Christmas Card Photo

[apt10photography]

From Apt 10 Photography

Camera: Canon
Model: Canon EOS REBEL T1i
ISO: 200
Exposure: 1/160 sec
Aperture: 10.0
Focal Length: 50mm

I just got umbrellas and stands for my flashes, for doing off camera flash. I only have 2 flashes, so no hair light or background light.
Any suggestions for improving the lighting? It seems a little harsh my right cheek.
Should I crop it more?

The idea is to have a professional looking christmas card.
Thanks

[MrJones]

if you have photoshop you can remove that light point on his cheek using the spot healing brush tool.
the thing that caught my mind though was the fold in the background on the right bottom corner.

[apt10photography]

I didn't even see that when I was editing it. Good catch.
Thanks.

[zona5101]

If you get a chance to reshoot, consider wearing colors that aren't so opposite. It's hard to get detail in black without blowing out whites - why make it harder than it needs to be!

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by zona5101

If you get a chance to reshoot, consider wearing colors that aren't so opposite. It's hard to get detail in black without blowing out whites - why make it harder than it needs to be!

Agreed...and the rolled up shirtsleeve and busy, wrinkled backdrop is kind of killing it for me, too. I do like the pose for the most part, though, you both look relaxed. Your hand on her back is a little distracting though.

[Essy]

What everyone else said, plus I think I'd go for a bit of blur in the background also.

[apt10photography]

Colors- next time we will plan a little more, we just got the umbrellas and flash for doing a photo shoot and were just practicing. It was her birthday, and we were dressed up and I wanted to take some pictures, so we shot in what we were wearing.

Hand- yeah, the hand bothers me too, it looks like it comes out of nowhere.

Blur- I don't know if I could do this too well, our apartment doesn't leave a lot of extra room. We had the camera set up on the tripod against the far wall (50mm plus small sensor) and we still had a hard time making sure we were both in the frame. We had to be pretty close to right up against the backdrop. Would be easier if we could move away from it a little more. I could blur in pp though.

Shirtsleeve - I hate wearing it all the way down, but for pictures I guess I ought to.

Thanks for helping me out.

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by apt10photography

Blur- I don't know if I could do this too well, our apartment doesn't leave a lot of extra room. We had the camera set up on the tripod against the far wall (50mm plus small sensor) and we still had a hard time making sure we were both in the frame. We had to be pretty close to right up against the backdrop. Would be easier if we could move away from it a little more. I could blur in pp though.

I honestly think you'd be better off going for a plain background, in that case. You can get a 53" wide roll of seamless paper for $25 from B&H (if you're in the USA, that is) - choose a neutral color so you won't have to deal with color casts from having to be so close to it. You can even pick up an inexpensive backdrop stand off Ebay, if you don't have one already.

Blurring in PP never really looks all that great unless you are absolutely meticulous about zooming way in and taking the time to get the edges uniform.