High ISO Kit Lens On-Camera Portrait

[ccting]

f/5.6 1/125s ISO3200, Exposure -0.7EV 55mm vr kit lens, D5100, YN560

Based on this pic
a) How do you improve this on-camera flash?
b) Have you learned how to place catchlight in eyes using on-camera flash? How?

Ty.

[ccting]

Hmm..

Anyone notise the color noise LOL...

[katia]

It looks like Gaussain Blur/Noise reduction was applied extremely heavy in this photo. It makes the child's eyes look sunken deep into his head, kind of strange looking.

The only way to place catchlights in the appropriate area in the eyes is to either use off-camera flash, or else a natural light source. You can't change the location of catchlights unless you change location of the light.

[ccting]

Originally Posted by katia

It looks like Gaussain Blur/Noise reduction was applied extremely heavy in this photo. It makes the child's eyes look sunken deep into his head, kind of strange looking.

The only way to place catchlights in the appropriate area in the eyes is to either use off-camera flash, or else a natural light source. You can't change the location of catchlights unless you change location of the light.

yes, i also feel very strange with the photo. Thanks for pointing that out. And you have really good observation on "
Noise reduction was applied extremely heavy in this photo".

I wander how could I improve my on-camera flash indoor with my kit lens (widest f/5.6) ? Decrease the shutter speed with VR On?

[Mark Engelhart]

a) This shot is illuminated with window light. So why would you ask about improving the on camera flash? Look in his eyes I can see the window, your head, and the other part of the window. If you had a flash on, it had absolutely no impact at all on this image.

b) What is wrong with the catch lights that the window provided? The only thing I might do is clone out some of the light on the left of your reflection in each eye.
I did a quick edit to show you what I mean.
DSC_3460b.jpg

[ccting]

Originally Posted by Mark Engelhart

a) This shot is illuminated with window light. So why would you ask about improving the on camera flash? Look in his eyes I can see the window, your head, and the other part of the window. If you had a flash on, it had absolutely no impact at all on this image.

b) What is wrong with the catch lights that the window provided? The only thing I might do is clone out some of the light on the left of your reflection in each eye.
I did a quick edit to show you what I mean.
Attachment 60664

a) No.. this shot was not illuminated with windows light. The windows is quite far from him (more than 22 feet away), and i was using high shutter speed 1/125s @ f/5.6 in very dark internal kitchen. The external kitchen is covered with roof about 3-5 meters.. It is a very dark room where you can hardly see writings. I am using the on-camera flash described by Neilvn, but I may used it wrongly ..

b) Thanks for the edit i love it.



Thanks.. ;D

[Mark Engelhart]

OK if you insist!? The best suggestion I can give you is to make sure that you do not have your head, a tree, the horizon and the sky between your subject and your flash, because that is what is reflecting in the subjects eyes. Maybe if you bring your flash into this side of the atmosphere they will be more effective.

[Mark Engelhart]

I think that the orange in his shirt conflicts with the subject's face. You should get several medium blue towels perferably with a purplish cast and wrap them around his head to create a better harmony and make his face stand out more in the image. This also will make the window shaped catch lights from your window shaped flashes look better as well.

[Lolkat]

Originally Posted by Mark Engelhart

I think that the orange in his shirt conflicts with the subject's face. You should get several medium blue towels perferably with a purplish cast and wrap them around his head to create a better harmony and make his face stand out more in the image. This also will make the window shaped catch lights from your window shaped flashes look better as well.

+1, Also the two eyes and one nose form a downward pointing isosceles triangle that directs the eyes away from the face. VERY distracting.

[tingeliM]

Originally Posted by ccting

a) No.. this shot was not illuminated with windows light. The windows is quite far from him (more than 22 feet away), and i was using high shutter speed 1/125s @ f/5.6 in very dark internal kitchen. The external kitchen is covered with roof about 3-5 meters.. It is a very dark room where you can hardly see writings. I am using the on-camera flash described by Neilvn, but I may used it wrongly ..

If the on-camera flash would be the only light source in this image, the shadows wouldn't be where they are. The light is clearly coming from camera right, and it does look like a window that's reflecting from his eyes.

The noise reduction makes it look just out of focus. That type of reduction technique works on backgrounds that are already blurry, but I'd never use it over the subject.