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going for an 80s style portrait. bright whites and neon. self portrait btw.

Hi James, not a bad SP. A few suggestions for next time though.

1. I know you want to achieve bright whites but they appear TOO bright in parts, particularly under the LEFT (your own left) side under the rim of the cap.

2. There's a few harsh-ish shadows near your left first, under your left eye, rim of the top of your t-shirt and generally the bottom right (as you look at it) the image. Care to share your lighting setup so we can see how u could improve for next time?

3. I think there's too much dead space in the top of the image, a tighter crop from above and right could help.

4. Glad you clarified you were after an 80's type look, I was just about call the fashion police

thanks geoff.

appriciate crit as this type of stuff isnt my kettle of fish.

one light to extreme right (3 oclock), hitting wall. one light to left about 7 o'clock

i kind of wanted to have some really hot light (it just really reminds me of new kids on the block) but if you think thats too hot, i can see why.

and yeah the shadows are harsh i needed diffused light i guess!

James, apart from what Geoff has said, the light on camera right (your left) has meant that your t-shirt has lost definition and blends into the background. Also, the light fall-off at the bottom is probably a bit too much?

Maybe try 1 light to your right at 45 degrees and the other light more directly onto the wall. You could even try some reflected fill light at your left? As you have a few lights, you could even try a rim light (strobe directly behind your head)?

thks guys,

i'd really like to buy one of those portrait lighting kits sometime so i can get my head around this stuff.

Missing a pair of big Corey Worthington-style sunglasses.

I don't like how the background light sorta misses the lower right 5%. May if you cropped it off above the point so the background is fully lit?! (but then it'll cop off your arms)