Child Portraits for C&C--Photos Fixed

ant_moore123

This is my first attempt at high key, using my new Intefit EXD 200 kit

Any C&C will be greatly appreciated

Thanks for looking

magicbastarder

photos aren't displaying correctly.

ant_moore123

They are fine on my screen

Would it have anything to do with privacy settings on flckr?

magicbastarder

might be worth logging out of flickr and clearing your cache and refreshing.

.Longshanks.

nothing showing for me either

pixbyjohn

Very nice set of photos, great subject.

ant_moore123

Thanks

It was hard work trying to stop him pulling down the lights & background, its amazing how many shots are wasted, but i must admit i'm very happy with the results

Plus the brownie points from the wife never go amiss

oshead

He's a cute kid, with good facial expressions in all shots. You've achieved good separation between him and the background. Very little light wrap around, except in the third one where he's probably a little too close to the bg. The images are nice and sharp and all have good DoF.

The shadows on his face are a little off putting. For this type of shot I usually use a couple of large umbrellas to the left and right. Looks like you are using a square softbox 45 degrees to the camera right. If you can, put another to the left. Maybe use a large reflector close to the child if you haven't got another strobe. If you havn't got that, then try put the softbox just off camera axis either left or right. This will make the light a little flatter but IMO that suits children photography especially with bright high key shots. Also, the colour balance on the third seem a little off compared to the first two.

All in all a very good first attempt. You could just try to remove the shadows from his face and maybe try and include the floor in future shots.

Hope this helps.

ant_moore123

I was using one strobe to light the background and a softbox off the right i did also put a reflector on the left

He kept wanting to come forward all the time so i think that is why the shadows are a bit strong

I raised the fill light when i pp'd but didnt want to go to mad with it i'll try doing some selective adjustments and see how they look

Thanks for the comments

oshead

I had the same problem with my little one moving forward all the time. To stop her I put a 4x4 sheet of clear perspex on the floor, called it the boat and told her not to go in the water. The perspex doubles up as a very nice reflective surface that works really well for the picture. Here's an example.

ant_moore123

oshead wrote: »

called it the boat and told her not to go in the water.

[

Thats genius

Great photo i'll have to head to B&Q on the weekend

oshead

It's a game we play a lot. You can get the perspex in B&Q, a 4x4 sheet for about €35 euro.

hmboards

Nice set. The second one would be my favourite, because of the direct eye contact. I think it might work a little better if you had the catchliight in both eyes, though it's still nice without.

I'm not too keen on the drop on the chin in the first shot. I often miss these types of things when shooting though. The number of shots I have that would have been great had I cleaned the kids faces first is ridiculous! I'm getting better though (at cleaning faces!)

oshead - love the boat idea. I'll have to try that. It's a nightmare keeping the smaller ones from moving either closer to or away from the lights! Hmm, must get back to shooting instead of reading photography forums! The teddy in this one was for setting up the lights and showing them where to sit, but then they wouldn't let me take it away!

kelly1

Nice shots. Does anyone think the background is a bit too bright?

oshead

kelly1 wrote: »

Nice shots. Does anyone think the background is a bit too bright?

I think that was the OP's goal. Bright blown 255 white on the background. In the third one the light is spilling from the background on to the subject. IMO that is a fault, though some like it. Usually when I print this type of image, not always, I bring the whites down using levels to around 240. But that's just to do with the actual media I'm printing on.

ant_moore123

I quite like the drip on his chin but if i was getting pro shots done i wouldnt want it there

The bright white was what i was going for but the 3rd one has slightly blown out Conor on his right side

All in all though for a first attempt i very hapy with them

Thanks