Portrait of my Father

[superduperwesman]

So my dad came by my place yesterday to pick me up to run a few errands and I had my umbrellas out so I asked him to sit down for a photo. He's wasn't super keen but he did ahah.

Camera was in program mode but I was happy with the aperture at f/4.5 so I snapped a few shots. First couple were blown out so I quickly adjusted the sb600's on camera and I think this one turned out ok. Very minor tweak in Microsoft Office Picture Manager and a slight crop but very close to SOOC.

I just got my umbrellas and am new to lighting so I'm looking for critique on that, any comments on the crop are also welcome, or anything else.

Thanks

[BigFuzzy]

First impression is that it's a quite nice character portrait. Looks very natural and comfortable (despite the fact he may not have been!).

I tried to see it in the largest format, and it seems to me that the eyes aren't as sharp as they could/should be. It looks as if you used the central focus point without locking focus on the eyes, which is why the teeth/mouth seem to be the sharpest part of the image.

Did you use the clamshell technique (ie one umbrella above and one below the subject)?

Lighting in general looks good. The only thing is the really blown out highlight near his right eye (our left).

Otherwise, it look ok.. I'd be curious to see it a bit less bright though.

Still, in the end, for someone starting off, I'd be happy. Now you just have to tweak it to your liking.

[superduperwesman]

Thanks for the comment!

Originally Posted by BigFuzzy

First impression is that it's a quite nice character portrait. Looks very natural and comfortable (despite the fact he may not have been!).

I tried to see it in the largest format, and it seems to me that the eyes aren't as sharp as they could/should be. It looks as if you used the central focus point without locking focus on the eyes, which is why the teeth/mouth seem to be the sharpest part of the image.

Yeah looking now I see what you're saying. I'll try to double check my focus point next time because it would be nice if the eyes were the sharpest point.

Did you use the clamshell technique (ie one umbrella above and one below the subject)?

I did. One sb600 above shot through a white umbrella and one below also shot through a white umbrella. I also used a YN 460-II to light the wall behind him. Any other suggestions for the placement of these or does this work pretty good?

Lighting in general looks good. The only thing is the really blown out highlight near his right eye (our left).

Yeah I did actually notice that and knew someone would comment. I think I need to flag (is that the right term?) the YN 460-II because it must be catching the edge of his eye socket and blowing it out. I guess I could also move him a little further from the wall but I didn't want to push it ahah.

Otherwise, it look ok.. I'd be curious to see it a bit less bright though.

Still, in the end, for someone starting off, I'd be happy. Now you just have to tweak it to your liking.

Thanks again for the comment. Helps me to know what to watch out for next time.

[jpitz31]

As indicated above have your subject take a step away from your background, You are getting too much reflection from the white background. You do not want to overpower the background just enough light to have the background go white.

Start looking at key light, fill light concept. The whole purpose of lighting is to maintain a 3 dimensional shape to your subject. You can do this with additive lighting (fill lighting with less power on the fill than the key light) Or you can use subtractive lighting. Place a black piece of foam core on one side of the subjects face to create a nice shadow fall-off.

Go to strobist.com and do the lighting 101 tutorial.

Thanks

Joe