First Outdoor Portrait w/ Flash - C&C Please!

This is my first serious attempt at outdoor portraits with flash. I used a 580EXII & a 24' softbox camera left approx. 10' from model. I have much to learn so any C&C is welcome. Thanks!

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/paTx​9P

I'm a complete lighting noob, so can't give you too much c&c, but I like it! You could maybe tone down the highlights on her shoulder and chin.

The photo looks great to me--including the light.

I'm sure you're aware of this but having that 2' softbox that far away from your subject seriously reduces the apparent softness of the light. I'd have halved that distance. I'm also not sure that the softbox has any advantage in this scenario in which control of spill wasn't really requird.

Christopher Steven b wrote in post #17148241
The photo looks great to me--including the light.

I'm sure you're aware of this but having that 2' softbox that far away from your subject seriously reduces the apparent softness of the light. I'd have halved that distance. I'm also not sure that the softbox has any advantage in this scenario in which control of spill wasn't really requird.

Thanks for the input! Yea, after the fact I asked myself why I had the light so far away. Lack of experience and practice I suppose. The softbox was new so I had to try it!

I have much to learn!

I think you made an excellent first effort. As previously pointed out you would get softer light by moving the off-camera flash closer to the subject and reducing its power. I usually start out with my light stand 8 feet from the subject because from experience I know that a 580EX II set to 1/4 power meters f/8 at 8 feet when using the 50mm zoom setting. Then as I raise the light stand, I move it closer so that the hypotenuse of the triangle formed by the light stand height and the distance to subject remains at 8 feet. From then you just adjust flash power to get the look you're after.

You also need to pay attention to the flash contribution to the overall subject lighting; typically you do not want to exceed 35 percent of the light coming from your flash in order to avoid the "flashed" look. A light meter like the Sekonic L-358 can tell you how much of the light on your subject is coming from the flash but its also relatively simple to calculate in your head. A flash set to one stop under ambient light will contribute 33 percent of light; two stops under ambient contributes 20 percent.

Here's an excellent tutorial on the subject; he makes some slight math errors but overall the video is very instructive: Joe Brady - Blending Flash & Ambient Light for Beautiful Outdoor Portraits

The lighting is nice except for the flash on her left upper bicep, I must ask what happened to her right arm?

tmoore323 wrote in post #17149072
...bicep, I must ask what happened to her right arm?

The same thing that happened to your punctuation and sentence structure?

Or were you implying that I need to work on posing? It's OK to say so, as I already stated...

Photo Hunter wrote in post #17148275
I have much to learn!

Photo Hunter wrote in post #17149546
The same thing that happened to your punctuation and sentence structure?

Or were you implying that I need to work on posing? It's OK to say so, as I already stated...

Er, OK

You did a great job of angling the glasses to avoid reflections and the flash. I still struggle with that tremendously.