Set Up Summary:-
- 60" Umbrella - Reflective cover removed, but shot as reflective, i.e. not shoot through.
- YN-560 Flash @ Full Power
- Nikon D90
- Nikkor 35mm, f1.8 G lens @ 50mm (crop factor) f5.0
- ISO 200
- Shutter Speed 1/200
- Light position - face on, model/camera high
(No Post Processing has been done because I am not sure what/how to do that would improve it in aperture 3 or elements yet). Any suggestions gratefully appreciated.
I had one option only with the light source, I was shooting into the tunnel which was only a little higher than Chris, about 6ft in total. I had a 60" umbrella and shot it cover off, reflective side, so not shoot through. About a 5th of the umbrella was higher than the tunnel roof so I had to set it up just outside the entrance to the tunnel. Chris is about 2-3 meters or so into the tunnel while I am position under the light source. The path towards the tunnel was a downward gradient so moving the umbrella back would have raised it higher.
My Considerations:-
I had a play with the different levels and angles of the umbrella. To high and it would not pick up the roof, to low and if would fire to far down the tunnel.
I wanted to get the flash to fire down the tunnel just past Chris and to filter off. I achieved this but not sure how much I like the result yet.
I wanted to use the walls and roof as lead in lines.
I wasn't sure what or how to work with the wall lights and annoyingly I positioned Chris with his ear intersecting one. Point to learn, watch all scene for composition. I was more focused on the light to subject distance as I was on full power.
I eventually workout my exposure as above detailed above. One thing I have learn is next time to work out what I think is my correct exposure on the camera LCD, then move up and down at 3rd increments to about +/- 1 stop and then compare the results of the LCD to my laptop screen.
My Thoughts:-
I am partly happy with this image because it is what I set out for. I don't think Chris stands out enough from the background, I also think he looks too flat on the image. I am not sure how I would improve this, If re-shot.
I don't like his pose, I let him work that one out, so I need to learn how to pose models for better images and light.
As mentioned before the lights were a pain so I need to compensate better in my composition.
If you wanted to keep the black jacket, a rim light from behind is a must. He gets swallowed, and not necessarily in a good way. You noted the lights, I would prefer to have them in front of him, so have him facing camera left so that the lights move us towards his face. The light feels very on axis for this, which isn't always bad but feels very matter-of-fact (meaning... it wasn't designed light). The location is interesting, but you might have slowed your shutter a little to let it become a little more a part of the scene. I second Louis and his suggestion of a portrait orientation for this. You said he posed himself, but always be careful of what people do with their chins. By pulling his chin in, he's scrunched up his neck in a weird way, whereas you'd normally want to use the shadow under the jawline to create shape. Changing your shooting position relative to the model is always something to consider- eye level shots tend to feel very static and unnaturally normal, if you follow, because they're exactly what we always see walking around (the world from eye level).
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