First time really playing with the new Rebel XTi... shot in RAW

What can I do better in these portrait shots both in actually capturing the image and in post processing.

Some of my favorites from the girl's Christmas party over the weekend:

 

Were you shooting in maual or auto? Seems like the background is blurred in most of the pics, not sure if that was intentional or not.

 

looks like you dont have enough fill light. im guessing all these were taken with the onboard flash?

 

Looks pretty good for a start.

I'm no good with portrait shots I haven't had the time to experiment any

 

Taken using the Canon 430EX Speedlite angled at 45 degrees with a Omni-Bounce white diffuser.

 

you dont really want to be using a diffuser angled at the ceiling if its too far/high. maybe that explains why you have some shots that dont seem to have enough fill light.

most add-on diffusers cut 1/2 to 1 full stop of light, so when using them, I suggest cranking up the FEC by at least 1 stop and/or increasing the ISO to about 200. they work well when the surface you are bouncing off of are in close proximity or have a very high reflective surface (i.e. white walls). otherwise, the diffuser will just waste your fill light and spread it everywhere and not hit your intended target.

 

I was shooting in apeture priority... anywhere from f/1.8 to f/2.8

 

The ceiling was only 8-9' tall so I assumed it was low enough to bounce.

I shot at ISO 400... seemed to give the best results.

I didn't adjust much of the flash though. I guess I need to compensate for the diffuser. Thanks for the tip.

 

Check your focus on a lot of them, they look a little soft.

They also need to be white balanced.

I'd say these were more candids then anything in need of real critique as far as anything else goes.. Just keep practicing, and posting. Not a bad start.

 

I agree with some of the critiques here. A tad more flash and better white balance would help. Not sure what lens you're using, but it's probably not that sharp at 1.8.

Overall though, I'd say you did a pretty good job. Composition is good and you captured the moment.

 

thats too far. ideally (from experience) it should be no more than four feet maximum, and thats using a bare flash head (no diffuser). when you bounce without a diffuser, you effectively lose about a 1/3 of a stop of light (depending on ISO). cap the flash head with a diffuser, and you increase that stop considerably.

for the 430, its realtively simple to add a stop of compensation when needed. just make it a point to add at least a stop of light before you start shooting if you put a diffuser on your flash. my rule of thumb generally is add a full stop if i want to stay inside my working ISO (staying at 100) and add thirds if Im went up an ISO (100 and cranked to 200).

hope this helps. good luck!

 

Yeah now that I think about it the reason I was shooting at f/1.8 - f/2.8 was because I didn't think there was enough light with a smaller aperture. I guess if I cranked up the flash a bit it wouldn't be a problem.

I was shooting with the 50mm f/1.8 II.


I just realized that I set the flash to 50mm but since I'm on a cropped body I should have set it closer to 80mm thus why I wasn't getting enough juice from the flash.

Oh well... it's fun learning.

 

More like a 70mm

 

Ok...

 

cheap diffuser for pop up flash

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...40AT7ZG82ER1C8

 

I like chicks in raw format....

 

I don't use the pop-up flash

 

Photos look good, just under exposed. I would have tried just bouncing the flash directly upward. Give the aperture and ISO you were shooting at, it might have been enough. If the room is not too large, I try to light the entire room up.

A bounce card would have helped in this situation as well. It would have bounce light forward and from the ceiling.

 

You could have w/ this

 

^ Why would I want to use the underpowered pop-up flash when I have a 430 EX?

 

Since you shot in RAW, it should be easily enhanced in Photoshop.

 

Very easy.

 

I know nothing about photography but that first girl looks exactly like one of my friends, its creepy how much they look alike

 

When shooting as close to the subject as you were, a pop-up wouldn't be "underpowered", but just needs to to have the flash dispersed. It was just a suggestion

I like photo # 10 ( dancing?) it really captured the moment well

 

if the ceiling was low enough, i would've went with 90degrees and a white index card to push some light forward.

 

 

^^ He meant turn the flash upwards and bounce off the ceiling for a natural diffused look but tape/rubber band some index cards on the back of the flash to bounce some light forward and fill in the shadows around the eyes and under the nose.

 

 

yea exactly that, sorry.

doing that looks great

 

 

I'm really moved by this one. Great pictures Steve.

 

Nice pics. The first set, as mentioned, the women are all underexposed - i.e. they should be exposing more skin.

Second set has some great "feel." The patterns created by the spacing (similar with orchards) always amazes me. Just keep an eye on your horizon.

 

Still trying to figure out how to use the flash properly.

 

Steve, pick up some gels to color match your flash to the lighting in your room. A CTO orange gel will let you balance your flash to tungsten light, and CTO green helps with fluorescents.

They typically come in 8.5"x11" sheets which you can cut down to fit your flash. I just put a little velcro on my flash and some on the gels, so I can quickly add or remove them as needed (just like this: http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03...o-correct.html)

 

Thanks for the tip!

 

Does a White Stofen OmniBounce accomplish the same results?

 

i have one of those for my 430ex and from my experience, not really.

 

The pics above were taken using one on a 430EX

 

care to share what you did differently between the 1st set and the 2nd set?

 

Adjusted the settings on the flash.

Previously the zoom was set to 50mm. This time I left it alone. But I stepped up the power to 2/3