Ok. I think the quality of the light is suitable for this kind of moody image. The only thing that bothers me OCF-wise is that the position of the light is a bit too low relative to him and the shadow of his nose extends over the left cheek. I would position the flash a bit higher to move the shadow down. Exposure is good. If you want to have more light in his left eye you should move the flash closer to camera but then the light becomes more flat.
Not only is the light too low relative to his face, as VilleK just mentioned, but it's also too low to the side of his face. It doesn't even completely fill the subject's left eye socket. Decide what you want to do with the light, and then experiment until you achieve that look.
Thanks for feedback, okay so need to work more on placement. This one was done as he was playing his video game on couch. It is hard to make 8 year old to pose for you - specifically in midst of a high-speed chase .
I understand that your intend was to use these specific flashes. You received already good feedback to that extend ... You said you use the 580EX and 430EX together. I would suppose that you used the second flash as a fill light from a different angle but I don't see that effect (?) It looks more like a single flash has been used, not ?
What follows is written in a truly friendly tone of voice and with the sole intent to help you with a different POV.
Quick Comment:
Two flashes??
Seems like overkill to me. (Too much tech or hardware used for the job.)
This shot could have been made with a 60 watt light bulb, or a single light of almost any kind, including a candle.
Thanks for your comment, Yes goal was to use single light source off camera. 580EX was used as master just to trigger 430EXii which was placed roughly at 45 degree on side. There was no second source as you can see from the image.
fgransee wrote:
I understand that your intend was to use these specific flashes. You received already good feedback to that extend ... You said you use the 580EX and 430EX together. I would suppose that you used the second flash as a fill light from a different angle but I don't see that effect (?) It looks more like a single flash has been used, not ?
580 was on 5Dmkii to trigger 430exii, I dont know if there is any other mecahnism from 5Dmkii to trigger off-camera flash (which is bit of lame - considering even EF-S mounts with pop-up flash gives you lot more flexibility to trigger OCF). If I'm missing something here please tell me. I can use a trigger, I've got Apurture triggmaster which I'm not too fond of as it gives only trigger and no other control of OCF. With 580EXii mounted on hot-shoe I could control some aspects of OCF from camera.
Good comments from VilleK and Ron (friscoron) already that I agree with.
I know you're working on OCF, but I'll add this nitty little comment anyway.
When you position him so far off center, maybe have him either posed back into the frame or have his eyes going back into the frame. A little bit.
mjoshi wrote:
580 was on 5Dmkii to trigger 430exii, I dont know if there is any other mecahnism from 5Dmkii to trigger off-camera flash (which is bit of lame - considering even EF-S mounts with pop-up flash gives you lot more flexibility to trigger OCF). If I'm missing something here please tell me. I can use a trigger, I've got Apurture triggmaster which I'm not too fond of as it gives only trigger and no other control of OCF. With 580EXii mounted on hot-shoe I could control some aspects of OCF from camera.
You could use a long (16 or 32ft) OCF cable that will let you use your flash the same way as if it would be mounted in the camera's hot shoe. Search for "OCFGEAR SYL ARENA". I prefer the TT1/TT5 pocket wizards especially if you want to use more than one light directly for your setup - with one light and not with too much foot traffic around you, the long cable is the fastest and more simple setup.
