New studio shot for C&C...

First studio shots for me. I used AB800 in a soft box for main. AB800 with umbrella for fill. 2 AB400 for background lighting. ISO 100, 1/200, f/9. I want the floor to be more white like the background, so help there is appreciated.

I'd like to get correct exposures without PP, so I posted this straight out of the camera for your critique. Also, I'm still looking for a fix to the sensor dust.

Thanks in advance! John.

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OK, what is supposed to be the main subject...the toys or the person?! If the person, then need some light cast on the face to make the viewer understand that she is the main subject, otherwise I might want to license the photo to Toys'R'Us or the local toy store! I am guessing that pregnant Mom's belly and toys hint at the subject 'pregnancy', and 'Scarlett' is the pending name of the newborn when she arrives, so then we need some way to alert the viewer with greater emphasis to the pending bun in the oven! More dramatic lighting on the belly, with rest of mom less well lit, could draw eye to the belly, but then we wouldn't have 'high key' which is the point of white b/g and foreground. Maybe it is simply too many toys obscuring the belly, and/or a somewhat higher camera angle that would help.

Gray foreground wannabe white...light it separately, or position what you have to fall onto the foreground and feather onto the subject. It is all a matter of metering, or lots of shoot-and-chimp trial and error.

Always great advice from you Wilt, thanks. I could have her look more to her right to show more of her face as well, now that you help me think about it.

It's possible that this shot would look better as a horizontal instead of a vertical. There is a lot of "dead space" around the subject. Probably 1/2 of the image area is just background and foreground while the subject seems kinda far away.

Just something to think about next time...Try to come in closer on the subject next

Good luck with your shooting. You're doing a great job and just keep practicing....9 out of 10 people will love that picture so don't get discouraged if things aren't 100% perfect...most people are going to like it a lot

johndevane wrote in post #5789025
I'd like to get correct exposures without PP

+1000 on that...I wish everybody thought that way

Thanks for your comments V. I am still limited on the wide shots, waiting for a full size background. This was with a 4 foot wide sheet of tile board.