Fushigi Sorceress

[Browncoat]

EXIF:
Nikon D90
Manual
Exposure 1/200
Aperture f/5.6
ISO 200

STROBIST:
LumoPro LP160 fired remote via Cactus v4
1/4 power - 50mm range thru Westcott 43" white umbrella

PP INFO:
Single image HDR w/ Oloneo PhotoEngine
Topaz Labs "Spicify" filter via Photoshop
Color conversion/sharpening via Photoshop

This is my daughter posing with that silly Fushigi ball. I've wanted to set up this shot ever since she got the thing, and finally did it. I wanted to do some tricky lighting with the hope that I could give the effect that the ball was glowing.

Strobe was set up to her right, about 5 ft away. I shot this in our basement and turned off all other lighting, so it was completely dark. The Fushigi ball was shot separately, and added via Photoshop w/ a glow effect later.

[NicolaB]

Cool! Loving Danbo too.

[zona5101]

wicked cool. Nice work!

[windrider86]

What do you want help with?

[Browncoat]

Originally Posted by windrider86

What do you want help with?

My biggest concern is the lighting, which seems to be the bane of my photography. I'm either lighting too much or not enough, and it often seems flat. Given my limited gear and experience, I do what I can.

But in my mind, everything kind of came together for this shot...I'm very proud of it. I was just wondering what others thought, or how I could improve on it for next time.

[SwissJon]

There's nothing wrong with the lighting for the effect you're after, but I wonder if you wouldn't have been better off getting your daughter to toss the ball and trying to catch it mid air, as it is, I think photoshopping it in afterwards is cheating a little, but more to the point, the reflections on it bear no reference to the surroundings and are far too busy.. You would expect to see the reflection of her hands, and also the lightsource, and very little else, instead the ball shows the room you took it in and reflects multiple light sources.

I like the overall photo you took of your daughter, but the ball lets it down, you can tell it's a later addition, and that's a real shame, take another photo of the ball, this time in a dark room with a single bright light source in a similar place, and someones hands nearby to get the correct reflections, and paste it in over the top, I'll bet you it'll look much better..

Oh.. And one other thing that just occurred to me. You put a glow on the ball in PS. I would have put a weak light source below and infront, just out of shot, to get a gentle glow on her face. That will bring the glowing orb intothe photo by making it look like the ball is casting a glow onto her.

Sorry.. Not being overly critical, I like the picture.

[cherrygirl]

For some reason I am drawn to the notch cut in the hood over her nose...looks weird to me. I love the idea but I would take the tips folks have given and try again...especially with the tip to put a glow on her face to "match" the glow coming from the ball. Couple tweaks and this photo is there!

[SwissJon]

I think Cherrygirl is right about the cut.. The skin behind it is too bright so the contrast is too strong.. If you pull the hood forward so her whole face is in half shade, that would help...

One other thing that occurred to me.

What focal length did you use? It looks like it was quite a wide angle shot, perhaps 18mm? (Just to pick the bottom end of a standard kit lens, no other reason) It makes her hands look very big. Maybe you could use a slightly longer focal length and stood back slightly, which would have flattened the photo slightly and brought her hands into a better proportion to the rest of her. (Appologies if she's just got big hands and this was at 50mm!) I think I'd have taken a series of photos, stepping back slightly each time and zooming in a little and picked the best one...

I do sound really critical, sorry, I like the picture, but I was told that if you learn to critique other peoples photos, you will learn to critique your own, as you're shooting, making me a better photographer in the end.

[sk66]

I think it's a cool photo but a bit "loose". I also think the lighting is a bit "off" as the primary source of light in the image is (seems to be) the orb....
Here's an edit to show the direction I would take it....


BTW, I chose this crop because it removes most of the "dead space" and places both the face and orb at the 1/3 rt dividing line for "impact". The face is at a 1/3 intersection or "strong point".


(I'll remove it from my Flickr as soon as the links start to work again)