Self attempted head shot.

[icicle]

Nothing fancy, SOC except for a crop and re-sized
Always wanted to try one just using a single candle for light.
Any thoughts? how does it work? All C&C welcome.

[daq7]

This is actually pretty good compared to my efforts, none of which I have seen fit to post. I try to tone map them so it all goes to hell.

This is pretty good. I think that just a very little white forelight will help a lot, but I defer to the portrait photographers, since it seems to be an arcane science on its own.

[icicle]

Dag7-Thank you

[jetrim]

Icicle, this isn't a bad starting point. The major flaw is that the eyes aren't tack sharp - very important in most portraiture. I had a go at seeing if the eyes could be brought out more with sharpening, and it was partially successful, but not entirely so. I've attached 2 copies, in the first I boosted the brightness and contrast slightly, sharpened the eyes a lot and the beard/nose about half as much to bring out some detail. In the second I applied a daguerreotype (old time silver plate) effect to it, and I think I prefer that personally as the dark background gives it an old time feel already.

[gahspidy]

Hello Icicle, I agree with Jet in that it is a good starting point and I like the second edit he has made. If you go at this again, i would suggest try increasing your exposure some more and also try playing with the positioning of the candle. It looks from this that the candle was directly in front of you which offered nice catch lights in the eyes but very little shadow and detail. Try moving the candle to various spots as you re shoot this and see what the various angles offer you in terms of shadow, depth and mood.
Good idea.

[icicle]

Jetrim- Thank you for the edits, and I also like the second one.

gahspidy- I will have to try at moving the candle. on this shot it was off to my right side about 1'-1.5' off center
and than you.

[Shebang]

Self attempted head shot....

That sounds dangerous!

Seriously, a very good first effort. Daq7 is right, I think.

[readingr]

I keep saying I'm going to try a self portrait and then I look in the mirror

This is nice but I agree with Gary in that the eyes have to be tack sharp in all portraiture. I would conider using a very low power fill in flash so that you don't have to sit too still for so long.

Roger R.

[Anbesol]

I dont like the white balance, if it was the natural warmth of the candle, I'd like to see part of the candle in the shot to indicate such. The shot needs to be much bluer I think.

[icicle]

I dont like the white balance, if it was the natural warmth of the candle, I'd like to see part of the candle in the shot to indicate such. The shot needs to be much bluer I think.

This shot wasn't taken in front of a mirror, this was trial and error, shooting.
Camera was about one and a half arm lengths away, slightly over eye level looking down.
Candle was three feet away on top of a coke can on my stereo speakers.
So could you please explain to me how I might add a candle to this?

Thank you all for suggestions on how to improve this.

[Anbesol]

Regardless of that, the color cast is overly red and far from neutral, when I first saw it, I didn't immediately think "Oh, candle light", I thought "wheres the blue?". Had I seen a candle in it in the first place, the color cast might have made more sense, either that, or having a proper color temperature.

I'm also going to disagree with Jet in thinking that the focus is fine. But the exposure is a little dark, and shadow detail is real dark. Also, upon a second look it appeared you are wearing a hat, but very little can be made about it as it blends into the backdrop, and is very dark. The colors in the background do not work in any favor here either I think.

[caleb]

Icicle, I've had great success when trying to do these set up shots alone by focusing based on distance and marking the spot. I've used playing cards on the ground (floor to ceiling shots with no obvious marker), buckets, chairs, a piece of rope, pen, etc. I just set the lens to be in focus at 5 feet or whatever, measure it out, set a marker, and take the shots. No guess work on focus or multiple attempts.

I haven't read through the responses, so if I repeat something, sorry. I think the lighting is very static and boring. Candles are soft, warm, and dance. Something to make it more obvious that this is supposed to encompass those type of attributes would help. I'm not sure if that's moving the candle around for less static lighting, multiple candles for unique catchlights & lighting, a different pose, some props, or something totally different. Good luck

Re: Having a candle in the shot... If you have lots of candles, you could prop them on a table and use them as a background. They will be OOF, but it should be obvious. Lighting can then be from reflectors and/or additional candles.

[daq7]

Jet's edits are really good, and they make me realize I was probably wrong about needing more white lite. Upping the brightness and contrast mostly fixed the flatness issue I was having without re-lighting. Which means the basic shot was even better than I thought and that post processing is a big part of the answer...