Portaiture Help - Pls

These could be so much better, I know - but how?! What can I do differently?

Thanks in advance.

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Why do you Block your Exif on Flickr?

Fester wrote in post #15488312
Why do you Block your Exif on Flickr?

Probably b/c I don't know yet how to unblock it...

1/250
ƒ/2.8
ISO 640
80 mm

Flash = 430ex ii fired
as well as two mini strobes that were placed in regular household lamps, on the floor in front of him...

bounce your flash off the ceiling. aim it upwards, in general just aim it all around as long as it's bouncing off of something above your subject. as well as something white. lol.

another tip...not that there's anything wrong with what you shot here as far as WB goes...take a picture of a white wall, or a piece of paper in the room you're shooting in. then go to the menu, scroll down to custom WB, it'll bring up that photo, click set. then simply change your WB setting to custom WB, and start shooting away. have fun!

Looks like you had the flash on camera. Take it off, or point your flash away from him. Even if you aim it straight up it may not be enough. I would twist the flash head all the way around to shot at around a 45 degree angle up and behind the camera to bounce it off the ceiling and soften any light that falls back on your subject.

When I aimed the flash at the ceiling, photos turned out too dark - eg: he was a silhouette practically! I didn't use a reflector though - I probably should get a stand for the one I have so I can make better use of it. The two mini strobes were bare as well without reflectors. I should use stands and umbrellas or something maybe...

Fire0725 wrote in post #15488681
When I aimed the flash at the ceiling, photos turned out too dark - eg: he was a silhouette practically! I didn't use a reflector though - I probably should get a stand for the one I have so I can make better use of it. The two mini strobes were bare as well without reflectors. I should use stands and umbrellas or something maybe...

Slow down your shutter.

OK, put the camera in M - manual mode. Set the shutter for about 1/125, set your f-stop at f2.8 or f4.0, ISO at 200~400, and pull him away from the wall a bit. For the flash - rubber band a 3x5 index card to the top of the flash pointed forward with the flash head pointing up. Flash should be in ETTL. Take the shot and see if you need more light or less and adjust accordingly with flash exposure compensation. Don't worry about the meter in the camera.

What are you trying to do with the flash? The only way you can soften light is to increase the light source size relative to the subject (No, a Stofen does not do that). By pointing the flash at a white ceiling (or wall) the ceiling becomes the reflected) light source, much larger than the flash head. The index card on the flash head will reflect some light forward to reduce shadows in the eyes and under the chin. Your little strobes may help with that but I suspect they will fire with the pre-flash on the 430EX in ETTL mode and not recycle fast enough for the main picture.

+ 1

Titus213 wrote in post #15489122
OK, put the camera in M - manual mode. Set the shutter for about 1/125, set your f-stop at f2.8 or f4.0, ISO at 200~400, and pull him away from the wall a bit. For the flash - rubber band a 3x5 index card to the top of the flash pointed forward with the flash head pointing up. Flash should be in ETTL. Take the shot and see if you need more light or less and adjust accordingly with flash exposure compensation. Don't worry about the meter in the camera.

What are you trying to do with the flash? The only way you can soften light is to increase the light source size relative to the subject (No, a Stofen does not do that). By pointing the flash at a white ceiling (or wall) the ceiling becomes the reflected) light source, much larger than the flash head. The index card on the flash head will reflect some light forward to reduce shadows in the eyes and under the chin. Your little strobes may help with that but I suspect they will fire with the pre-flash on the 430EX in ETTL mode and not recycle fast enough for the main picture.

This is your answer!! And move him away from the wall.

Thank you everyone for the tips and suggestions! These were super helpful, and I have now been able to get some really great shots of my little guy using your tips and suggestions!!!

Special thanks to Titus who really broke it all down for me!! Brilliant I say!

Woo-hoo!! Now I feel like I sorta know what I'm doing with these fancy bits of equipment!