Interior shots using on-camera flash-revisited

[Digital]

I photographed some Senior citizens today. I used a on-camera flash in manual mode using f/8 as my aperture, My SS was set at 1/250 with an ISO of 200. Estimated distance from flash to subject was approximately 3 feet.
All of the pics the background was darkened to my liking.
I promised in an earlier thread that I would tell CiC of the results. Needless to say I am very pleased with the results.
To protect the privacy of my subjects, I will not post any actual pics on this post; however if I get permission from one or more to post their photos on CiC I will.



Bruce

[rpcrowe]

Bruce... I am happy to hear that you are satisfied with your endeavor...

I normally prefer bounced flash modified with a diffuser-reflector when I shoot people.

[Digital]

Bruce... I am happy to hear that you are satisfied with your endeavor...

I normally prefer bounced flash modified with a diffuser-reflector when I shoot people.

Richard, I have a Gary Fong Lightsphere that I frequently use. On this assignment I did not use it. The Lightsphere works pretty good if used properly.


Bruce

[Manfred M]

Bruce - Hopefully one of the people will give the okay to show their image; after all this, it would be nice to see exactly what you did.

[William W]

I photographed some Senior citizens today. . . I promised in an earlier thread that I would tell CiC of the results. Needless to say I am very pleased with the results. To protect the privacy of my subjects, I will not post any actual pics on this post; however if I get permission from one or more to post their photos on CiC I will.

Good work.

***

"Senior Citizens" generally love any press coverage they can get and usually like helping others, you'll be easily able to talk them into it.

Simply tell them the truth:

1. they will be assisting assisting a good cause: Learning.
2. the students are every nice people: CiC Members.

Previously . . .

WW

[IzzieK]

Although I understand your position, no shot-show is not good enough if there is nothing to accompany your post here of even a couple of them...I'd like to nit your shots and I am feeling frustrated now for not being able to do so...

[Digital]

Although I understand your position, no shot-show is not good enough if there is nothing to accompany your post here of even a couple of them...I'd like to nit your shots and I am feeling frustrated now for not being able to do so...

[William W]

How is the arm twisting progressing?

[Digital]

This by no means should be construed as a portrait. So any criticism of this photo will be ignored.
The purpose was to demonstrate the effect of the shutter speed on ambient light using on-camera flash. Notice part of the light fixture above the subject's head. The shutter speed was not fast enough to darken the light fixture. This pic was shot in a fairly lit room with windows. The windows (hence strong ambient light) are evident in this photo.
Bill, arm twisting of the subject was not needed.
Izzie, you are on.

Bruce

[William W]

This by no means should be construed as a portrait.

Of course it is a Portrait.

*

All of the pics the background was darkened to my liking.
> > >
The purpose was to demonstrate the effect of the shutter speed on ambient light using on-camera flash.

Yes. It appears to me that you achieved exactly as you expected, so the experiment proved the theory. Well done. Thanks for coming back with the results

*

. . . arm twisting of the subject was not needed.

Those 'senior citizens' are good value, good on him!

WW

[Digital]

Bill, thanks for the comments. You were kind to classify this pic as a portrait. If this is the case, it is by far a poor one.


Bruce

[William W]

... I think that we are using the term "Portrait" in two slightly differing meanings. I suspect that you use the word "Portrait" with an emphasis of meaning that it must contain some or more of many elements including but not limited to: formality, structure, preparation, artwork . . . and similar prescribed features.

A "Portrait" is the rendition of the likeness of a person. There are several sub-genres of Portrait Photography.

Although the main aim of this Photograph might have been an exercise in lighting and the technical aspect of exposure and camera functionality, it is nonetheless a "Portrait".

It captures much of the man and allows one's mind's eye to expand on the personality and story. He seems to me a man who would know how o drive a car with three pedals and a stick shift. He could be an extra (as a good guy) in a Clint Eastwood or Tommy Lee Jones Movie.

The style of Portraiture Photography exhibited in this Photograph is not unlike the resurgence of "Polaroid".

BTW - a technical note - On-camera Direct Flash // Dark Interior // Front on Head-shot: usually works better when there is no hat/cap on the Subject.

WW

[Digital]

William, thanks for the tip on the hat. A story behind this individual is that his feelings for this particular hat are very much part of his personality.


Bruce

[William W]

Attachment and ritual is common and does indeed form part of the personality: I like him better for the role in the movie now.

There's a bit of a work around, shoot Vertical Orientation and that puts the Flash to the side, not hitting downward on the cap's peak: depending upon the length of the peak of the hat/cap there's sort of a "best distance" which is around 6ft to alleviate the cap/hat shadow, but not to create other problems.

Another way is to shoot slightly upwards, that usually creates issues than it solves – nose’ shadows are usually terrible.

I've always found this small stuff very interesting. It's a good Portrait to dissect for small stuff.

It's very good, that you did not get "redeye": for Front on Flash the lighting on his eyes and cheek bones, is very good.

WW

[Digital]

William, I like to use a Gary Fong Lightsphere when I am shooting more formally. It works pretty well. Needless to say, I did not use the Lightsphere on this shot. This pic was a down, and dirty shot to determine if I could actually darken the ambient light by using a higher shutter speed.


Bruce

[IzzieK]

OK Bruce, here I am after that PM...For one, I am not a portrait person, yet....but I will get there...soon as I get good with this avian thing...so take my comments with a grain of salt or sand for that matter.

Your shot is a little bit too bright to my liking. It needs a bit of contrast to soften the look...the guy has character written all over this face. I like it but it is too straight on. If this is mine, I will clone out that guy behind him on the left side too. You should have moved with the guy behind a wall with lesser distraction instead. He has connection with your camera but I look for sharper eyes in a portrait with good catchlight, instead which here, is a bit dull?

Since you are the director of this show (photographer) you could have asked for a better pose, don't you think? Just my two cents.

[Digital]

Izzie, thank you so much for commenting. Your points are well taken.


Bruce

[rpcrowe]

Shooting with direct flash tends to flatten peoples faces. Bouncing with a reflector diffuser to direct some of the light into the face (avoiding "raccoon eyes") tends to give some form to the face and is the way I like to shoot. It is no more difficult than direct flash, yet the quality of the image IMO improves drastically...

[Digital]

Richard, thank you for commenting. For the purposes of this demonstration, I did not use a diffuser.



Bruce

[Manfred M]

Bruce - I've been sitting back and watching this discussion unfold. Let's take this back to basics.

When you shoot a flash image, there are three sources of light that can contribute light to your image:

1. Direct light from the flash;

2. Indirect light from the flash; either something you want, for instance bounce flash or something you might not want in your image, spilled light; and

3. Ambient light.

I believe you are trying to maximize direct flash and minimize both indirect and ambient light in this shot. There is still enough light coming into this room from other sources (windows and overhead lights(?)) that have not totally been overpowered by the flash. It seems to me, you might want to be shooting in a darker room.

Another issue is the amount of light drop-off. The closer your flash is to the subject the faster the fall off will be (inverse square law at work here). This is primarily what you are doing to get a darker background.

You definitely DO NOT want a light modifier on this as most of these try to throw light around the room to give you bounce light. This will light up the rest of the room. Some will throw a bit of light forward to put some fill light onto your subjected; but this will still be a "small" light source and will be fairly harsh, but when well controlled will handle harsh shadows that can come from some bounce situations. The bounced light will be nice and diffuse and generally quite pleasing.

Direct light from a camera mounted speedlight is harsh (small light source) and unflattering (flat and no shadow detail). Your shot demonstrates this quite well, but given what you are trying to do, it works.