First Critique Post

[wjeffries]

I thought I'd throw this one up. I've been working on Portrait shooting for a while, out in the field and in my garage. This is with one Alien Bees B800 camera right and a reflector camera left. Any advice would be appreciated.

[mindforge]

I thought I'd throw this one up. I've been working on Portrait shooting for a while, out in the field and in my garage. This is with one Alien Bees B800 camera right and a reflector camera left. Any advice would be appreciated.

The pose looks stiff, although it is good. I am really against in studio portraits. They are dull to me. It is not the fault of the photographer, it is just well formal and rigid. Studio portraits almost never look good to me.

I prefer more natural style of photography with kids and teenagers. Get out to the park, rent a rowboat and experiment. I shoot about 200 shots off in three different interaction. It takes about thirty minutes. I take one off camera flash (although I do want that ab800) and a reflector with me. I still set up some shots and poses in these environments but they seem really alive.

The shot is good on a technical end. I might have turned him just a little to see if I could make his weight seem a little lower. There is also a shadow of his on the back drop. Do you have a light you could put on the backdrop to lessen this or move into a position where this shadow doesn't land on the background.

[tomorrowstreasures]

Nice photo but it makes me think of a school photo.

[Marko]

Not a bad portrait and TI offers good suggestions as usual...except that I think I have seen many more unbelievably good studio portraits than he has. The more talented the photographer...the better the portrait, regardless of where it was taken. Engaging the subject through conversation is also a good way to get more interesting expressions.

The control you can get in a studio is really what makes the studio a great place to shoot portraits. For this particular shot, move the subject further away from the backdrop (5 feet minimum IMO). That way you have lots of room to also light the background, AND the shadow created by the main light is softer and often falls outside the scene if you don't use one AND if that is the case, there will be more room for the main light and fill to hit the background instead of being blocked by the subject.

Hope that helps,
Marko

[Marko]

one last thing.

If you only have one light and need a second for the background, you can also use a portable flash. You can buy a peanut slave (20-30 bucks) and attach that slave to most portable flashes through a fairly cheap wire.

When the peanut slave on the portable flash catches the light from the monolight, it fires it.

marko

[Travis]

IMO the pose looks a little to forward(square) and frumpy... this might be a better head and shoulder shot then full length... maybe the knees up higher and a little more camera left to close off the front section.... or subjects hands on knees while leaning forward.... or one knee forward and high while the other knee 45 degrees...

you could also experiment using the stool in different ways such as having the subject stand up but lean on the stool with the hand.. or foot....

more neutral clothing would also help...

and marko is right... the shadow on the drop is noticeable and undesirable... good suggestions on lighting up the back drop on budget...

It's a good start though... it's not easy shooting boys in their awkward stages..

[wjeffries]

Wow, thanks, guys, great tips. I hadn't really noticed his shadow on the backdrop. I agree about the clothes too. His shirt was changed from blue to red in PS because it clashed and to be honest, it was kind of a "hey, come out to the garage and let me get a few quick shots." kind of deal.

I will reshoot this and use all these very good suggestions.

On another note, I've had a bit of trouble with my B800 lately, such as, I meter with a Sekonic L358 and when I shoot at the suggested exposure, it's way over exposed; could be my camera, D-300 is a little hot on exposure, but a couple of days ago, my B800 lost it's modeling light (bulb good, just no light), and then when I'd cut it on, only the dump light would come on and stay on and it would not fire, or the dump and ready light would come on and it would test fire with just a tiny bit of light. To make a long story short, I emailed AB and they are fixing it for free and paying shipping both ways. They really do have great customer service. I'm hoping the difference in meter and light will be worked out too when it comes back.

I don't suppose you have to calibrate flash meters? Marko?

[Marko]

Flash meters/lightmeters can go out of whack and sometimes they do need to be adjusted. It's never happened to me, but I've heard of it happening.
Normally there is a way to calibrate it yourself. Gotta check the manual though.

[tirediron]

Not a bad portrait and TI offers good suggestions as usual...

Who you talkin' 'bout???

[MikeS]

I always find that having someone sit on a stool makes their thighs look thick so I might have cropped above the waste. Getting kids to sit still AND look enthused is almost impossible eh! Overall, it looks great!

Mike
http://www.michaelswerdlyk.com