Portrait Critique

My husband was kind enough to pose for me so I could practice with lighting. I was attempting loop lighting; although, I'm pretty sure it's not quite right. However, I feel pretty happy with the results, being much improved over my first attempt with him.

I am using two strobes. The key light was to his right and the fill light was near the camera just to his left.

One problem I am struggling with is the eyes, particularly with his eyes. They are smallish and deep set. It seem like I cannot light them well without blowing out the rest of the picture. They are actually a very blue color, but I cannot get that to stand out. I did attempt to use a reflector to fill in the shadows, but only succeeded in making flat lighting.

Any comments would be much appreciated...I still have so far to go Thanks for looking.

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photov wrote:
My husband was kind enough to pose for me so I could practice with lighting. I was attempting loop lighting; although, I'm pretty sure it's not quite right. However, I feel pretty happy with the results, being much improved over my first attempt with him.

I am using two strobes. The key light was to his right and the fill light was near the camera just to his left.

One problem I am struggling with is the eyes, particularly with his eyes. They are smallish and deep set. It seem like I cannot light them well without blowing out the rest of the picture. They are actually a very blue color, but I cannot get that to stand out. I did attempt to use a reflector to fill in the shadows, but only succeeded in making flat lighting.

Any comments would be much appreciated...I still have so far to go Thanks for looking.

Great shot Photov, I like the lighting. It looks like Rembrant lighting judging from the V shaped hilight on his cheek below his left eye.
To get more light on his eyes try having the camera angle shooting from above and have him look up to the camera. That might help.

good shot.

For the eye problem, PS is your friend.

Here's my take. I see a light source above the camera to the right, although the main source is camera left.
Leave your main light as is, and put the reflector in front of the person's face, reflecting light up.
I also cropped it...the 8x10 format is usually more pleasing for portraits.

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Thanks so much for the comments all!

Boomer, I will definitely try the different camera angle. I imagine the higher camera angle is a bit slimming, too. I had been avoiding it due to his shaved head, but it's definitely worth a shot.

Ootsk, I like the 8x10 version much better. It's amazing what a simple crop can do. I have only been using Photoshop for a few days now. Would you mind telling me what else you did to the picture? I see that the eyes are much brighter. When I try I can never get the blue to show through.

Thanks so much for the help.

Ok, here's more of what I did.
I cropped it to 8x10. I extended his arm for "balance",otherwise there'd be background all down the left side of the frame.
I used the dodge tool, at 10% to lighten his eyes some. I could have done a bit better with the full sized image, but you get the idea.
I used the bandaid tool to get rid of the dark areas below his eyes (bags, I guess they're called).
Then I vignetted lightly (12%) around the edge of the photo, mostly cause I like the effect.

This is a very nice portrait - I have experimented with lightening it to relieve the shadows around the eyes.....

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Thanks again for the compliments and help.

Ootsk - I had not had the chance to try out the dodge tool yet, but it will likely become an invaluable tool for me. Thanks for the tip!

In the future I'll frame my shots better so arms don't have to be extended I was so focused on my lighting that I wasn't giving enough attention to my composition.

I think there is enough there to lighten a little and make a little sharper. Nothing too drastic, but should give a little more of the elusive pop.

Graham

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to get his eyes lit better with deep sockets the light would have to be about 8-12 inches lower on your stand than you have it - judging by the catchlights-

he is slightly squinty wich is very common when using flash on a person with deep set eyes- ( my hubby's are horrid to photograph)

i tell him to close his eyes softly- not squinty and the right before i am ready to grab the shot i tell him to open them- this eliminates the squint