking a lot of questions in the future if Santa brings me my Christmas present this year!

divamum

Love.

The intensity of the gaze combined with the creamy "little boy" skin (he'd hate to hear that, I'm sure, but you know exactly what I mean!) is the most wonderful combo. I see what you mean about the nose shadow, but didn't really notice it until you mentioned it. Perhaps a touch more reflector would fill that in and soften it a tad for next time?

Since Scott mentions it... what ARE the rules of thumb for determining the height of a light on a stand? I've read plenty about light positions and setups, but this one thing never seems to be specifically mentioned, yet I reckon there MUST be a basic "recipe" to start with (even if you adjust after the test shots). I always wind up guessing, chimping, and adjusting. Is there a decent way of guesstimating and presetting the height of a light?

Scott_Quier

divamum wrote:

Since Scott mentions it... what ARE the rules of thumb for determining the height of a light on a stand? I've read plenty about light positions and setups, but this one thing never seems to be specifically mentioned, yet I reckon there MUST be a basic "recipe" to start with (even if you adjust after the test shots). I always wind up guessing, chimping, and adjusting. Is there a decent way of guesstimating and presetting the height of a light?

Rule? - I don't think there is one.

However, where you place the light will control where the shadows fall. If you want the shadow to fall directly across the face (as in Elaine's wonderful image) you put the light about nose level. If you want the shadow to fall more in accordance with "classical" loop lighting, you want the light to be approximately 45° above the nose.

Mitchell

Elaine, I really like this shot. The lighting, PP and composition all come together to make a really lovely portrait.

Photos with a hat on can be a challenge. You have to keep the light low enough to avoid casting a shadow from the brim (which you did). Normally, I think you would want your light just a bit higher than you have it positioned here.

lilmomma

no advice here about light placement with a hat, but I think the shot is just sweet! I may be weird, but something about the large pupils is intriguing to me here, not sure why.

adbsgicom

Elaine, I really love this shot. It has a very timeless feel to it.

DavidS

Beautiful! I love it!

Ed911

DavidS wrote:

Beautiful! I love it!

Yep...I agree. Most of the time, I'm not a big fan of blown pupils...but here, it just works.

And +1 for what Randy Wells said...

You can experiment, but this one's going to be hard to beat. The look, the hat...the post processing...great job.

Thanks for sharing Elaine...looking forward to seeing more of your work.

Elaine

Thanks for all the kind words and pointers! I really appreciate it. I'll keep practicing!

com3

honestly, i think it's perfect as is. large pupils look great in photos like this, imo. makes people seem warmer, softer.... you know? especially kids. gives em what i like to call the "doe-y" look. like a doe...