lesson 10, Portrait help!

[mdonahoe1]

I have been at a stand still on the portrait lesson. I don't feel like I have grasped enough about lighting. With some advice from other members, I have decided to just start shooting and practicing until my comfort level goes up. I feel a little more comfortable with candid and outdoor portraits, but I want to learn about lighting for indoor shots, too. So, I would like you to take a look at my portrait of my dog, Ozzie. It is cropped, EXIF: f8, 1/200 sec, 85mm. Thanks! (By the way, he acted naturally!)

Marianne

[rasmussen4]

Hey Marianne, Nice setup here with Ozzie. I like the "expression" and the way you composed things here which fit in nice according to the rule of thirds. It even had a bit of a panoramic feel due to the wider crop you chose.

Your settings look fine here, but in this case I frankly wouldn't have used the flash. A flash at this range tends to blow the highlights out, which is exactly what happened to the white parts of his fur, most noticeably on the top of his head. Natural light probably would've been able to work with this particular setting, and if you were having problems with shadows, you can also try and turn him in a direction where the light would hit his face better. A front flash on top of the camera at this range though is just not going to be your ideal option.

If you're interested in learning more about indoor studio lighting I'd definitely recommend the Studio Lighting course (shameless plug)!

Keep up the good work, and don't worry about the lighting so much for the portrait section. Just dive in, like everyone said!

~ greg