Holiday Card Photo

[fbroschart]

Hi everyone, I haven't posted in a while, but I want to check on one my shots for our holiday card. I took a series of shots of my daughter holding the letters "J" "O" and "Y". I plan to put an image with each letter to spell the word JOY. Anyway, I had a hard time with the lighting, since I only have 1 external flash, which I used with a diffusser, I had two halogen lights pointed at the tree to give it some more light. I just want to know if her skin tones look OK and if the overall feeling of the shot is nice. I am using a laptop and I'm not always confident about colors, especially with people.



Camera Nikon D300
Exposure 0.022 sec (1/45)
Aperture f/4.8
Focal Length 56 mm

[auntyjud]

Personally, I think the white balance could be a wee bit cooler. Otherwise, I think it's a great shot and a fantastic idea for a holiday card.

[fbroschart]

Thanks for your comment and kind words.

[MrJones]

you've got two different light sources. one is a flash light which is white and the other is halogen light which is yellow. this causes a white balance problem as you can see in the background's color.
another thing is the harsh lightning of the flash, it just feels too "straight in the face". if you can reshoot, try bouncing it from the ceiling, it will give you a much softer lightning that could possibly light the background as well.
just another thought regarding the clothing. I can see where you were going with the holiday spirit and all, but the silver outfit just reflects the flash making it too bright. again, this could possibly be solved by bouncing the flash from the ceiling.

[kristenh]

what a cute idea and a lovely girl to help you do it! the warmer cast doesn't bother me; i like it. but the flash is a little glare-y on her face and very much so on the J. yet i really like the way the tree is lit and the blurring is just right (is your tree up already? )

[fbroschart]

Thanks everyone, for the comments. Yes, I only put the tree up this soon because I needed to get the card done. I'll see if I can tone down the flash, I think my monitor doesn't give me accurate results, I did brighten the image a bit, probably too much, so I'll tone it down. I needed to get this to the printers before we go out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday, so I feel a bit under the gun.

The glare on the letters was a problem. I had to keep asking my daughter to tilt them forward a little, but in the end I had to pick the shots that had the best facial expressions.

Here's a rough draft of what the final card will look like.

[amy_bb]

I just love this! I'm always looking for unique, catchy Christmas Card photo ideas and this one is great!

Cute kid and very cooperative model.

I bow down.....

[fbroschart]

Aw you are sweet, I actually got the idea from a baby shot I saw where they took shots of the baby holding the letters O N E to spell their age.

[Happy_Mummy]

I agree, this is a super cute idea! I will have to remember it! You are lucky to have such a cooperative and cute model!

[kristenh]

wow, i think its beautiful and folks will be happy to get it.

i've got 3 kids and you're giving me an idea....

course mine'll be gnawing on the letters or turning their heads away from the camera...