Splash of Flash

[chrisk]

sb800 thru DIY softbox




sb800 subject right with DIY grid
3xsbr-200 behind subject shot thru crystal glasses.



thanks for looking.

[gstark]

Chris,

Except for the selective colouration, the first one is superb.

I'd like to see better shadow degradation in the second; the falloff on the lh side of your wife's face is a tad harsh for my taste. I'm also not a great fan of the landscape orientation for a portrait shot: I think it works well when you have, say, a contextual background that justifies its use; I'm not convinced it works in this instance.

Can you milk a little shadow detail from the rh side of the third image? I do like what you've done here; perhaps a reflector to camera right to just throw a little more light on the subject?

[Alpha_7]

Great strobist work mate, especially with your DIY style modifers (any chance we'll get a post about them with some pics?).
I really like the first, possibly doesn't need the selective colour, but I'm a tad biased against it (the colour that is). Was this a self portrait, or did someone else take the shot, as you've nailed the focus, which isn't easy either way.

#2 love the use of the crystal glasses, and the warm from them were they using CTO's on your SB200s ? I'd suggest maybe some white card on your wife's left just to fill that side of your face, I think Gary mentioned it too, the shadow drop off is little heavy

#4 Great bokeh - I assume this one is opened wider then the last, unless you've played with subject/camera/background distances. I'd also think some little bit of fill might help on LHS of Mack.

Great to see what your delivering, always inspiring so see some local strobists in action.

[chrisk]

Chris,

Except for the selective colouration, the first one is superb.

here is the shot without selective colouring. personally i prefer the colourised shot but i can understand that selective colouring is not to everyones liking.



for whatever reason, smugmug's compression is terrible and the shots have lost the razor sharp edge that i loved. the flickr version, (particularly of the first), is far better.

I'd like to see better shadow degradation in the second; the falloff on the lh side of your wife's face is a tad harsh for my taste. I'm also not a great fan of the landscape orientation for a portrait shot: I think it works well when you have, say, a contextual background that justifies its use; I'm not convinced it works in this instance.

agreed on both counts. the sunset was so gorgeous and i only had a minute or so to get this shot. i love the way the sunset and the key light works here but my framing is awful and i didnt take enuf time to work on a bit of fill. as you and alpha pointed out, the shot certainly shows the design issues with the softbox. the light falloff is steep as hell, i will have to make some modifications to the design. perhaps some double diffusion or another diffusion material. will work on that this weekend.

Can you milk a little shadow detail from the rh side of the third image? I do like what you've done here; perhaps a reflector to camera right to just throw a little more light on the subject?

interesting. i have quite a few frames where i did just that with a white card and i didnt like them initially. i may have to revisit and post them up.

Was this a self portrait, or did someone else take the shot, as you've nailed the focus, which isn't easy either way.

tis a selfie. took me about 20 frames to get the focus point right. annoying as hell actually i almost gave up.

love the use of the crystal glasses, and the warm from them were they using CTO's on your SB200s ?

2x cto, 1x red.

Great bokeh - I assume this one is opened wider then the last, unless you've played with subject/camera/background distances.

yepp, you nailed it, i moved the glasses well back to get that nice rounded bokeh.

thanks for the valuable feedback guys, much appreciated. will work on that softbox today.

[colin_12]

will work on that softbox today.

Excellent, it is always great to see how others do these things.

[gstark]

but i can understand that selective colouring is not to everyones liking.

That would appear to be a part of the issue, methinks.

I do prefer the second version.

Can you milk a little shadow detail from the rh side of the third image? I do like what you've done here; perhaps a reflector to camera right to just throw a little more light on the subject?

interesting. i have quite a few frames where i did just that with a white card and i didnt like them initially. i may have to revisit and post them up.

Please do. I'd like to see how they compare.

[chrisk]

unfortunately i was a little too quick on the delete key and they're all gone bar one. different framing but it does have the additional lighting at the rear, (just a white card bouncing some light back), illuminating the trailer. btw: the original Mack has no trailer...but this should give you an indication of the feel of the image with some light bounced back in.

[gstark]

Thanx Chris.

I don't think that the composition is quite as good, and the focus point is different as well - compare the grille between the two versions - but I do prefer the lighting setup for this one.

I think we have more interest in this image as the DoF drops off nicely towards the rear of the vehicle.

Call up Mr Avis and re-rent the truck for a reshoot.

[Reschsmooth]

Perhaps that the truck in the second version is a little more awake, but I prefer the lighting in that one. However, the additional lighting is not competing with the OOF background and makes the whole thing a little too busy. Perhaps it is a compositional issue rather than a lighting issue, but the first truck version seemed a little more balanced. Also, as Gary highlighted, the OOF grill detracts a little.

That all said, the OOF lighting is fantastic.

I also prefer the pure B&W self portrait.

[aim54x]

Very nice work there Rooz. I love the selfie, both versions have their unique appeal; the BW for the classic look and feel and the selective colour provides a very strong point of interest, drawing attention to the detail captured in the eye.

The Mack is nice....shadows (I wont bother repeating)

Love you work, keep it coming!

[zafra52]

I like the first one with colouring and without both equally. It all depends on the message you are sending, I guess.

[stubbsy]

I think #1 is an awesome image regardless of the colouring. It's razor sharp, well lit and has a lovely glossyness to the eye. My preference is for the colourised version which is odd since that's not something I'm a big fan of usually.

[Frankenstein]

I really like the first image, with the colour. I think the lighting is great and the mixture of shadows and the colour in the eye works quite well. Also, the sharpness of the eye and eyelashes is great.

Frank