Self Portrait

[Pacifico]

Well I figured it's finally time to put myself out here...first post I think, although I've lurked here for a while. Learned a lot from this forum and from the Strobist group.

Being bored the other day forced me to get in front of the camera while also being behind it.



Nikon D60
50 mm
f/8.0
ISO 200

I was looking for something a little moody. I setup a snooted SB600 camera left just out of the frame and a gridded SB28 camera right bottom. I think I needed to push the power on the SB 28 up a bit but I'm hoping it's not too bad.

Looking back I guess I should have lit the bottle up a little bit too.

In post I added a bit of noise and converted it to black and white not many edits other than that though.

What do you think of the overall feel/composition of the picture and the lighting? Feel free to critique anything else about it too...it's all helpful.

I'm a non-smoker so I ended up just a little bit sick because of the picture.

[BigFuzzy]

Hiya Pacifico,
The main issue I have with the image is the composition. To me, it's too tight. You've cropped a bit of your head, your hand, your bottle and your glass. And it feels tight on the left by the elbow.

As for the lighting, I'm not sure what exactly it is, but it feels off to me. Maybe it's because only part of his arm is lit (using a snoot perhaps?) and the shadows cast on your body by your arm are a bit distracting as it causes the upper half of your body to be a diff tone than the lower half. Yeah, I think this needed a bit of front lighting to help with your left arm/hand and the bottle/glass.

I think that making your SB600 more of a side light instead of the 45-ish degree angle which would have helped on the arm/hand.
Oh, I like the shadow.. which is also a reason for a wider crop to see all of the cool shadow.
In the end, nice effort that just needs a bit of tuning. Keep shooting.

[Pacifico]

Thanks Fuzzy, I appreciate the feedback. I'll be giving it another try soon.

[Bobd20011]

I am not sure about the composition. If you didn't look straight at the camera and if you didn't have the cigar pointing straight, then you might have obtained a more candid looking shot. Nice effort though, I like the initial mood that the shot conveys.

[eleazarparadise]

Cool idea. I think a light on the floor aiming up on the wall behind you would separate you better from the wall. I also agree the crop is too tight. I would also have put a light above you like a poker table light to give you a mobster look.

[Pacifico]

Thanks for the feedback so far... keep it coming.

I wasn't really going for a candid look though...I was going more for a moody "don't mess with me look"...sounds like I kind of got there but need to work on it a bit.

I'm wondering though, with the light behind pointed towards the wall would I have gotten the shadow? I guess I'd have to turn it down pretty low.

[Kage.]

I quite like the tight crop, makes the subject dominate the picture and the viewer giving more of a feel for that "don't mess" look.
I like how the bold lighting keeps the eye drawn in to the right side of the face and cigar, the other side being obscured by smoke and shadow - has that feel that you can't look anywhere else, even if you wanted to.
Like the story here.