Gave myself a little assignment

Work has been hecktic and I haven't managed to make the time for photography, so while baby sitting my two littlies I decided to try out this technique that I recently read in a UK Photogrpahy magazine.

After managing to get what I thought was the right exposure settings I had approximately 15 secs of shooting before it all went pear shaped due to tired, hungry kids (read "arsnic hour") aborting the assignment. I got about 20 shots off and then called it a day. The pic below is the best of the bunch:

D90 18-105mm @ 50mm hand held, f5, 1/40sec (VR on), ISO 1000 with natural light to immediate camera left, reflector to camera right, and two large windows right behind and slighly above me for the catch lights (light behind me, light behind me...thanks Colin ;) ) The backdrop is a piece of MDF painted with white undercoat/sealer

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/fo...achmentid=2548

Comments and criticism always welcome

Take 2, less bright...

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/fo...achmentid=2553


Well, it was in my PP (doesn't look much different, does it?)!

Regards,

That is marvelous. Great kid shot, the hardest ones of all to get.

Pops

The expression on the kids' faces are great! Nice job :)

The background seems too white to me though. A little bit of texture would help the image a lot.

Hi Hans,

Good assignment (and short) video and well executed by yourself :)

The only small criticism I would make is I would have liked a bit of space above the girl's head - even if you have to add it in PP, because the rest is so good.

Cheers,

Very nice capture. I would lower the white point though. It is a bit glaring IMO.

Hi Hans: glad to see you back. This shot looks great, your kids love the camera and it seems to love them. The lighting here looks much better than the one in Mini comp #67.

Thanks for posting along with the lighting conditions and set up info. I hope you keep on with your assignments so I (and others) can hook a ride and learn along with you.

Wendy

Thanks for the postive and constructive feedback, guys (generic :)).

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the hardest ones of all to get

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Thanks, Pops, you can say that again. But for a four and two yr old they are pretty accomodating a lot of the time :)

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The background seems too white to me though

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Yes, I thought it looked a bit fake too. The background is blown out. I was trying to emulate the effect that the tutorial suggested. I've undone the levels adjustment (sliding middle slider to the left) and applied the white eye dropper and it looks more natural, but not at my own computer ATM so can't upload it.

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I would lower the white point though

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Blazing Fire, are you talking about just the background or the subjects. The girl has a very light complexion and I find that it is very difficult to do a B&W conversion without making her look washed out (no highlights are blown on the face according to my my "show lost highlights" tool). Any tips?

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I would have liked a bit of space above the girl's head

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Dave, RE the crop, my wife is always saying the same thing. when I first started I was never cropping close enough, now I have a terrible habit of overcropping with the camera. I am constantly finding that I have just not allowed enough room for framing either! I'll work on that one :) You just can't put it back once you've chopped it off (don't have PS)

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The lighting here looks much better than the one in Mini comp #67

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Thanks for your kind words. The difference here, Wendy, is that this once actually has lighting :D It's tough to get to the computer sometimes and it is often only for a few minutes at a time, but I'll keep posting as this is the best feedback you can get.

Thanks again all and kind regards,

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Originally Posted by Hans

You just can't put it back once you've chopped it off (don't have PS)

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Sounds like a challenge ;)
You don't need PS (proper), this done "rough and ready" in Elements, about 1 minute;

http://i46.tinypic.com/etv60n.jpg

I'm sure it's possible in GIMP too.

("How?", do I hear you ask?)
1) I stretched the canvas to 105% in a vertical (only) direction, adding at the top.
2) Sampled off the white
3) Paint bucketed it in

Ok, it needs a bit of a blur, or clone, along the edge, mainly in top right corner, but it really was Soooo quick to do, half a dozen mouse clicks and one number typed in.

I over did it slightly, 103-104% would do.

Cheers,

Dave, you never cease to amaze me! Nice work :D

I've attached another version to try to bring the highlights into submission (see original post - second pic)...does it look better?

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Originally Posted by Hans

I've attached another version to try to bring the highlights into submission (see original post - second pic)...does it look better?

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Yes, I do believe it does :)