Camera Labs

I was doing some experimenting with my flash, let me know what you think, any CC on the lighting would be helpful. Thanks
1.


ISO 200
Exposure 1/40 sec. at f/3.2
Focal length 22mm

2.



ISO 200
Exposure 1/100 sec. at f/3.2
Focal length 50mm

3.


ISO 200
Exposure 1/30 sec. at f/3.2
Focal length 14mm

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Gear:A whole lot of Canon stuff

Nice pictures John!
Try shining some light on the background, so it will become lighter and make your subject stand out.
Also, for portraits like these, high-key would be perfect. You might want to use colour in that case though...

- Bjorn -

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Street and documentary photographer | Google+ | Twitter | Blog | Tumblr

Leica M9-P (my article on Camera Labs) | Leica D-Lux 5 | 50mm Summilux

Thanks for the tip if I have some time I will give it a shot today.

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Gear:A whole lot of Canon stuff

I agree with Bjorn's observation. There isn't enough contrast between the background and your subject. You have several options on how to achieve the contrast, of which a background light is one. Others can include changing the fabric backdrop to a lighter or darker colour (the current one in monochrome looks similar to the skin tone), using a natural light source and reflectors rather than flash, getting the flash off-camera, and playing with the DoF.

Here's what I mean by natural light.



This portrait was taken on a cloudy day with light coming in from the right of the frame through a window. A reflector was placed on the model's lap to lift some shadows, and the tilted composition to flatter by creating the appearance of a longer neck. Further to the lighting and composition, I chose a shallow DoF to create more distinction between the background and the model.

Getting the flash off-camera can also yield more dynamic results. Here's an example set of images taken from my blog.

Left: Direct flash, Middle: Flash 45 degrees horizontal to camera right, Right: Flash to right front and above camera


The difference in lighting is down to where I place the flashgun in relation to the camera - direction and distance will factor in. You can read more in my blog entry.

From a lighting perspective, is this helpful?



What hasn't yet been mentioned is composition; it's the second issue, primarily with the subject being too close to the edge of the frame. It's always better to give yourself a little more space around your subject from the frame edge as you have more flexibility in post-processing with crops. Granted there are times where being close to the edge is beneficial, but certainly not in images #1 and 2. The head and eyes are far too far to the left. #3 balances this nicely with part of the subject off the frame to the right and the head given more prominence at a third intersection.

In fact, the lighting in #3 is acceptable and shows you can, at times, get the lighting right.

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Nikonian

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