halli & tyler Halli

Halley is 3 & very active. She was not having a really great day.

 

I decided to use a new lighting set-up to allow her to have a large

area in which to roam & still get the high key image I was after. I

used two large soft-boxes, side by side on the camera's left set at a

45 degree angle to the area to be lit. They were positioned down to

her level, as close to the floor as I could get them on a stand. On

the camera's right, opposite the soft-boxes, I used two large white

reflectors fastened together like a book. (Approx. 60x60) I used 2

plain flashes in an X pattern on the white background. Both had barn

doors which I used to direct the light onto the background & away

from the subject.

 

I changed the image to a warm gray & white. Adjusted the levels &

curves & cropped. Sharpened for web image.

This is quite a touching image. She is very expressive! I love the way you captured that!

A superbly done portrait!

Hi Jayme. An absolutely gorgeous portrait. She looks like an angel. The lighting is awesome, the clarity is perfect, and the eyes are mesmerizing. Great work ... Ray.

Beautiful work!!Love the light and her eyes are amazing!!Regards

Very sweet, Jayme! You are doing very well with portraits and lighting.

Terrific work, Jayme! You are a master!

how far away from the background lights/background was she? Ilove this capture and amazing eye detail

Thanks to everyone for the wonderful comments:)

 

Sasha- She was approx. 4-5 feet from the backdrop most of the time. The back-lights are about 1 foot to either side of my 9 ft backdrop & about 7 ft high off the ground & approx. 1.5 feet in front of the backdrop aimed in an X pattern, crossing each other at about 4 feet off the ground. I think since the backdrop was white, it really made little difference how far from the backdrop she stayed as long as she didn't get into the back-lights. The closer she came to the main light I adjusted the f-stop to avoid extreme over exposure. I did want some over-exposure, it's a fine line between exactly the right over-exposure & way too over-exposed to do much with. At first, it was a trial & error process for me. I usually take 3 or 4 test shots & adjust the lights accordingly. Once you get the hang of it, it becomes fairly uneventful :)

 

This was the first time I used 2 large soft-boxes & 2 large white reflectors opposite them. Before this I used a main light at 45 degrees to the subject & a fill light at the opposite 45 degree angle with 2 back-lights. This new set up gave the subject a lot more room to roam. I liked that :) Kids love to roam!

 

 

Wonder Highkey...nice of you to include the details I wish more on PN would do that.

The shape to the nose isn't really sitting with me but I guess its probably the PN compression that is causing the weird effect..

She has a "strange" spot on her nose. I know exactly what you mean. I have corrected this for the print version. I appreciate it when you comment :)