Mother and Daughter

[Alex]

Something I shot this afternoon for fun.



Thanks for looking

Alex

[surenj]

I like it. shows the connection between the two well. Light could be softer? What light did u use?

[Alex]

Thanks Surenj,

I deliberately used hard light sources to somewhat outline the difference in skin texture.

Cheers
Alex

[surenj]

How were the lights positioned?

[Alex]

Two lights:

- Almost on-axis main light with a snoot
- Separation (hair light) at 90 deg. to the main light from above.

Cheers
Alex

[surenj]

Thanks Alex,
I never knew how to light this type of picture. I would like to hear others' opinions about the hard light used in these.

[Alex]

I never knew how to light this type of picture.

Neither do I -

[Reschsmooth]

It's a great image - the pose and eye contact is excellent.

For me, however, the hard lighting doesn't seem to complement the image, in particularly, the child's left hand, which is the brightest subject of the image.

I wonder if a larger, softer main light, off-camera axis may have worked better? I appreciate this may counter the look you were aiming for, in which case, you can ignore my comments.

The child and mother's faces are slightly off-centre to each other (the child appears slightly away from the camera, relative to her mother's face) - if you moved the child over towards the camera a little, and then placed a large light source (brollie/soft box) above the mother's left shoulder and towards the camera, pointing down at the child and mother's faces, you may get softer light. You can then position your hair/key-light as you wish.

Just a thought - I often struggle lighting a couple who are facing each other.

[Alex]

Thanks for the very useful comments, Patrick,

I agree with you about the hand - it is too bright.
One of the reasons why I used the hard light here was to see more of the skin texture and thus the difference between that of the mother and daughter.

The other reason was to avoid light spill which results from relatively large light sources such as softboxes or umbrellas. This can also be avoided by using a telephoto lens also - I might try it next time as I want to repeat this shoot.

I had a couple of more from this session, with the same lighting set up and might post them tonight.

Cheers

Alex

[Matt. K]

This picture has some wonderful elements despite a few minor technical hitches. The image has a wonderful feeling of intimacy and I can feel the bond between the mother and child. I think picture content will always win over technical excellence and your image is an example of this. Nice work! PS...Try similar images using natural window light on 1 side and a white sheet of cardboard or foam as a reflector on the other side. This simple lighting will enhance images such as the above.

[Alex]

Thanks so much for the comments, Matt.
I will experiment more with the lighting set up shortly, using the same theme. For now I imbedded two more from this session, but I still prefer the first one.




Cheers

Alex

[surenj]

The child and mother's faces are slightly off-centre to each other (the child appears slightly away from the camera, relative to her mother's face) - if you moved the child over towards the camera a little, and then placed a large light source (brollie/soft box) above the mother's left shoulder and towards the camera, pointing down at the child and mother's faces, you may get softer light. You can then position your hair/key-light as you wish.

Hey Patrick,

I don't quite understand. Are you suggesting this?

[zafra52]

I like the picture because you captured the beautiful relationship between mother and daughter. I don't lime as much the last one, sepia?

[Reschsmooth]

Surenj, something like that - however, the "fill" would be the main and the "key" would be a hairlight behind the subjects. I would also move the child closer to the camera, slightly.

[Alex]

I like the picture because you captured the beautiful relationship between mother and daughter. I don't lime as much the last one, sepia?

Thanks Zafra,

The last one is not quite sepia but a result of layer bleding. I agree it does not really work here.
Cheers
Alex

[surenj]

Surenj, something like that - however, the "fill" would be the main and the "key" would be a hairlight behind the subjects. I would also move the child closer to the camera, slightly.

Patrick I need a tutorial from you at the portrait workshop. [I am hoping for one in the near future]


Alex, like yourself, I still like the first one better. AS it's being said, the technical side goes out of the window with this sort of emotional portrait.

[Reschsmooth]

Patrick I need a tutorial from you at the portrait workshop. [I am hoping for one in the near future]

I am not sure I am the person to run tutorials on lighting!