Portrait - Sisters

[prmsheriff]

Hi All,

This picture of my friend's daughters was taken at their home with the wall in the background. This picture has been cropped after the capture to remove portions of the white wall and the power sockets in it. Otherwise the photo has not been treated.

After the crop, I feel good about the composition and think the picture has generally come out well. May be I am wrong! Please point out if so - Composition, DOF, Exposure...

Other things I need help with are on how to avoid, 1) the shadow on the wall (Heard bounce flash could help, but I am relying on the in camera flash till now) 2) The reflection from the spectacles of one of the kids.

EXIF - Sony A330, 50mm fixed focal length, f/3.5, 1/80sec, ISO400, Flash - Yes (Red Eye mode)

[kristenh]

they're very cute kids and i think you got the focus nice and sharp. i think both of the problems that worry you - the shadows and the glasses glare- are b/c you used a flash. i don't see a way around that except for using natural light and bumping up your iso. (unless, that is, you buy lots of lighting equipment). you can try something similar with them sitting right near a window.

when they're up against a wall this way, the DOF doesn't end up making a lot of difference- only way it would is if you had a very wide aperture and then parts of the kids faces would be in focus and parts not. your background is completely non-distracting, and right up against the kids, so no need to blur it. even though its nice and non-distracting, in a way, i'd like to see a little something of interest, but not too much interest, behind them. that may just be me ,though.

this is totally personal preference, but i find all the stuff they're holding, esp with the packaging and all the writing on it, to be really distracting and i think it detracts from the photo. would also like to see the little one facing towards her sister and not away.

finally, with kids, in many instances, the 1/80 shutter speed can be too slow and can get you motion blur. luckily, these gals seem to have been sitting quietly.

but i do like it. they seem to be thrilled with their little stuffed animals!

[BigFuzzy]

Originally Posted by kristenh

they're very cute kids and i think you got the focus nice and sharp. i think both of the problems that worry you - the shadows and the glasses glare- are b/c you used a flash. i don't see a way around that except for using natural light and bumping up your iso. (unless, that is, you buy lots of lighting equipment). you can try something similar with them sitting right near a window.

I'm sorry kristenh, I'm not trying to fight or be rude, but what you say is so completely wrong and couldn't be further from the truth. It's not because he used flash, it's because he used flash poorly. A little knowledge of flash would help here.

The shadows are because you used a small light source (your pop-up flash). The smaller the light source, the harsher the shadow. That's why the sun is such a harsh light source, because it's so small (in relation to the subject). That's why you see many lighting set ups with large softboxes or umbrellas very close to the subject to make them "large" light sources, that's how you create soft shadows.

It's also wrong to say that you need to "buy lots of lighting equipment" to get this image better. All you need is a little lighting know-how. On the most basic level, you could look into pop-up diffusers (here's a search I did). But best would be a dedicated hotshoe flash where you can point the flash to bounce it off walls/ceilings or through a diffuser, and if you look around, these can be very very cheap.

The reflection in her eye glasses is because you shot the flash straight on. If you simply had the flash coming from a slightly different angle, or you asked her to not be facing you exactly straight on, that would already fix it. Ideally, (without going into that much detail) you want the light source at like a 45 deg angle from the flash.

Also, she's right by saying you should move the kids further away from the wall. There's a chance that if you move them far enough away from the wall, the shadow will be less distracting.

I hope this helps.

Again, sorry Kristen for coming off as harsh, but I think there was a risk that the OP would think there was no way to do it better with flash based on your post and that simply isn't the case. A little bit of knowledge of flash (used properly) would go a long way with portraits like these.

[kristenh]

okay, sorry- i did mean it was b/c she was using the flash that pops up on the camera. but i stand corrected. no harm intended.

[prmsheriff]

@kristenh and BigFuzzy, Appreciate your comments.
Sooner or later I am going to buy a hotshoe flash, but planning to experiment with DYI diffusers until then.

[dlambert]

I'd recommend you spend a few minutes looking through a site called Strobist.

This site helped me understand the incredible effect that variations in artificial lighting can have on your shots. It's a great source of ideas and inspiration, not to mention education. With any luck, you'll find ideas you can apply now, and you'll be far better educated when it's time to buy a flash(s).