Charity Photo Shoot

[Slurry]

Hi all,

I recently did a photo shoot for charity. I'm no professional, and I would rank myself in the novice area, but I'd appreciate some critique on these to help me improve. They were shot on a Canon T3 using three strobes. A Speedlight 430ex on the camera configured as a bounce flash, another reflected flash at about 45 degrees to the right of the subject, and lastly a flash with a long homemade snoot made of white card stock. I used the snoot to light the backdrop (also home made), and act as a mild hair light.

I also had one other diffused strobe that I placed at near ground level to help illuminate from the ground up. Not sure if that is as unconventional as it sounds. Any constructive critique welcome.



http://slurryphoto365.files.wordpres...260.jpg?w=1024

http://slurryphoto365.files.wordpres...3268.jpg?w=682

These there shots posed a particular problem for me. Along with any other improvements that could have been made, these three shots were taken very low to the ground.

[vahershman]

Maybe next time use a different color backdrop? That color, to me at least, is unflattering to the subjects. I would have gone with a darker color. They are good pics! I like the one of the boy. He's darling!

These are just my thoughts. I'm not a professional, either.

[zona5101]

your lighting & exposure look fine, biggest thing i see is your color balance is off.

[Slurry]

Originally Posted by vahershman

Maybe next time use a different color backdrop? That color, to me at least, is unflattering to the subjects.
These are just my thoughts. I'm not a professional, either.

I appreciate the feedback. A backdrop with more contrast would have probably been a good choice. Thanks

[Slurry]

Originally Posted by zona5101

your lighting & exposure look fine, biggest thing i see is your color balance is off.

Thanks for the feedback. I struggled with the white balance on all of these. In the end I shifted the hue to try compensating. What I planned on doing was to set a custom white balance at the start of the shoot, but didn't remember till the shoot was over. I'll start over with the white balance on these, post them again, and see if I can improve things a bit.

Thanks again

[Slurry]

The corrected white balance is a big improvement. For some reason I have a difficult time spotting when white balance is an issue. I'll need to look into that.