Lighting/LR3 processing first Self-Portrait

sapphire73

I tried doing a self-portrait with two of my sons for a dgrin challenge and would welcome your input on them. My experience is more with landscapes, macros of flowers, and candid shots of people so this is really new territory for me. (And if you notice a clunky right foot, I broke it about a week ago. )

Working titles: "Like Mother, Like Sons" or "Nature or Nurture?"

1. My favorite from the shoot because of the lighting - flash bounced off gold reflector


2b. Same shot processed as black and white
[Edited to link a sharper b/w version]


3. Staged action in a gazebo, split tone because the color(s) seemed to detract from the image, but could try BW


4. Natural light supplemented with external flash


I'd appreciate whatever help or feedback you can give me!

Thanks,
Gretchen

P.S. Just for comparison, here is the original image used for 1 and 2. I welcome suggestions on other alternatives/better ways to process an image with this kind of lighting. (I shoot RAW and do most post-processing in LR3). I'm not sure whether it is better to even out the lighting in LR or go with the sort of spot light effect of the bounced golden reflection...

lzfoto

I liked the first a whole lot, however it seems just a slight tad bit too bright where the arms of your son on the right is. Overal, Very creative! The b/w edit seems a bit too soft...and I'm not a huge fan of the split tone. The forth image is pretty neat and I also like it alot, great lighting there from my perspective.

sapphire73

lzfoto wrote: »

I liked the first a whole lot, however it seems just a slight tad bit too bright where the arms of your son on the right is. Overal, Very creative! The b/w edit seems a bit too soft...and I'm not a huge fan of the split tone. The forth image is pretty neat and I also like it alot, great lighting there from my perspective.

Thanks for your input, Izfoto. I think you are right about the b/w edit being soft. (I'm not used to noisy/grainy images and probably used too much NR...)

Is 5 or 6 is preferable to the first version of 1?

5. New "subdued" edit of 1


6. Another edit of 1 - light more evenly distributed than "as shot"


Thanks,
Gretchen

sapphire73

Am I Getting Any Warmer?
Two more edits for consideration. Any thoughts on these?

7. Tighter crop of #4


8. Another Gazebo Shot with a modified Bleached Bypass Effect


Thanks,
Gretchen