Strobist Outdoor Portrait

[Ginger Pixie]

Hi

Took my off camera flash out for the day yesterday to experiment with lighting.

This was shot with 2 off camera flash, one firing from the right side, one from front left both on 1/4 power. Would appreciate comments / critique about the lighting or just the shot in general.

Camera Canon EOS 450D
Exposure 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture f/2.8
Focal Length 68 mm
ISO Speed 100

Thanks

[BigFuzzy]

Hi GP,

I think this image isn't getting comments for one reason.. it's good.
Maybe it doesn't blow anyone away, but it's in no way (for me) a bad image.

Thank you for giving us a great example for those people who are afraid of flash because they think it'll look unnatural. This image looks very naturally lit, ie very non-flashy. So great job with that.

I like your use of DoF, Like her natural relaxed facial expression (not a fan of cheese!), and am ok with the composition and like how the moving hair is captured.

The one negative thing I have with this image is the hair in her face. I find it very distracting. I'm not saying that all of it should be out of her face, as it typically adds character to the portrait, but in this case I find it too distracting due to it's closeness with her eyes. It pulls my focus away from other parts of her face which I think isn't great.

Good job, and great job with the off-camera flash.

EDIT: Great work on the two images you posted on your flickr page after this one.. great lighting!

[Ginger Pixie]

Originally Posted by BigFuzzy

Hi GP,

I think this image isn't getting comments for one reason.. it's good.
Maybe it doesn't blow anyone away, but it's in no way (for me) a bad image.

Thank you for giving us a great example for those people who are afraid of flash because they think it'll look unnatural. This image looks very naturally lit, ie very non-flashy. So great job with that.

I like your use of DoF, Like her natural relaxed facial expression (not a fan of cheese!), and am ok with the composition and like how the moving hair is captured.

The one negative thing I have with this image is the hair in her face. I find it very distracting. I'm not saying that all of it should be out of her face, as it typically adds character to the portrait, but in this case I find it too distracting due to it's closeness with her eyes. It pulls my focus away from other parts of her face which I think isn't great.

Good job, and great job with the off-camera flash.

EDIT: Great work on the two images you posted on your flickr page after this one.. great lighting!

Thank you for you reply - much appreciated. I was beginning to get paranoid that it was so terrible no one would bother to comment!

If truth be told, I think I blew the focus a little, I was borrowing the lens I was using and was trying to manually focus with it whilst holding a flash at arms length... I think the fringe is sharper than the eyes, which is why it is so distracting. It wasn't meant to be a fantastic portrait, as I was literally just snapping my friend as we were chatting, but I thought it would be a good time to experiment with my flash, which I have neglected for too long.

Thank you - any comments are useful, I'm trying to improve

[sachin_ss]

Hi Ginger Pixie,

I am new to understanding the photography. Now, after 2 weeks time reading other critics and then seeing the images, today I recongnized that, now I can also catch good or bad things in a photo.

This is the second time today itself that, what I thought seeing a picture are exactly similar to the critiques given by senior memebers of this group.

And your pic is no exception for that. I completely agree with BigFuzzy! Thanks for giving me learning experience

[MrJones]

were you using umbrellas or soft boxes of some sort?
I'm asking cause the lightning is soft and that's nice.. doesn't feel like bare flash.

[Ginger Pixie]

Originally Posted by sachin_ss

Hi Ginger Pixie,

I am new to understanding the photography. Now, after 2 weeks time reading other critics and then seeing the images, today I recongnized that, now I can also catch good or bad things in a photo.

This is the second time today itself that, what I thought seeing a picture are exactly similar to the critiques given by senior memebers of this group.

And your pic is no exception for that. I completely agree with BigFuzzy! Thanks for giving me learning experience

No problem Thanks for commenting.

Originally Posted by MrJones

were you using umbrellas or soft boxes of some sort?
I'm asking cause the lightning is soft and that's nice.. doesn't feel like bare flash.

I had one of those plastic white diffuser things on the flash to the right which was closer than the flash on the left which was bare. I think the fast shutter speed probably contributed to the less flashy look - I watched a tutorial recently where they said the shutter had to be open for 1/250th in order to record the whole flash.

Thanks for the comment

[MrJones]

yes, try increasing the shutter speed to 1/500 and see what happens
do you have a photo that you took without the flashes? just curious to see how much they added.

[3bayjunkie]

its good! I lke the lighitng, but it looks like you were in direct sunlight because of the hard light on her shoulder and hair. im not sure if that is good or bad, just an observation. looks fun!

[MrJones]

I just saw your shutter speed and I have to admit - at 1/640 I think all you got here is natural light and that's why it looks so natural
the flash syncs with the shutter at around 1/200 so when you're shooting at 1/640 you don't get any flash light in the photo - just the natural light. that of course depends on the camera in use, but unless it's something like the 1D.. it's around 1/200
do an experiment at home in a dark room and see the results.

still a great photo!

[Niresangwa]

Originally Posted by MrJones

I've just saw your shutter speed and I have to admit - at 1/640 I think all you got here is natural light and that's why it looks so natural

Winner, winner, chicken dinner

Assuming this was a crop, did you have any banding in the frame? Although at 1/640 I wouldn't expect it to catch any of the flash to produce that, I"m just curious.

At 1/4 power, at 2.8 held at arms length with bare flash, it's way too soft of a light...

All that aside, I like the framing, colours are a little too muted for my taste and could do with a levels adjustment in that regard. I actually don't mind the hair in the eyes...if it wasn't there, it would be a plain old McPortrait that could be ingested quickly... niggling 'distractions' FTW... so in this instance it makes you hang around a little longer than you would otherwise.