With his motherby
marvinComment by graphicfunk: Greetings from the critique club:
A very cute baby indeed with a very good disposition as evidenced by his full smile.
It is no easy feat to make such a capture with the camera's flash. because of the proximity the hot spots are always a problem. I would think twice of using a built in flash for challenges. As bad as it is there is sometimes the need but most results prove unsatisfactory.
You have two choices: plan for an outdoor shot or invest in some clamp lights if your budget will not allow a strobe or hot light system. Any of these systems will allow you to make light placement which are independent of the camera. As you know, the built in flash renders and shoots a light at the same plane as the lens. The image is not given much opportunity to display its inherent beauty and form.
The other lights will allow better modeling and interesting plays of light and shadow. You will also be able to place them at any angle and distance. In the "cheating" challenge I used three clamp lights with 100 watts. You can do a lot with them. Not only that but they will prepare you if you ever decide to upgrade to a hotlight or strobe set in the future. A couple of weeks, just toying with them will bring you better images and your lighting knowledge will improve.
The improvements will be immediate. For example look at the heavy shadow underneath junior's chin. By using these clamp lights you can use une as the main, one as a fill in and one for backlighting. You place the first light slightly to the right at about 5 feet. Check for hotspots, different skin hues want the light a little closer or farther. Then you place the fill light on the opposite side and being a fill light place it twice the distance as far as the main light. The back light can come either directly from the back or slightly above. This will give the head some hair highlights. The closer you place the backlight the more dramatic but further is generally better since you do not want to overwhelm the main light.
I think it is unfair for me to critique this image because there is no improvement that I can think of by employing the built in flash. These lights are available at places like Home Depot, Walmart and many hardware stores.
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