Two?

evoryware · June 26, 2008

Shot these two in a quick session today.

C & C welcome

1.

2.

Nikolai · June 26, 2008

evoryware wrote:

Shot these two in a quick session today.

image #2 is a redcross
I like the lighting/expression/angle on the face.
However the face only takes like 15% of the image space, the rest is filled with featurless dark suit that blends with bg. I'd say - make it a headshot or change the suit/light/bg...

HTH

ShepsMom · June 26, 2008

It doesn't look "blended" on my screen, i see clear separation from the black background/black suit.
Well, done

DVDM · June 26, 2008

I see only one shot and I like it very much

evoryware · June 26, 2008

Nikolai wrote:

image #2 is a redcross

I like the lighting/expression/angle on the face.
However the face only takes like 15% of the image space, the rest is filled with featurless dark suit that blends with bg. I'd say - make it a headshot or change the suit/light/bg...

HTH

Thanks for the comments Nik! #2 I hope is fixed now.
I see what you mean about the space percentage and I do plan to try different backgrounds/outfits. Probably will not be all black because it's too hot for that! On the print and the two monitors I've tried (this one isn't mine) I see separation between the suit/bg although I noticed that the smaller the jpg size I plugged from smugmug, the darker the picture looked. Stuff seems brighter on this monitor and I am upset the background does not appear to have gone black as far away as the subject was.
Thanks again!

ShepsMom wrote:

It doesn't look "blended" on my screen, i see clear separation from the black background/black suit.
Well, done

Thank you! :whew

DVDM wrote:

I see only one shot and I like it very much

Thank you! The one you can't see is very similar but I personally like the one you can see more.

Nikolai · June 26, 2008

evoryware wrote:

#2 I hope is fixed now.

Nope

evoryware · June 27, 2008

pores over options finds "hide photo" is checked

fixed?

That was about 9 feet from the background and the main light was right on the subject. I gotta figure out why the background is lit at all.

Swartzy · June 27, 2008

I like #2 very much. Nice lighting! Was waiting till you had both up to comment..heheh, so here I am.

Sure, you could come in tighter for a great head shot but I see nothing wrong with this pose and frame personally. Love the backlighting and focus spot on. Great job!

Travis · June 27, 2008

I like #1 the best but both are excellent. The only minor suggestion is to bump up the backlight on the subjects right shoulder to provide a touch more separation (could be the horrible monitor I'm using). Overall, the lighting is superb. The angle of the first photo is more flattering for hiding some of the facial lines.

evoryware · June 27, 2008

Swartzy wrote:

I like #2 very much. Nice lighting! Was waiting till you had both up to comment..heheh, so here I am. Sure, you could come in tighter for a great head shot but I see nothing wrong with this pose and frame personally. Love the backlighting and focus spot on. Great job!

Thank you for the comments!

Travis wrote:

I like #1 the best but both are excellent. The only minor suggestion is to bump up the backlight on the subjects right shoulder to provide a touch more separation (could be the horrible monitor I'm using). Overall, the lighting is superb. The angle of the first photo is more flattering for hiding some of the facial lines.

Thanks for the suggestion. I hope to use all three of my lights next time and free up my reflector stand for some extra fill. One of my lightstands broke so the reflector stand took it's place and that eliminated one of my three lights!

Nikolai · June 27, 2008

Now that they are both visible...

1) I like the expression and lighting on the face, #2 being a bit better than #1 if I had to choose
2) I still think they both should be trimmed to headshot only.
Only IMHO...

evoryware · June 27, 2008

Nikolai wrote:

Now that they are both visible...
1) I like the expression and lighting on the face, #2 being a bit better than #1 if I had to choose
2) I still think they both should be trimmed to headshot only.
Only IMHO...

Thank you!

I'm going to work on a head & shoulder crop

cmorganphotography · June 27, 2008

The angle and the light compliment his skin and bone structure much better. He looks more sincere and friendly in the second but it dashes some harsh light into his under eye pockets. Looks older in #2.
I'm sure Nik is thinking the same as me......... a little blending and they're gone! But that would be lying.

frg · June 28, 2008

Very nice work, love the lighting .... I do prefer the first one though , mostly because of the strip of shadow from the ear towards the eyes on the second shot (but thats just me).

eL eSs Vee · June 28, 2008

I also like both, and number one is superb!

I can see the seperation of his coat from the background when I turn off the lights in this room, so it's obviously my monitor that hides it.

Black on black is very dificult. I did a lot of it back in my film days (I'd made it a quest, and have rekindled it now that I'm shooting again, this time in digital), and rarely was I satisfied with the results. In fact, I can count on one finger the number of times I truly succeeded.

That image is now twenty years old and I still keep it in my old portfolio.

All in all, evorywhere, you did an excellent job with these images. Keep it up

evoryware · June 28, 2008

cmorganphotography wrote:

The angle and the light compliment his skin and bone structure much better. He looks more sincere and friendly in the second but it dashes some harsh light into his under eye pockets. Looks older in #2.
I'm sure Nik is thinking the same as me......... a little blending and they're gone! But that would be lying.

Thanks for the comment! Definitely did not want him to look older.

frg wrote:

Very nice work, love the lighting .... I do prefer the first one though , mostly because of the strip of shadow from the ear towards the eyes on the second shot (but thats just me).

Thanks! I feel pretty much the same looking at it again; I like the pose of number two more but the light of number 1 more. Will be interesting to tweak using strobes with no modeling lights.

eL eSs Vee wrote:

I also like both, and number one is superb!

I can see the seperation of his coat from the background when I turn off the lights in this room, so it's obviously my monitor that hides it.

Black on black is very dificult. I did a lot of it back in my film days (I'd made it a quest, and have rekindled it now that I'm shooting again, this time in digital), and rarely was I satisfied with the results. In fact, I can count on one finger the number of times I truly succeeded. That image is now twenty years old and I still keep it in my old portfolio.

All in all, evorywhere, you did an excellent job with these images. Keep it up

Thank you! I had other colors in mind, but just decided a black on black image would be really cool if I could get the separation. It helped to have an idea in my mind ahead of time because I was able to get close to waht I wanted in 10 shots instead of 70.

It's funny looking at these images and thinking back just two years...
I was the "who needs flash" natural light only guy that feared the words RAW, didn't understand f/stops (open up and stop down?

), and didn't think I would ever get out of program mode, much less ever use my camera and flash in manual modes. What a hobby!

eL eSs Vee · June 29, 2008

evoryware wrote:

Thank you! I had other colors in mind, but just decided a black on black image would be really cool if I could get the separation. It helped to have an idea in my mind ahead of time because I was able to get close to waht I wanted in 10 shots instead of 70.

I'm back to trying to get the perfect black on black. I've reshot the Falcon and posted it in another thread. I'm still not completely happy with it and will continue on my quest. But, I did get the image you'll see on the 17th of 19 shots.

evoryware wrote:

It's funny looking at these images and thinking back just two years...
I was the "who needs flash" natural light only guy that feared the words RAW, didn't understand f/stops (open up and stop down? ), and didn't think I would ever get out of program mode, much less ever use my camera and flash in manual modes. What a hobby!

That's what photography is all about, isn't it? I love flash, but not camera-top or even camera-mounted. (Actually, I admire those who have it down, like Jeffreaux.) Studio strobes are where I shine . . . pun intended. I just got an inexpensive set and am starting up again, and after only two days I'm already back in hog heaven. I love having absolute control over my lighting. I love moving them around and trying different angles. I love trying to get that highlight that's just right! I think I'm starting with a very dificult subject. I think I'll learn pretty quick.

Two?

Comments