Summer

[Ruben Alfu]

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!

Ruben Alfu : Summer

Regards,

Ruben

[Asher Kelman]

Originally Posted by Ruben Alfu

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!

Ruben Alfu : Summer

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

[fahim mohammed]

Ruben, yes indeed; sunshine.

What a beautiful portrait of a lovely face!!

Regards.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Originally Posted by Ruben Alfu

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!

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

[Ruben Alfu]

Originally Posted by Asher Kelman

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

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

[Ruben Alfu]

Originally Posted by fahim mohammed

Ruben, yes indeed; sunshine.

What a beautiful portrait of a lovely face!!

Regards.

Thanks very much Fahim!


Regards,

Ruben

[Ruben Alfu]

Originally Posted by Bart_van_der_Wolf

Hi Ruben,

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

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

Originally Posted by Bart_van_der_Wolf

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

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