Couple new ones of one of my favorite subjects. photography/art/design

[Bubblegum Bandit]

I thought this forum got nixed back when the forums got cleaned up. Just found it again recently, was just hidden...cool...

 

Ok, a couple of my daughter. We like to do little "photo shoots" for our daughters at a minimum of each birthday but usually we've done them every 3 months. Basically we hang a sheet on the wall for the backdrop and then just shoot some pictures. I use photoshop quite a bit for the PP as well.

 

 

[stutters]

[Unclean]

That's a nice little setup you have there! And that's a cute kid you have there.

 

What kind of camera are you using? Is it a point and shoot, or do you have some flexibility with a SLR? It looks like you've got the "capturing emotion" part down. Your pictures lack depth though. Everything looks very flat, even though we know it isn't.

 

The reason why the pictures look flat is because of the angle the flash. Essentially what's happening is over "fill flash", where every nook and cranny is light up from the perspective of the camera. Shadows are what adds depth.

 

A way to fix this problem is with an off-camera flash system (if your camera supports it). That way, you can raise a flash up and to the right (or left) of your daughter to give more of a 3d effect with the shadows.

 

I hope this helps!

[Bubblegum Bandit]

Thanks for the reply and suggestion. I shot it with a D70 with a mounted SB600 flash that I had angled to bounce off the ceiling. Wonder if either my monitor or yours if off a little. I guess I could have also lost some depth in the post processing, not sure.

 

I will admit it would look better if I could figure out the proper way to use the SB600 off camera. I know how to make it work, I just have problems with getting the off camera and on camera flashes to work together in a favorable manor (see mega bad shadows). Had my eye on a couple of alien bees to set up a home studio at some point, just haven't put the cash together for it yet. In the mean time I'm looking at picking up some reflectors and seeing if I can use those to help my off camera problems. Just need to put some more time into it to get it right I guess.

 

I wonder if it could have had anything to do with the her location as well. We usually put them on the table when I shoot her and she was on the floor this time. My close proximity to her probably didn't allow the flash to bounce since the ceiling was that much further away. Dunno....

[Unclean]

Sounds like you've got the equipment part down. I'm not sure bouncing the flash would be appropriate for portrait photography though. Maybe turning down the flash power might help stop the monster shadows?

 

Just out of curiosity, have you picked up the book "Understanding Exposure"? I just started reading it, and it's got some great tips in there that might help you too.

[Bubblegum Bandit]

Yeah, I read that one quite a while ago. I have a new one I was going through, haven't opened it in awhile though, the name of it escapes me. I'll try to remember to grab the title next time I'm upstairs. I also picked up 123di, http://www.123di.com/affiliate.asp?affid=025 , as seen on Rockwell's site as well.