Critique A few of my little nutters

BMG

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Tried my hand at off camera flash with a black backdrop. Haven't tried anything like this before. Flash was mounted on a tripod, sadly without a soft box (just purchased one will have a go on Sunday). Camera settings were ISO 200/320 shutter speed 250 aperture f5.6. Any advice greatly appreciated, especially where the flash settings are concerned! As I seemed to under expose by about two stops so had to do fair bit of work in pp to recover.View attachment 18447View attachment 18449
View attachment 18450
 
Got to be a record 85 views and no comments :),! If anyone wishes to pass cc please feel free. Tried the same sort of thing with a white background and small soft box today. Utter disaster! Couldn't get the back ground to blow out and just created lots of shadows
 
I'm no pro but the lighting looks flat and not very interesting ( if you've done a lot of pp work that could be why)

On 1 & 3 you have cut one of the hands off and 2 would of been better as a full length shot IMO, a softbox will help control the shadows on the white background and trying to blow out a background with one light is difficult

There is plenty of tutorials and tips on here and use the search at the top. Just keep trying starting with one light and then building on that is the best recommended way.

Oh and 85 views and no comments is no record lol trust me!!!

Keep at it buddy
 
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Thanks for taking the time to reply, agree with your comments! My dear wife has offered to stand there, whilst I try and sort out settings etc! God help her!
 
Try increasing the exposure for #1 and reducing the contrast a bit - it might look a bit more natural. I've found photographing my youngest (<1yr) quite tricky especially with flash and found that it was underexposure and too much contrast/clarity which was causing some of the issues (oh and not being a particularly great photographer, but one step at a time, eh?)

Meant to say, I really like #2... very natural and fun. I suspect as the parent it might be one of your favourites?
 
Strangely enough, my wife loves it. As do I but I'm far more critical of my own photos!
 
How's best to do this?

Not sure what software you're using, but my preferred method in Photoshop is to use a new curves layer.

Drag the curve upwards to get the required brightening in the iris (yes, it will brighten the whole image at this stage)
Mask out the whole of that layer in black so that the effect disappears (using the 'paint bucket' tool)
Then paint the iris area back in with a small, soft brush in white.

The advantage with that is that you can then tinker with the opacity of the layer until you get something that looks natural.


p.s. When you're trying with the white background, if you want that blown out look you'll need to light the background separately to the subject i.e. use a second (or even second and third) flash purely to light up the white background.
 
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Thank you Sarah, will give it ago tomorrow and post to see if they look natural! Just tried playing around with my very small soft box, again will post efforts tomorrow. Photos are rubbish but trying out the settings! ;)
 
This is true, my poor wife though! Trying to watch the TV with a flash going off every thirty seconds and having to put up with me muttering under my breath!
 
Not sure what software you're using, but my preferred method in Photoshop is to use a new curves layer.

Drag the curve upwards to get the required brightening in the iris (yes, it will brighten the whole image at this stage)
Mask out the whole of that layer in black so that the effect disappears (using the 'paint bucket' tool)
Then paint the iris area back in with a small, soft brush in white.

The advantage with that is that you can then tinker with the opacity of the layer until you get something that looks natural.


p.s. When you're trying with the white background, if you want that blown out look you'll need to light the background separately to the subject i.e. use a second (or even second and third) flash purely to light up the white background.

What version of PS you using? Can convert mask using ctrl+I lot quicker than bucket lol
 
Cs5, have always struggled to find the layer mask, kinda relied upon the eraser tool. However will try ctrl l. Thanks for suggestion Bryn
 
Cs5, have always struggled to find the layer mask, kinda relied upon the eraser tool. However will try ctrl l. Thanks for suggestion Bryn

Sorry that command was in reference to inverting the mask. Not creating a layer mask. Though check out PHlearn on YouTube he does it all the time so sure he says the command.

Edit: You can create your own shortcut....

Select Edit>Keyboard Shortcuts... and you can assign your own shortcuts for Layer>Layer Mask> commands
 
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What version of PS you using? Can convert mask using ctrl+I lot quicker than bucket lol

(y) That's a good tip actually.

I'm on CS6, but I think it's just a case of personal preference.
If I'm working with the mouse or tablet, I find it easier to do a couple of clicks than to take my hands away to use keyboard shortcuts.

Come to think of it, I do the same if I'm working on a spreadsheet with the mouse - for example, I prefer to right click and select 'copy' then right click to select paste rather than use CTRL+C and CTRL+V - whereas in Word or on the forum where I'm actually typing on the keyboard I always use the shortcuts :thinking:
 
Well as promised, I've had a go at brightening the eyes on two the photos, thanks Sarah for the direction

View attachment 19126

And after a lot of photos and suffering a very bored wife, kinda ended up happy with the lighting on this one, please no crit required on the actual image, more about if the lighting looks less flat than before.

View attachment 19128

One flash mounted off camera with a small softbox
 
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