Evening shoot with my favorite girl

[kstiltne]

A few questions on this one...first, the spot of light on the background is from a SB600 camera right. Does it help to add separation between subject and background or is it just distracting, would it have worked better if it were color matched with the sun coming in from the left or does the difference in color add a bit of depth to the shot? White balance...too warm on the face...and finally pose. I try to keep the hands out of the pockets most of the time, but I was trying for something a bit "enjoying the evening/casual" thing here. I'm pretty terrible with finding positions for portraits, so ANY suggestions at all here would be appreciated.



EXIF:
Nikon D50
Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 micro
1/80
manual lens so guessing on aperture but I think it was f/8
ISO 200
SB600 camera right bare zoomed to 80mm pointing at back of Michelle and the wall

Anything you might add that I didn't ask for is of course fair game

[jpitz31]

Nice exposure, I like the warm tone, gives the impression that the sun is setting. You are correct, I would gel the back ground light with some cto gel to match the warming tone of the image. Yes also get her hand out of the pocket. Have her rest her hand at her side or place the hand on the railing like the other hand.

I would also tighten up the image just a bit. There is more space on top of her head than the rest of the image. When shooting a wider angle lens this is very common where you have some space above the head due to the curve of the lens. Watch for this.

Nice start.

Joe

[kstiltne]

Originally Posted by jpitz31

Nice exposure, I like the warm tone, gives the impression that the sun is setting. You are correct, I would gel the back ground light with some cto gel to match the warming tone of the image. Yes also get her hand out of the pocket. Have her rest her hand at her side or place the hand on the railing like the other hand.

I would also tighten up the image just a bit. There is more space on top of her head than the rest of the image. When shooting a wider angle lens this is very common where you have some space above the head due to the curve of the lens. Watch for this.

Nice start.

Joe

Thanks for the feedback. I ordered a set of Rosco gels last week, but it takes forever for them to ship to Korea. I'm pretty excited about gaining that control over my light.

[sk66]

There's a lot I like about this shot.

I don't mind her hand being in her pocket, it fit's the "mood". But the harsh break of the wrist is a bit off...You could also have tried the "thumb hook" instead of the hand actually in the pocket...(if thumb is hooked and fingers frame/point at genitalia it has a subliminal affect)

I don't mind the light being a different color, while it does make it less "natural" it increases the separation and adds an interesting "feel"...my biggest gripe there is that it is so hot/focused.

[kstiltne]

Originally Posted by sk66

There's a lot I like about this shot.

I don't mind her hand being in her pocket, it fit's the "mood". But the harsh break of the wrist is a bit off...You could also have tried the "thumb hook" instead of the hand actually in the pocket...(if thumb is hooked and fingers frame/point at genitalia it has a subliminal affect)

I don't mind the light being a different color, while it does make it less "natural" it increases the separation and adds an interesting "feel"...my biggest gripe there is that it is so hot/focused.

I think you're right, a softer transition into the light would've made it a bit less distracting from the subject. The sunlight coming in was pretty hard so I was trying to match hard light with hard light, but I think it would've been better softened. Thanks for your input, definitely some good things to keep in mind for the next shot.