Does this image have lighting issues?

[bhavik_k]

I shot this last October, on a clear day at around 4pm, the sun is coming from the behind and left of the camera. Two speedlights fired, one on the camera and one directly from the right about 1 meter (3 feet) away. I'm pretty certain both were on full power.

I like the pose, but I think the lighting is off, I'm unsure how I could fix it, Any critique on how to improve the lighting would be helpful.

Also anything general on the image would be useful also, such as should I clone out the umbrella?



Exif data
Camera: Canon EOS Kiss X3
Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 24 mm
ISO Speed: 100

[zona5101]

Biggest thing I notice is the variation of light across the face, especially the hard shadow through the chin. The unbrella being bright and spliting his head would be my next area of concern. I do like the stark light & shadow you produced on the clothing, it just doen't work on the face (imo).

[bhavik_k]

I also noticed that hard shadow on the chin, I am not sure how I would remove it, the two things that come to my mind are:

1. Removing hte flash from the left
2. Add another fill flash directed at the face.

Originally Posted by zona5101

The unbrella being bright and spliting his head would be my next area of concern.

Can you explain this further? I dont really understand the spliting his head part.

[zona5101]

Originally Posted by bhavik_k

Can you explain this further? I dont really understand the spliting his head part.

The edge of the umbrella is directly behind his head, it bisects the head, generally you would like to avoid splitting key elements with distracting elements like walls, horizons, telephone poles, etc...

[bhavik_k]

Originally Posted by zona5101

The edge of the umbrella is directly behind his head, it bisects the head, generally you would like to avoid splitting key elements with distracting elements like walls, horizons, telephone poles, etc...

Oh I see. I will take this in to account next time taking photos of people.