Bouncing my flash

[JoanieA]

I am trying to find the best way to take portraits in my home without buying any extra equipment. For this picture I bounced my speedlight off my reflector. I'm wondering if this worked. If I have the set up correct, with the reflector angled right, etc. Is there anything obviously wrong that I'm not seeing? Any tips appreciated. Thanks!


EXIF:
Nikon D5000
70-300mm lens
f/5
1/160 sec
ISO-200
Focal length 70 mm
Spot metering
Flash bounced off reflector

[SusanH1970]

Nice job bouncing the flash! I might have pulled the kids further away from the background, though. And I'm not wild about the crop, all the limb/finger chops are distracting.

ETA: This is super nitpicky, but the little boy in the green shirt has a blue color cast on his left cheek from the baby boy's shirt. That can be fixed in post processing.

[autofocus]

Lighting looks good to me...nice job. Whatever you're doing, I'd say keep it up

[digirebelva]

Agree, outside of the crop, the lighting looks okay, no real noticable shadows, nice catchlight in the eyes..

[JoanieA]

Originally Posted by SusanH1970

I might have pulled the kids further away from the background, though.

I thought about pulling them further up, I figured it would help more with the shadows. It's a little difficult though since I'm shooting with a 70mm lens and I only have so much room. It's easier when there's only one subject. But I find that my 70mm gets clearer shots than my 35mm.

About the crop, that's a problem I have. Besides the fact that I couldn't zoom out any further, I am also trying to get the focal point on the baby's face and I end up cutting things off. But I didn't really want to get their feet in it, so would you have just cropped it tighter and cut off more of the arm? Kids aren't very cooperative so I had to put up with the fact that he put his foot up in this picture.