Portrait Attempt (C&C please)

Ok, this is a third or forth attempt at some portraits.

I used my Rebel Xti, Sigma 24-70 and a 430EXSpeedlite card bounced off a white wall & ceiling. I know that I shouldnt of had his arms at 90 degree angles and I added just a tinch of skin smoothing (which may have made the over all a tad soft). Should I have increased the flash power? etc?
Oh yeah....and he prefers a serious look on his face most of the time, if he were to smile I think his cheeks would crack

Byte size: ZERO | Content warning: NOT AN IMAGE

Exposure is fine, but you are correct on the softness, look a tad OOF

goforphoto wrote in post #4500604
Exposure is fine, but you are correct on the softness, look a tad OOF

Cool thanks!

The softness is what bugs me the most...I'd like to see it just a tad brighter too but not bad.

It is about 1/2 stop underexposed.

benji

Not bad.. I like it!

I think its great when you can produce a great shot with a speed lite. Try playing around with it a little bit.

Thanks everyone! making notes of what you said. it really does help!

I just wanted to pop in and say this is a nice picture. work on the softness and you would have a GREAT pic.. Well done.

If you shot RAW, you should be able to go back and redo your skin treatment avoiding the eyes and lips.

Thanks Heather!

Poloman.....DERN IT!!! I gotta remember RAW! RAW!! THANKS!

Softness problem could be f2.8 aperture of your lens. If it was say with something like 85mm f1.8 or 135mm f2 at f2.8, it would have been much sharper.

Also using longer focal length is better for facial features, IMHO. Since you using a speedlight, I would have taken it at 70mm atleast f4. Arms look ok to me but shot is under-exposed.

bobbyz wrote in post #4506934
Also using longer focal length is better for facial features, IMHO. Since you using a speedlight, I would have taken it at 70mm atleast f4. Arms look ok to me but shot is under-exposed.

Thanks! will definately give that a try!

not bad, but a bit OOF