Another outdoor portrait

[Sebastian]

This was for a story about a local drive-in that's being closed down. The paper ran stories of people that had good memories of the place. This ran on the section's cover, full-width, they really did a nice job with the layout.

Taken in front of the main marquee, lit by a 550ex, underexposed sunset in the background.

[zrfraser]

Nice Job Sebastian....I really like the colors, and the contrast of the old marquee.

Z

[Hightree]

Excellent shot. I like the angle and the colors.
Thanks for sharing,

Frank

[Sebastian]

Thanks guys.

[Asylum Steve]

This was for a story about a local drive-in that's being closed down...

Nice. You got it going. Good shooting angle, subject expression, and mix of available and artificial light.

Nice to know some of what I've been preaching has rubbed off on you...

Seriously, your style is very similar to the new mag work I've done that I told you about (and will be able to share with you in about a week). Ah, if only I had those skills back when I was your age... :cryin:

Now, being very critical (which I know you want me to be), I'd have made the subject just a bit less hot (kid's white sleeve), and maybe move them some so the left lightpost isn't skewering their heads (although to be honest it's not that noticable).

To add just a tad more style, I would have had the light on the subjects falloff on the lower half (almost like a large spot on their upper bodies), then vignette the lower right corner of the frame to match the other three.

Also, I would toss a small amount of light onto the sign in the bg to make the letters read just a bit better.

[Sebastian]

Thank you Steve. All your crits are duly noted. The exposure especially bothered me once I got back to the computer.

[Asylum Steve]

Thank you Steve. All your crits are duly noted. The exposure especially bothered me once I got back to the computer.

I understand. Seems to me, though, that's easy enough to fix in PS... :idea:

What I find myself doing a lot now is having multiple "exposure" layers in my psd file, then masking "in" the different elements at various exposures to create the overall effect I want. It's much better than simple dodging and burning...

Now, I know you're bound by certain rules becasue of the newspaper you work for, but I'd think making simple exposure edits in an image would be allowed...

[Sebastian]

I could have brought down the exposure a bit, but even though I would have preferred something else, technically nothing was blown, so I just submitted it as was. It's hard to gauge how certain color and exposure shifts will translate into the CMYK/newsprint format. I just played it safe. What I should have done is shot RAW, that would have given me the third to half a stop I needed. That was a piss of as well since I thought I had the camera set on RAW since I didn't need the speed and space savings of JPG that night. Once again, learn for next time...

[paulnj]

What do I know, but the image looks good to me as is

Oh wait... If you had used a rim light at 11 oclock and your main flash at 4 oclock........ :lol:

[photophorous]

Good job, as usual, Seb. I don't think the skewering is a distraction at all. I think a tiny bit more light on the sign would be nice, but not a big deal either. Don't know if you had a second flash to work with anyway. Did you have your 550ex on a stand to the right, or was someone holding it? It appears to be much higher and to the right of the camera. Am I right?

Paul

[Old Timer]

Very nice. Steve has made some valid points when you stop and look very closely, but I'd have been very proud of the shot if it had of been mine. Nice job balancing two light sources.

[Sebastian]

Thanks guys.

Paul,

The skewering bothers me, but I compromised. I REALLY wanted this angle and positioning of the pair.

[Speed]

Great shot Seb!

And congratulations on having it published!

[Sebastian]

Good job, as usual, Seb. I don't think the skewering is a distraction at all. I think a tiny bit more light on the sign would be nice, but not a big deal either. Don't know if you had a second flash to work with anyway. Did you have your 550ex on a stand to the right, or was someone holding it? It appears to be much higher and to the right of the camera. Am I right?

Paul

Sorry Paul, I forgot to answer your question. Yes, the 550 was on a stand to my right. I only have one flash at this time, and using it in manual mode and triggering it wirelessly is my preferred method at this time.

[Sebastian]

Great shot Seb!

And congratulations on having it published!

Thanks Speed.