Summer

Hello,

I did this photo a couple of weeks ago for fun. My key light was an on camera flash bounced from a 42" disc reflector opposite to the Sun. C&C appreciated!




Regards,

Ruben

Ruben Alfu said:

Hello,

I did this photo a couple of weeks ago for fun. My key light was an on camera flash bounced from a 42" disc reflector opposite to the Sun. C&C appreciated!

Click to expand...

Ruben

She's lovely. Was she back to the sun, I don't see enough backlighting, or rather you wanted to get rid of harsh hard lighting from the sun?

Asher

Ruben, yes indeed; sunshine.

What a beautiful portrait of a lovely face!!

Regards.

Ruben Alfu said:

Hello,

I did this photo a couple of weeks ago for fun. My key light was an on camera flash bounced from a 42" disc reflector opposite to the Sun. C&C appreciated!

Click to expand...

Hi Ruben,

Lovely subject (and apparently comfortable in front of a camera), lovely portrait.

As for the technical side, and I hope you'll forgive me my classical photography training, the positioning of the fill light could have been better. The key light is the sun. When you then place the fill light on the opposite side of the subject, you'll create a kind of pincer lighting, the subject caught in between, especially risky with the relatively high level of fill. That resulted in her right nostril almost disappearing.

I've been taught to place the fill light either immediately above the lens, or slightly to the side of the main light. That will also reduce the risk of double shadows by the nose, even if you choose for a high level of fill with a smaller fill light size. It would also sculpt the face on the shadow side a bit more, due to the light angle on the skin surface as the surface normal goes from camera direction to 90 degrees. Less light will be reflected as the angle increases.

Cheers,
Bart

Asher Kelman said:

Ruben

She's lovely. Was she back to the sun, I don't see enough backlighting, or rather you wanted to get rid of harsh hard lighting from the sun?

Asher

Click to expand...

Hi Asher, yes, I didn't want to use the direct sunlight, she's back to the sun with her face turned about 45 deg. The tree in the background is what damps the effect of the backlight.

Regards,

Ruben

fahim mohammed said:

Ruben, yes indeed; sunshine.

What a beautiful portrait of a lovely face!!

Regards.

Click to expand...

Thanks very much Fahim!


Regards,

Ruben

Bart_van_der_Wolf said:

Hi Ruben,

Lovely subject (and apparently comfortable in front of a camera), lovely portrait.

Click to expand...

Thanks very much Bart, yes she is a lovely young lady with some experience modeling.

Bart_van_der_Wolf said:

As for the technical side, and I hope you'll forgive me my classical photography training, the positioning of the fill light could have been better. The key light is the sun. When you then place the fill light on the opposite side of the subject, you'll create a kind of pincer lighting, the subject caught in between, especially risky with the relatively high level of fill. That resulted in her right nostril almost disappearing.

I've been taught to place the fill light either immediately above the lens, or slightly to the side of the main light. That will also reduce the risk of double shadows by the nose, even if you choose for a high level of fill with a smaller fill light size. It would also sculpt the face on the shadow side a bit more, due to the light angle on the skin surface as the surface normal goes from camera direction to 90 degrees. Less light will be reflected as the angle increases.

Cheers,
Bart

Click to expand...

Great info Bart. First, I stand corrected, the key light is the sun. My intention was to use the sun more like a kicker, but I agree that is the sun what's shaping and defining the character of the photo. Your observations about the fill lighting are of great value, I really appreciate that.

Regards,

Ruben