Might not be your cup of tea.

Jabfinger

Was wondering if you might give some C&C

Qarik

The light is dang near perfect

jonh68

I like the lighting and colorful background. Good portrait

Hackbone

Not much to do at all, really, really nice job. If you wanted to push it I would do some eye work as he has great eyes. Those blessed folks that have that black ring prominent around the outside of the iris have screaming eyes.

kdotaylor

Ditto. Also, his expression is great.
Nice work!

Hackbone

By the way.....Go Steelers.....next year.

Jabfinger

Thanks folks. Appreciate the feedback. I thought I was going to hear a lot of negative feedback concerning the background here and I am glad I didn't. The background is actually thrown up on a sheet using a projector. Hackbone about the eyes, I am having a difficult time getting good light into them. I am not sure why but I think it may have to do with using an umbrella as the key light, seems like I have to really jam it in real close to get light in there. I am wondering if using a softbox would be better. I did bump up the eyes in post a bit but I would like to light them better. Anyway bout them Steelers, wish it could have turned out better. They really seemed to turn it up but a little to late. By the skin of there teeth they missed the playoffs. Dang. I guess I will have to become a Seahawk fan for now

Hackbone

First off your main light should be as close as you can, just out of frame. The umbrella is a good choice when you want light to go all over the place, it just scatters. A box is more directional. If your subject has a heavy brow or recessed sockets it's just harder to light them.
I'm from down on rt 51 near Uniontown.

Did you use the apple skins on that projection?

anonymouscuban

Looking at the catchlights, I don't think its the position of your light. As Hack mentioned, some folks just have a more prominent brow so it harder to get the eyes to light up. That's why there PS ;-)

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Jabfinger

Thanks Hackbone, anonymouscuban. I don't own a softbox but I have noticed when I bounce light of the wall sometimes peoples eyes light up pretty good. Don't know if you can really compare that to a softbox though. Anyway, I didn't know you were that close Hackbone. I am from north of the burgh in Beaver Falls, a hop skip an a jump from ya. The "Skin" is something my daughter saw and liked after typing abstract into google. I will have to check out Apple Skins though next time I have the projector out. A lot of work involved in using the projector and it is kind of a PIA to get right. It was a good experiment and I did get a few good shots with it but think I'm burned out on it for now

divamum

I love this shot - as others have said, the lighting is perfect. For this subject, that background is wonderful - sure, it might be odd for a corporate shot or something, but it totally goes with the subbject's look and vibe. It's fantastic!

Yes, some folks just have really heavy brows and deepset eyes which make them harder to light. Adding a reflector below and in front can sometimes help. Also, sometimes placing the light a little lower can get light into the eyes without the brow casting a shadow (although it's sometimes a tough call between filling in the eye sockets and being "too low").

Hackbone

If your using an umbrella put a reflector under this chin at waist level pointing up to throw some light back and up into the eyes.

Jabfinger

Thanks divamum, Hackbone. Will have to give these techniques a try.

Foques

I think this is what I would call a perfect shot from the technical aspect. Posing is classic, and that pulls me out of the shot.
Granted, it is very dependent on the idea of a shot, but givent he skull in the background (love the mural, btw), and his piercings, I think a squared / confidence / aggressor pose would work better.
Then again, this is me downfall - I fail miserably shooting classic portraits, and normally stick with the character portraits.