Photos of a person at sun set. Let me know what you guys think. Thanks!

I think that I'm getting adicted to having photos critiqued. Thanks for any input you can give me. Also, I know the horizon line is off in the second pic. Does that bother anyone else?

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It looks as if you are applying off-camera flash in order to illuminate your subject. It works but it makes the entire scene un-natural, and I have a problem with that. I would rather see an image that does the best it can to portray a scene so as to emphasize its reality and it better points.

Robert_Lay wrote in post #5149752
It looks as if you are applying off-camera flash in order to illuminate your subject. It works but it makes the entire scene un-natural, and I have a problem with that. I would rather see an image that does the best it can to portray a scene so as to emphasize its reality and it better points.

Great comment thanks.

Great setting, I agree with Robert about the lighting.

love this style, i agree it is unnatural but i dig it

I like it!

I see what Robert means by unnatural; you wouldn't expect this situation to be a front lit subject because the sun is setting behind him. But then, how else are you going to get that sunset in the background and the subject lit?

I think you did well. Maybe by using a warm up or orange gel on the flash to cast some warm light on the subject would help balance it a little.

rammy wrote in post #5150192
I like it!

I see what Robert means by unnatural; you wouldn't expect this situation to be a front lit subject because the sun is setting behind him. But then, how else are you going to get that sunset in the background and the subject lit?

...

The same way you replace a bald sky with a beautiful blue sky with big white fluffly clouds.

I didn't post all my own critiques of these photos, but everything that I saw that needed to be tweeked everyone has mentioned. Thanks for all the great comments I really like getting outside reviews I think it makes me a better photographer. Thanks again!

My personal opinion is that I usually strive to never make it obvious that any flash was ever used. But in this type of image it does not bother me, I like this style and shoot this way from time to time. One suggestion though is you could benefit from a second flash and use it as a kicker on the shadow side of the subject. Position it so the light comes from behind the subject. The main goal is to try and rim light the shadow side enough to create seperation from the background but not enough to make the lighting on the subject flat. This might require a snoot on the flash and/or some kind of flag to control where the light falls and where it doesn't.

Composition wise you should work on a little bit. Try to not cut off subjects at their joints like you did in cutting off his hands in the first and the feet in the second.

I say keep going down this road

I'm not sure why but I really like the second image, even if it does look a bit unnatural. Experimentation is good in my opinion, so is something a little different.

I dig the second shot, although the feet are cut off. THe lighting and the background are dramatic, if not completely natural. The first shot has the model positioned in the right third of the frame with his body facing right, away from the rest of the space. The setting sun and background are not enough to keep me in the frame, especially because I can't stop fixating on that smokestack cloud that looks like the model's shoulder is venting steam ( ). I'm not sure if positioning the model in front of that cloud was intentional or not, but it is distracting IMHO. If that cloud weren't there and the model was facing into the frame, then I'd get a better sense of the scene.

Keep up the experimentation Corey. Nice work. Maybe try the same off-camera flash set up but in a setting where you get the nice sky, the dark background, but the suggestion of a light out-of-frame somewhere. For example, if you shoot the same shot on a front porch, where the potential for a window light off-frame is suggested by the porch, then you have a reason for off-camera flash light to be coming form that direction. Then the scene is more "natural" because of the context of the rest of the scene.

I like the second picture as well. The artifical look of the flash doesn't bother me. However, the feet would have been nice to include in the frame here. Otherwise, great shot.

I bought "The moment it clicks" by Joe McNally, that Curtis recommended and Joe does this type of shot quite a few times.

Wow, Great comments guys. I totally agree with all of them.

Everyone pretty much nailed the crit on these.

I read most, but not all of the posts. I may have also tried custom making a snoot for the on-cam-flash if thats what youve used. Even if it is a speedlight on the hotshoe... same concept and works great. Shoot your camera in manual so it doesnt try cophensate and expose properly according to what it think its told to do from using the on-cam-flash in other modes.

Take a peice of computer paper... or i found black construction paper works better, better yet aluminum foil if the subject is further away (intensifies the light as well, probably use if over 25 or so feet). roll the paper/foil so it fits over your flash head, tape it so its snug. then tape the other end so its an equal diameter and looks decent. if the paper is bending in along the entire seam.. just tape it up.

if the paper tents to fall off the head simply tape or wrap a rubber band around it.