Three Portraits

Here's a few taken in the garden, using the K7 and DA 18-55 AL WR ...... the setup was the same as in this thread .... link ... for anyone who would like to see the techie stuff.

Manual exposure mode with Cactus RF60 flash in softbox and Pentax AF-540FGZ with Gary Fong Powersnoot behind, fired by on-camera AF-540FGZII & Cactus V6 . ISO 100, f6.7. 1/60th sec


Lucky for me the grumpy one came more to the party .... must have been some bribe involved

I like the 2nd one best, that Aaww dad look, nice catch-light in the eyes, no horrible shadows, although in the 2nd one there may be just a tad to much light on the left (facing) cheek.

They seem a bit close to the left side of the frame to me, Nigel. I would like number 3 with the background levels of number 1 - the lighting of her face looks good to me in 3. (But this could probably be nonsense - I don't do flash or people!)

Cheers.
Philip

Thanks both, good points there .... Probably I'll have to send her to modeling school while I go to lighting school

It might help with the consistency, as its amazing how the smallest of position and angle changes can transform the pattern of light between shots. I'm always in two minds whether I prefer the look of No3 here, with a wider even spread of light on the face, or try for the more contrasty, angled look like the first two (but that has the risk of those shadows ending up in the wrong places, and when the subject moves around a bit the patterns change all the time).

It's interesting also Philip playing around with the background exposure with quick shutter speed flicks while the flash brightness stays the same .

Lovely attention to the lighting of a pretty young girl. What spoils them a bit for me is the white lattice in the background. Shame you couldn't find a spot with just the greenery behind. K-7 and 18-55wr cracking combo, I still have and use mine.

Thanks, yes you don't really need the latest and greatest for shots like this .... The 'kit' lens is very versatile. I suppose it would be better if I could have used F4.0, or even 2.8 .... but that would involve a much more expensive piece of glass, certainly for a zoom, and lets face it, most of us have to make many compromises with our photographic gear.

A wider aperture may have helped with that distracting lattice behind also. I'm looking at trying a different angle next time I do this in the garden ... But there's a limited 'window' of view with only greenery in the background. Thanks again for commenting

Hi Greg, firstly what a pretty little model you have there! i don't have any experience with flash and only use a light reflector on the right days if i ever have a model that is, so thanks for the the info regarding your set up. The photographs are lovely and sharp, if they were mine i would have left some more space to the left but i know a garden pic is restricting, also as i particularly like No 3 i would crop part of the bottom and the top off, and clone the fence and the wood on the floor out, it would make the background much neater, very nice shots all the same though! hope you don't mind me giving my honest opinion, i'm just saying what i would do given the chance

I'm always pleased to hear any suggestions and helpful ideas, thanks Maria .... I will certainly put your idea for the third one into practice .... I'll post the edited version here also. Yes, my main contraints here are the limited window of background view, and a 'model' who hasn't learnt yet how to stay still ! So I do keep getting slightly different light patterns across the face ... but we'll keep on working at it

I see my forum user name still leads people astray ....

Thanks again for your reply ,

Nigel

2 and 3 work best for me Greg.

Agree with the framing. I think 1 and 2 are too close to the left hand side of your frame.

Have you looked at gels on your flashes, to simulate a golden hour type vibe etc?

Yes andfleur, it's a good point, and indeed there are 1/4 CTO gels on both flash heads .... Not enough orange for a golden hour effect but just enough to prevent the colder flash light clashing with the daylight white balance in behind.

But no doubt an even warmer tone might work well, although I guess the background might need the temperature cranked also somewhat. It's a fascinating part of mixed lighting scenarios, balancing both exposures and colours.

I'm determined now to try a different angle with the next ones so I don't need to cramp there left side so much.

Lovely balanced lighting on these Nigel, I think the compositions are less important, these are not commercial images, they are personal portraits which will probably become treasured memories for you and your family in years to come. I think they are great, I wish I had images like these of my children growing up.

Regards
David

The positioning issue is to do with looking out of the frame. Looking to the right as opposed to the left would have solved this issue. That's why to me #2 is my favourite. Because although she's nearest to the edge on that one, it is balanced. Could easily get some camo netting to throw over the background if there's no alternative.

But what David has said is the most important thing.

Yep. This.

Many thanks David, yes I suppose that puts the images into the right context ... I'll keep on taking more and trying different things out though, and its a good suggestion from Alan there about the direction. As you all know I am very 'into' the technical stuff, so I get plenty of enjoyment out of the setting up and configurations of the flash gear ... in some ways getting some good shots is just a bonus for me

But I'll try out the idea of the subject facing the other way with a bit more space on that side ... I would probably swap the light positions over too so that the main one is coming from the right.

Thanks again to all for the helpful input

I like all of these, Nigel, particularly the last one. You've done well with this lens. Nice to have such a cooperative model.