Senior Photo Shoot

[brhitch]

Photo from a recent senior portrait shoot. Lit with SB800 off camera left, full power, bounced into 45 inch photogenic eclipse umbrella. ISO 100 1/100 f/7.1 with Nikon D200 and 28-70 f/2.8 AF-S. Flash and umbrella were mounted on monopod (strobe on a stick) and aimed in his direction by my wife.

[Didache]

Hi there .. the picture is well enough lit I think, and I am sure the guy (and parents) would be pleased with it - as a picture of its type it fills the brief. Two small things though struck me immediately. First, his pose (hunkered down like that) is somewhat unnatural - that is a personal view though and I can appreciate that others may not agree with me.

The second thing is that his hair tends to disappear into the trees in the background. I'm wondering if a little post-processing just in that area might give you a little more separation? I know I'm being picky here - but you are obviously accomplished at what you do.

Hope that helps!
Mike

[MB1]

I agree with Didache; the position looks uncomfortable and you need a fill light on the top of his head.

I also think the image would be a little stronger if you cropped a little tighter from the bottom closer to his foot.

[brhitch]

Thanks for your comments. This was just a quick edit and crop. I see what you mean by the separation of the hair from the background. I wasn't pleased with the pose either. This was the first shot of the day. He's my nephew and is normally more relaxed. Don't think he really wanted to do senior pics. He had been putting it off.

[brhitch]

Another shot from the same senior shoot. SB800 into 45 inch photogenic eclipse umbrella, full power to camera left. ISO 100, 1/100 f/6.3

[GB1]

Both shots are Ok, but not quite top notch graduation shots. The first posting his attire looks completely out of place with the surroundings imo, esp the white shoes. Not sure there's anything you could have done lighting wise to overcome this. The second posting is better, but the strong backlight creates a somewhat unusual lighting of the back of his head and his back. The front of him is so dark and hides detail so much that it doesn't seem right. His face is a little too dark too. He's also hunching over too much (I can see that he doesn't have a lot of experience having his pic taken: that's why he's putting it off ). If this was a long blond-haired female, that lighting might create a neat effect. A fill flash might be needed for him in this situation.

Hope this doesn't sound discouraging. I'm sure you can correct these issues without too much trouble.
-GB

[brhitch]

GB, thanks for the comments. I agree he does kinda stand out in that first photo in the attire he has on. Fill flash was used on both. It was an SB800 off camera bounced into a 45 inch photogenic eclipse umbrella. Worked fine that way on the first one but probably should have gone more direct with the fill on the second shot as the light was a little softer than what I had intended. Have plenty more pics from the shoot and will probably post a few more later. I shot longer than since he was my nephew. Probably tired him out shooting but he was a good experiment for off camera lighting for me.

[Lava Lamp]

Since I commented on the others:

#1 - not bad at all, a little dark maybe and the pose is a little too much like what one might do in the woods when nature calls, if you know what I mean....

#2 - the lighting and contrast seem off again. I've never used an umbrella, but I would think the SB800 by itself would produce better results.