Don't hate me because I'm beautiful!

My mom wanted B&W portraits of all her boys. After the formals, I letmy hair down (so to speak) and started playing.

This was my first experiment with a home brew studio flash setup(described in image details). I set everything up, and my brotherpulled the trigger for me. The focus was set manually, and it appearsI backed up a few inches while posing, because the hair on my shoulderis sharper than my face. Other than that, what do you think? I'mtrying to learn a lot about flash usage and portraiture, so anysuggestions along that vein would be greatly appreciated.

Here's my setup, shot by another brother with his P&S camera:

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3481/4032321258_ba37e12e50.jpg

 

Very innovative...congrats. The light still seems too contrasty to me (the nature of reflector work lights). The position of the light makes a distracting catch light that is in your whites, not in the iris or pupil where regular catch lights usually are. The camera seems a little low (in my opinion). Perhaps your creative mind could come up with a homemade softbox (I have seen several online too) to soften the look. Mothers usually have a softening filter over their kids images anyway ....take it from a mom (>8...and yes, your hair is lovely, but I would tighten up the crop a bit.

Tiffany, thanks for your input. I never even noticed the catch light in my right eye (camera left), but you're right. The work light at camera left was there to provide some highlights on the dark side of the face. I probably should have moved it farther rearward so that it didn't reflect in the eyes. The camera was elevated to about chin level, which seemed reasonable for a head-and-shoulders shot. I've now got some remote flash triggers on order, so a soft box & light stand will soon follow.

 

I look forward to more posts...btw..love your "heading home"