Daylight + Flash Portrait

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

ISO 400, 1/200, f/2.8, 55mm

430EX on camera at -2 ETTL with a 1/2 CTO gel, bounced over my shoulder into a brick wall. Should have used a 1/4 CTO because I had to remove some orange from her face in post processing.

Went to this location specifically for the bricks, windows, and shutters that were available for backgrounds. I wasn't as satisfied with my shots as I would have liked, but this was one of my favorites.

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Happy New Years Mark. I think you have a very nice shot of a beautiful young girl. I love her colorful outfit, and like you, I love the shutters /vents and the brick wall, though I dont really like them at the same time. I think that one background or the other alone would have really helped set this photo off...Brad

I agree with Sittingshooter, it's a great background but with the amount of pattern in the clothing it's a little too much. Also, why use CTO gels? Was it really late in the day?

I agree with Brad and SoCalAl that both backgrounds are too much, but I DO like the window shutters and think that if you just used them the picture would be outstanding. With regard to the subject, I think it's a fantastic job. To me it's exposed just right, the colors really pop, her skin looks good and you have just the right amount of bokeh on the background so that it draws attention to the subject but you can still tell what the background is.

How does this look? I just cropped the photo...

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I have to agree with to many patterns. But to me, also the placement of her is bad. She should be a bit one way or the other as the one part of the shutter comes out of her head. Keep an eye out for things like that. They may be little things but they can have a big impact on the final image. Also her arms are cut off. Frame her a bit lower so you don't trim off part of her arms. And the red thing at the bottom right takes attention away from her. Try to keep it out of the frame.

You may have to experiment with the gells. Bouncing the light off of a colored object will add colors to the light. So the light falling on the subject is not the same color as you think it is.

Other that that, I do have to say good job on knowing a location and trying to use it.

Prefer the edit as the bg now is more uniform and less busy. Would prefer her to be a little to the left/right of the central shutter post (coming from her head) as mentioned by Mark1. That said, your lighting is pretty good and you've got a nice image of a lovely young lady. Compositionally it could be improved, but technically you've got it down. Thanks for sharing