Portrait of a friends lad...

theMusicMan

theMusicMan

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John
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My 2nd attempt, trying to learn from the first attempt. Comments and critique most welcome.

This is a friends lad, he is here at the moment playing with my 16yr old son (on their playstations) and he saw the image I did of my daughter Heather, and he then wanted to know if I'd do one for him while his Mum is out with my wife :)

Phew... long explanation eh!
Jack-Cousins---22-June-07.jpg
 
Bit too dark for me...Id like to be able to see his hair against the background. :)
 
I have tried working on it in photoshop to lighten the hair but i cant get it any better I'm afraid.

I think it maybe just severely under-exposed.
 
Yep - well under-exposed and those hard -edged shadows from the hand and the cheek are the result of camera mounted flash which is just about the worst place for it. Try to either move the flash away from the camera or bounce the flash off a wall, ceiling or other suitable surface. Diffusers over the flash head work up to a point, but you'll still get hard shadows where you don't them.

Shame - it's a nice pose.:)
 
:agree: with CT.
 
Thanks all for your super feedback - all taken as it's meant... :)

Thing is, I don't have a non-camera mounted flash as yet, the only one I have is - as has been correctly identified - the one built in to the camera. I have no means of using reflective light or bouncing the light off a wall etc.

Jacks hair is totally jet black, and I only have a black back-drop cloth - maybe I should purchase some similar white material too!! In fact, I think I will :)

Also, I wanted the effect of harsh edges and a high contrast image but here's a question for you all... why is this so under-exposed...? I used all the auto settings on my Olympus Zuiko 17-45mm lens, which was mounted on a tripod with the camera about 6' away from Jack.

So... why under-exposed...? should the camera not have exposed this correctly...? or is there something I should do to compensate for the particular conditions...?

Thanks in advance.
 
Well, a few minutes playing in Lightroom I managed to achieve this - but I think it's somewhat flat and has lost some of the original appeal.

Jack_Cousins_-_22_June_07-2.jpg
 
You're asking a huge question really but using flash comes down to two basic methods.

1 Using it as the main or sole source of illumination.

2 Using flash as fill in with the prevailing ambient light.

Method 2 produces the best results if your camera will allow you to do it. Meter for the ambient light first and then use those settings for your flash shot. It doesn't matter if you're using a very slow shutter speed - the technique is often referred to as 'Slow Flash Sync'

Using Method 1 is the default method for all point and shoot type cameras - the camera just selects flash when light levels drop below a certain level. The result is usually those awful 'deer in the headlights' type night out shots you see with dark backgrounds behind the subjects.

Flash is very linear -it goes out from the flash, hits the subject, bounces back to the camera, into the lens, and the onboard flash sensor quenches the flash when it deems exposure to be correct. In your shot it looks like the lighter skin tones have caused the flash to quench long before the darker hair was sufficiently exposed.

Limited as they are - built in flashes are usually well integrated with the camera exposure system and produce good results within their limited range Try metering for the available light in the room where you are now. use AV mode. It will obviously be a fairly slow exposure. THEN WHEN YOU'VE DONE THAT pop up the flash and take the shot. You should get a far more balanced looking shot.
 
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