Maternity Session-Lighting, Composition questions

[bfowler83]

I did a small maternity set for my sister. It was practice for me as I am just really learning.

How is the lighting, I used 2 small lights to highlight her belly, and my flash with a diffuser.

I am very new to everything and have been trying to work on composition and lighting.

Please and thank you




Camera Fujifilm FinePix S200EXR
Exposure(1/45)
Aperture f/3.1
Focal Length 11.2 mm
ISO Speed 200
Aperture-priority AE

[tomservo51]

What I discovered while taking a very similar shot, is this:

As a photographer, we like how the light plays off the hands and belly but as a woman being photographed, she didn't like how the veins looked in their hands.

just my 2 cents.

[bfowler83]

My sister was worried about the veins in her stomach. Which took multiple shots just to get a few good ones were I could hide the veins.

I was worried about the lighting being to harsh in some areas

[tomservo51]

Originally Posted by bfowler83

My sister was worried about the veins in her stomach. Which took multiple shots just to get a few good ones were I could hide the veins.

I was worried about the lighting being to harsh in some areas

All the attention is on the hands for me. The belly is not well lit so it's not what your eye is drawn towards. Btw, who's idea was the batman logo? It might be a fun idea, but doesn't fit with the mood you've created here.

[samutsim]

I like the overall mood and the lighting. The batman logo doesn't quite go with the whole thing and I do want to see a little more of the people. Maybe if you had a shot with their faces in the dark and highlighting only the belly and something else that suggested they were batman fans, it would look a lot better. Just my two cents!

[bfowler83]

The hands are a big factor on why I keep questioning it. She loves it but for me this is a learning experience so anything I can do to improve I apperciate!

The logo was their idea, my bother in law is a huge batman fan and the baby's whole room is batman. My camera has limitations on low light and since it is not a DSLR I could not go any lower on aperture. (A huge reason I am upgrading as soon as we can afford it)

I do have a few shots of them with their faces in the photograph so maybe I can work with them and see if I can make it feel a little more batman themeish.



If I try doing another shoot like this, do you think moving the side light more around to the front would take some focus off the hands and more to the belly.




Again thank you for all the suggestions, you can only read so many books before you have to just start trying even if you don't get the perfect shot.

[tomservo51]

It might, belly's being a smooth round surface the can be tricky to light. The more ambient light you can get in the room, the better. Do you have a reflector? Most now have translucent white screens to diffuse the light.

[bfowler83]

I do have a reflector of sorts, I have 2 white foam boards to help reflect light, I am just not great at it yet.


And I agree ambiant light is better, her house was like a cave so I was trying to get out of it what I could. I would have loved to do more outside but since I live in the midwest, winter puts a big stop on not freezing for that.