good friend of mine..i just told her i was gonna come over to shoot some pics.
ive never taken pics of/with her before so it was def out of the ordinary. i was struggling badly to get what i was looking for..this isnt what id hoped for but im happy enough to post this and take any C&C.

vivitar thru umbrella behind her left side (camera right) and 430exII on camera with honl snoot as reflector forward. triggered with PW flex and mini.
also this was my first time using my umbrella AND reflector since i bought them.


straight out of cam- LR2 for contrast color and clarity etc - smoothing and resizing on CS3

 

This is a good start. Still looks a bit underexposed, but the processing/smoothing works. It also looks like you could have had the camera or the flash a bit higher - it looks like most of the light is on her neck/arm rather than on her face.

Keep shooting and posting.

 

thanks for the input! yea i was struggling bad to get the right lighting, even when i was just using the umbrella with the 430II ettl...i wasnt happy no matter which way i would do it,but i made due with what i could

 

one more post edit. full size pics on my flickr
www.flickr.com/photos/deltaboxxx
before
after

 

i regret cropping the little bit of the bottom that i did,it completely changed the whole pic,but i didnt realize it till i was finished editing it completely and didnt want to go back.

 

Damnit. I lost the post I was typing.

Cliffs:
1. Lighting is better in this image.
2. Move hair/back light further back.
3. Fix hair.
4. Do not press arms against body.
5. Relax shoulders.
6. She reminds me of a girl I dated long ago.

 

haha it was like 35-40 degrees outside she was freezing,i knew it was prob hopeless to get a more relaxed pose lol. i was moving the hair light back and fourth trying to figure it out,since it was my first time doing it..and i couldnt decided if i liked the hair like that or like you said "fixed" (more front and back rather than spread on the shoulder like it is).

thanks for the input again !

 

That's pretty cold to be shooting like this. Why outside? And aren't you in San Diego? It's not supposed to get that cold there.

 

her whole house had neutral color walls,no white or colors..i was having a hard time with it...and naw i live in 29 palms now..hi desert...it gets pretty cold up here

 

heres one more i just finished up..i know i could have had a bit better lighting on the camera left via reflector or something,but it didnt end up that way...either way im pleased with this shot for what it was.

 

before pic is POST LR2

 

i changed the exposure on LR2 to +1.0 for this pic,and edited the eyes a bit
opinions on version?

 

Last edit looks good. Your skin processing is really nice. What methods are you using for the smoothing and freckles?

 

pp really makes a huge difference than original. Shots are coming along great

 

Last one looks much better. Exposure is much better. Although, the snoot looks like it was aimed a bit too high. If this was your first time using your lighting modifiers, then not bad for your first time out. Here's just a suggestion to try out since you are new to modifiers. Try this and see how it turns out.

1. Umbrella above and to camera left about 3-4 feet. Catch lights should hit around the 10 o'clock range in the eyes.

2. Reflector right next to the face on camera right. Just outside of camera view. This will bounce light back to the shadow areas the umbrella will create.

See how that works out. You can practice background separation later. If you adjust your power correctly, you should get an excellent portrait.

Post results. Doesn't have to be the same subject/model.

 

thanks guys! i mostly just use the clone and healing brushes...lasso tools and magic wand sometimes...and thanks conrad for the suggestions,ill def try them out. i need to just get a regular reflector,one of the pieces ive been missing since ive been accumulating my lighting stuffs.