Hi, this is my first attempt with strobe lights. I used only a 100 cm octabank. I'm temporally working on a small laptop since my calibrated monitor it's still locked in a self-storage... So the white balance, may be quite off (i had to set it to 4500k).
The subject it is what it is.. it's a self portrait. But feel free to criticise posing and so on.
I quite like the lighting, not sure i it will benefit from more separation from the background, if you think so it would be great if you can suggest how to achieve it but keeping a 1 light setup.
One light setup & self-port with catchlights in both eyes and black on black ... Tough Gig. Pretty smokin' effort, imo, when you factor in the difficulty involved.
The crop through the top of the head makes me go, "Hmmm" a bit @ composition/crop choice here, but I can get past it readily enough due to the power of the tonal contrast and your gazing eyes. Maybe cropping the sides a bit to give it a stronger portrait orientation. The square-ish crop leaves me with a bit much negative space on the left, atm.
As to the color, I reduced blue @ -26 (color balance / highlights) as there seemed to be a blue cast in the shirt (assumed to be black). Your hair may seem a bit blocked up to some, but it's not a problem for me, since it transitions us into the black abyss anyway. I lifted things overall with levels on the highlight side, but left the shadows alone for the most part. Also a little more sharpening to bring out some character, and a slight boost to the iris.
Again, I'm diggin' it on both a technical basis and on the emotive basis. It's like I can identify with who you are. This is probably one of the best "first attempt" self-ports I've seen since I can't remember when.
Just the choice of clothing and background effectively draws attention to the face.
I'm not fond of "broad" lighting like this because it makes the near side ear a distraction to the eyes and mouth of the subject which trigger the emotional reaction. The same oblique angle of face to camera with the light on the other side would frame the entire front of the face in highlight and hide the ear in the shadows.
That said, the fact half the face is hidden in shadows works with the moody expression, but my eye keeps wandering over to that ear. The solution to the ear distraction problem is either to "feather" or flag your light source when shooting or tone down the ear in PP.
crisdesign wrote:
The subject it is what it is.. it's a self portrait. But feel free to criticise posing and so on.
I quite like the lighting, not sure i it will benefit from more separation from the background, if you think so it would be great if you can suggest how to achieve it but keeping a 1 light setup.
Cris
Cris,
This is a total win… a really, really well done portrait (yourself or otherwise – all the more impressive that it’s a self portrait).
Separation from the background?... that’s just another legitimate approach. I was drawing far earlier in my life than taking photos and I often disagree with others about photo details because they are (IMHO) overly concerned with the light meter and all the clichés of photography. I always ask myself, if this were a sketch or a painting, would it be a successful image.
This is art. You nailed it.
A measure of rim lighting or soft light on the backdrop would have been just as legitimate but the way your face emerges from the darkness here is perfection. The balance of light on the darker side of your face is nuance personified. Again, completely within my opinion of the perfect range.
If I had a critique, it would be the framing. I can easily see this with your face more to the right of the composition – which I would likely prefer.
Regarding your one light question: “if you think so it would be great if you can suggest how to achieve it but keeping a 1 light setup…” …a reflector, camera left, behind you could have easily given you a hint of rim light – or at another angle cast light upon your backdrop.
Thanks guys for taking the time to write this, i really appreciate. I agree with cgander about the ear, it's something it really bothers me as well, I'm going to do a bit of burn there and I may try reshooting with the light from the other side.
Another thing i'm not 100% happy is the dof, may be a shallower one would make that ear less distracting. Also the position of dof probably would be better if shifted a bit closer to the camera, what do you think?
Regarding the white balance I was mistaken, I actually set it to 5500k and decided to trust the numbers for the skin tones. The shirt is actually a dark purple / violet so it's not a blue cast.
Rustybug i agree that some selective sharpening will improve things a bit, and i see that the eyes in your version become more powerful (perhaps a bit too vampire..) but I can't see myself anymore because in reality my iris is very dark.
I'm not bothered too much by the negative space on the left but you guys are right, now the ear falls in a line of thirds. A tighter crop makes the person more prominent even tough as a self portrait i find it even a bit too revealing – i'm a shy guy but I'm going to try some variants.
Thanks again and i'll post an updated version as soon i have a bit of time.
crisdesign wrote:
Regarding the white balance I was mistaken, I actually set it to 5500k and decided to trust the numbers for the skin tones. The shirt is actually a dark purple / violet so it's not a blue cast.
Rustybug i agree that some selective sharpening will improve things a bit, and i see that the eyes in your version become more powerful (perhaps a bit too vampire..) but I can't see myself anymore because in reality my iris is very dark.
Always a bit of a guessing game (from the I wasn't there perspective) when you don't know what reality is and you don't have a reference point for establishing such WB or there is a doubt @ WB or mixed lighting. While I was mistaken my assumption on the shirt, and brought out your iris too much ... the important thing is that you have your processes (although investing in a color chart might be worthy) in good control, and your head is very much in the game with discernment.
The ear, until Chuck pointed it out I never really noticed it too much. Here again, your gaze trumped it, imo. With regard to the DOF, the more you open your pose, the closer your features become into the same plane. Changing your pose a bit may push your ear farther back from your face, and reduced its scale a touch as well. As to the broad vs. short lighting, it will be interesting to see the different outcome of the two.
Still, one of the best "first attempt" self-ports I've seen in a while. This level of "first effort", and your mental discernment ... it only gets better from here. Looking forward to seeing more.
but I'm going to try some variants.