I've reached a new level... finally!! The cutest kids here.
Anyways, The first and foremost point of this excercise was to reach a balance between ambient and flash lighting. I used my Sekonic 358 to help with this. It was a little confusing and I can't say that I ever completely grasped the technique, though I fully understand the concept.
I had 1 speedlight (430exll) on a stand with a 43" umbrella with the opaque cover on it. I was going to experiment with the flash-through. But since I wasn't completely comfortable with my progress on the lighting I ended up staying focused. The lens was a 70-200 f4 L. The sky was completely overcast.
Here is my first 'keeper'. Is there anything you see as a red flag that just screams "rookie"? If so what can I do to improve it?
Thank you!
"The most endangered species? The honest man!"
"The most endangered species? The honest man!"
www.dcimages.org.uk
"A good photograph is one that communicate a fact, touches the heart, leaves the viewer a changed person for having seen it. It is, in a word, effective." - Irving Penn
A shallower DoF would help with the background. One the single, try having him move away from the fence a bit (he seems to blend in without some backlighting). Finally, the tilt is just enough to confuse me as to whether it is intentional or not.
Overall, a good exercise and well worth the modeling fee
. Don't forget to get a release 
Shoot, learn and share. It will make you a better photographer.
fineartamerica.com/profiles/john-g-schickler.html?tab=artwork
“Amateurs worry about equipment, professionals worry about money, masters worry about light, I just make pictures… ” ~ Vernon Trent
To clarify, cropping and composition was the east of my worries. I plan on doing a few more of these lighting exercises before I introduce scrutiny to back grounds and cropping.One thing I noticed is that the lighting is too silver, due to the silver lining of the umbrella. It's kind of steril. It didn't help that the sky was ultra gray as well. I see where a gold lined umbrella or reflector would've have helped. I plan on picking up a 5 in 1 reflector soon.
The tilt WAS intentional here, but purely experimental.
After this experiment I learned a new process in photoshop. So naturally I wanted to give it a go. I don't have photoshop so I used PSP. I kind of like the result, albeit probably better geared towards wedding photography.
Thanks again for all the input!
"The most endangered species? The honest man!"
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