Friday, July 10, 2009

The In-Laws

My in-laws have their 50Th wedding anniversary coming up and so they needed a photograph to commemorate the occasion. I used a Wescott Spiderlite softbox for a hair light, a Canon 430 strobe into a silver umbrella camera left for the key light and a Vivitar 285 flash through a shoot through umbrella camera right for fill. Comments? Suggestions?

Title: "The In-Laws"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 100-400mm L zoom
Shot data: 1/250s f/8.0 at 100.0mm iso100

8 comments:

Wayne Beck said...

I am not experienced taking portraits so my comments are limited. But you seem to have light on their faces that give them a pleasant appearance. I bet that they liked the image.

Larry J. Patrick said...

This is as good as most studio photos that I have seen.

Your lighting is very good. You have their faces properly exposed with just enough shadows to add a three dimensional aspect to the photo.

Since both of them are under the same lights, I think that the hot spots on his face are due to him not wearing any make-up. I think you can reduce the hot spots by using the clone tool in darken mode at a 10-20% opacity. That seems to work best for me.

Good portrait.

Cindi said...

Very nice portrait! I have tried to photograph my parents and have not been even close to this successful. Like Larry wrote, it is as good as a studio portait. Possibly the 3 lights you used is what has created the soft even lighting, but they also seem very relaxed with nice expressions. Good work! And could you come by El Lago on Sunday about 3 pm?

Larry said...

My comment would be to put tape on the floor where you had your lights positiioned, write down your camera and light settings, and then never change a thing. Great shot.

Anonymous said...

Your brother nailed it!! Take notes. I'm jealous!!

Barry Armer said...

Wow! Thanks everyone!

Patrick - I'll give your fix for the hot spots a go! Honestly I hadn't even noticed them prior to your comment even though I should have.

I'm posting a photo of the setup for this shot today.

Cheers!
Barry

Anonymous said...

Barry, awesome photo! I love it!
Doreen

Barry Armer said...

Thanks Doreen!

Glad you like it! I'll make sure and bring some extra prints to the party!

Cheers!
Barry