I would love some comments on a few shots I have taken in my small home studio. One strobe, one reflector
I am hoping to branch out a bit into some portrait stuff for friends/family
Thanks for looking
Rockin Dudes
Concentration
A Boy and his Flower
The one thing that really sticks out to me on these images is how soft you've made the light. This is something I struggle with when taking portraits and would love to know what you used to soften the light (softbox?, umbrella?). I don't know if I've ever captured images with such nice light. Very nicely done. About the only thing I would add is some kind of "separation light" to make the outline of the subjects more defined - but that's being nit-picky. Great job Parmcat!
Hmm... kind of hard to comment on lighting without knowing how much was adjusted in post. Here's my take:I think "Rockin Dudes" would really benefit from less blur. To me, the image is way too soft and this conflicts with your concept. As for the lighting, I think your lamp is too close to the sunglasses kid; you're getting too hot on his face and sleeve. Pull it back or dial down the power if it's adjustable. Also, I'd suggest moving your light off to the side just a bit. I know you only have a single light here, but it looks to be almost straight-on the models so you're not really getting any definition and are flattening out their faces. I'd move the light off to a more 3/4 angle, maybe bounce some light from the other side as well.
On "Concentration", I think you just over-adjusted the levels to pull up the whites. You're blowing out the details of his face; his eyelashes and nostrils are too light (not black). The focus here is the boy's face, hands and guitar. It's OK to let his off-side fall back a bit. I did a
quick adjustment of the levels in Photoshop and think it helps quite a bit. Feels more natural to me, less harsh like an interrogation room. Notice the difference in the darks of his eyelashes, nose and mouth. Letting the chair fall back in shadow puts focus back on his face and hands as well.
"Boy and Flower" is beautiful. The composition of his straight profile against the flat black background is really effective, love the play between the positive and negative space. Great work!