Self Portrait

Well practicing is hard when you have no one to practice on! So I decided to try and take photos of myself. Obviously I'm not the most photo-genic person there is but I'll have to do!

Below I used:
580ex (45", set at 1/4 in manual mode)
2 Spot lights (just the ones to help you read in the dark, these were pointed on the background)
Sigma 24 - 70 f/2.8
1 DODGY tripod

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surgery ?!
nice shot - very good pose and compostion

gingerneil wrote in post #2129089
surgery ?!
nice shot - very good pose and compostion

not sure what that is suppose to mean?

I think you could use a little more lighting on your face,..even with going for the darkness look.

way to get creative with the lighting.

kp

Thanks for the comments, I will try it again with a little more lighting this time!

You may also try to move furthur away, or move the background furthur back. You don't want you/your subject casting shadows. Keep in mind that your background will get darker due to light falloff, unless you light it seperately, or if there is a certain effect/color you are trying to achieve.

I take a lot of portraits of my children, and have found that trying to get a nice background with sheets/cloths/backdrop​s requires seperate lighting, and that can get frustrating if limited on lights, since you will need 1-2 main lights.

Are you planning on doing portraits, people in a "studio" type setting, or just trying to get good pictures of people?

Thanks for your reply, at the moment I am just trying to get good people pictures. I will be looking at getting a basic lighting setup next year but until then, its just basic gear!

I use to do the same basic setup as you did when I had my film gear; I used two Vivitar 283's shot with umbrellas. The lighting was nice, but the lighting output was not always consistent. I'm sure the Canon flashes, and all others, have come a long way.
A reflector of some sort is the next best thing when you only have one flash. Right now I'll use window light, and my
on-camera flash( minus 1-1.5 stops)for fill, and get very decent shots. Just a thought when you don't have the room or budget for dedicated lights. Me personally, I think natural lighting looks, well, more natural.

gingerneil wrote in post #2129089
surgery ?!

I don't get this either...?


I agree with Kathy, nice set up but I would like to see more light on your face.

Thanks everyone! I will have another attempt when I have time and try what has been suggested!