My first portraits....

[TheBigDog]

So my wife finally convinced me to take some portraits of my two boys. I hope you like them. Please ANY C&C is appreciated. I think the biggest thing I struggled with was the shadows. Since I only had one Speedlight to work with, I'm not sure how else I could have set it up. I had the speedlight on a tripod with a lightsphere attached. I was shooting wireless controlled by my 7D using the camera's flash to complement.

Now, onto the pics...Here are Christian and Dylan:

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6084/6090093185_497f63d260_b.jpg

Partners in Crime
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6193/6090804963_836f8d43e9_b.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6189/6090806407_463f25d15f_b.jpg

Christian, 6 years old
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6076/6091343116_41976583b8_b.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6188/6090799695_5cf7708b22_b.jpg

Dylan, 3 years old
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6187/6090806787_fef3fcc105_b.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6084/6090807161_637841b43b_b.jpg


Thanks for looking!

[FREEZE]

You have very cute children! Maybe try moving them farther from the wall and if possible bounce the light off the ceiling. I've tried portraits and posting them usually getting comments taht the lighting is flat or whatever. In the end if your happy and they are what you wanted they are perfect. No matter what, they show the beatiful personalities your boys have.

[JakAHearts]

Very good exposures and processing + super cute kids is like cheating. You always end up with good photos. ;)

[TheBigDog]

thank you very much, I was happy with the results...Now I just have to keep the wife in line from having me do this every weekend :)

[delhi]

watch for shadows.

[bonnielauper]

great pictures. i like Freeze's solution, as long as you only have one light. i don't know what a lightsphere is, but you could try some other solutions to diffuse the light more. umbrellas are pretty cheap, if you just want something simple.

in the meantime for these photos which are too good to throw away, try masking the background in photoshop (use the quick selection tool, then refine edge and use the "smart radius" tool...works really well especially around hair). then lighten the shadows with a gray overlay layer or just some curves....not sure how PS savvy you are, so let me know if you need more explanation...

[TheBigDog]

Thanks Bonnie, here's a lightsphere, it attaches to the speedlight
http://www.prophotoshow.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/ls2cloud.jpg

Thanks for the PS tips, I'll give that a shot. I'm fairly good in PS, but some things I just haven't done before or aren't comfortable with.

[Kerilynn]

I LOVE that first one! As for shadows try moving them farther away from the wall, should help with shadows.

[Photogaz]

Great photos. If you can afford it, get a ST-E2 and use an umbrella to get rid of the shadows.

[saqib]

i would dodge the corner of first pic to make it all white

[brokkbloodaxe]

I really like them!

[Aer]

Oh my goodness they are adorable! And they seem so comfortable in front of the camera, too. It might have been nice to get some props of activities they're interested in now, just to get some more of their personality in the photos.

[TheBigDog]

Thanks for all the comments and great ideas!

[Mendal]

as for shadows, a light sphere will soften a little, but more it just diffuses the light to truely get softer light you need a bigger more efficient light source. A soft box would increase the "size" providing a softer light also it will direct the light where you want it rather then all over the room. I use a Qbox24
(I posted this in another post earlier - and I have no association to them they just have a awesome product)

http://www.cheetahstand.com/servlet/the-38/Cheetah-Qbox-24/Detail

The other thing it to pull them out 5-6 feet from the backdrop.

Here is a couple examples of my kids I did a few weeks ago on location about 20 mins before sunset Sun at their back, Qbox 24 just to the right of the camera and about a foot above the center of the lens ( I was actually using the softbox to flag some of the lens flare, I was shooting for some flare but I needed the box to block some of the light).

my daughter:
554300

and my son:
554298

Mendal

[TheBigDog]

Thanks for the tips Mendal, I'll certainly check that out. Can I ask how you control the flash?

[Mendal]

cactus v5 remote triggers, firing a youngo yn-560 (manual Flash)

I love the cactus v5, I've been using them a lot as a remote shutter release as well, they have been flawless.

[ohtography]

You boys are super cute! I like the first one!

[iLvision]

cactus v5 remote triggers, firing a youngo yn-560 (manual Flash)

I love the cactus v5, I've been using them a lot as a remote shutter release as well, they have been flawless.

+ for that.
Cactus V5 FTW, I’ve got four of them and thinking of getting more for the third flash. They’re the best Value for the money!! Pocketwizards are for spoiled Pros :D. Cactus V5’s are actually better, range-wise that is.