Girl with harmonica

[Rob Ekins]

Hand held YN560iii with 603 triggers. Strobe bounced into wall/ceiling joint behind me CL.

C&C Welcomed.

[FootLoose]

Ooh! Wow!

Rob, I know nothing about studio work and lighting but I think this really great. Such clarity and depth of field... The light and the black background and negative space remind me of the Dutch masters.

Assuming this is a posed portrait, I have to say what an inspired moment to give the little girl a harp to play with. She seems to be absorbed by activity which makes it all completely natural. I love it!

[IzzieK]

+1 to Greg's comment -- all of it especially the last paragraph. Plus I am biased because I love photographing children especially when they are not posed or playing "pretty"...

[gregj1763]

That is something special Rob, you have the lighting spot on, I love the highlights in her hair which brings out the detail and then it softens down over the left side of her face.
Very pretty, very natural

[Shadowman]

Very nice.

[bnnrcn]

Very nice portrait of a beautiful child

[Rob Ekins]

Thanks for the kind words folks.

A bit of BG on the image.

This was not a studio shoot, the original was captured in my lounge room...just me trying to create an interesting image of my gorgeous little Miss and push my post skills in a direction I have not explored before. I chased her around the lounge room on my knees, at her level, flash in one hand camera in the other for what seemed like an eternity, she just wanted to play chasing with Dadda! Then I spied her new favourite toy on the ground and pushed it in front of her to slow her down....bingo!

Post wise, my goal was to make a "Colour graded" image with complimentary colours, orange flesh tones with teal hair and BG ect and most importantly not over do the skin as is traditionally done with kiddies, try and embrace the flaws.

Greg(Footloose),
Your comment re the masters mean so much to me, I have spent an inordinate amount of time lately viewing the works of the masters.

Greg (gregj1763)
Cheers mate, I have attached the original SOOC shot to show how wrong I actually got it, I was a bit flustered at the time.

Izzie,
I too love photographing kids in their environment, Is there a "Environmental Portraiture" genre sub genre?


Original...

[Rob Ekins]

Binnur,
Thank you... She is gorgeous...

[DEAN01]

Great job, Robbie! Bouncing the flash into the corner gives a very natural lighting effect. +1 to Binnur's comment.

[FootLoose]

Thanks for the kind words folks.

Post wise, my goal was to make a "Colour graded" image with complimentary colours, orange flesh tones with teal hair and BG ect and most importantly not over do the skin as is traditionally done with kiddies, try and embrace the flaws.

Well done on the colour grading, Rob. That is something I have only learned about recently and, in my experience, it's not easy to get it right.

[Nat]

Nice job processing the image. It's really a very special shot...

[rpcrowe]

The image is nice OOC but, it is the PP that really makes it shine. Great job!

[Rob Ekins]

Thanks every one for the kind words.

[mugge]

Great shot. Your cropping is spot on
Cheers Ole

[Rob Ekins]

Great shot. Your cropping is spot on
Cheers Ole

Thanks Ole,

I did struggle with the crop. I really wanted that negative space and looked at other traditional crop ratios, but I also wanted an image that would be pleasing to view on a mobile device knowing that is how the rest of the family around the world would be viewing it.

[William W]

Excellent job chasing the shot and excellent Post Production.

I'll add you to my (very short) list of Portrait Photographers who carry a Flash in one hand and the Camera in the other.

Was it made with the EF 50 F/1.8 MkII used on an EOS 6D?

If so, as well as being a great shot, it is a wonderful practical example showing that Perspective is a function of Camera Viewpoint and not Focal Length of the Lens.

WW

[Rob Ekins]

Thanks Bill..

I love shooting with a hand held flash, I use the technique regularly, a skill I learned from doing interiors ie. turn a small hard light into a big soft one by bouncing it.

Yes, the shot was made with the 50mm f1.8 Mkii @F1.8 on the 6D. I would not normally go to f1.8 but as noted above I was a bit flustered. As a result I missed the focus (As you are no doubt aware) but I knew I could make it up in post with ISO100. The perceived DOF that people have commented on above is a result of sharpening layers with masks brushed in at differing opacities to get that effect. There are 18 layers in the final image.

Thanks again.
Robbie.

[Marie Hass]

Hello, Robbie,

It is good that you could see the potential of the original image then achieved your goal with PP. Excellent job.

I hope you will print this.

Marie

[William W]

Robbie,

. . . I love shooting with a hand held flash, I use the technique regularly, a skill I learned from doing interiors . . .

I worked with a (architectural) Bloke for a short time late 90’s, just helping him out. He did that too. I learned that particular 'two handed' - Flash in one Camera in the other - technique, chasing lots of Brides.

*

Yes, the shot was made with the 50mm f1.8 Mkii @F1.8 on the 6D. I would not normally go to f1.8 but as noted above I was a bit flustered. As a result I missed the focus (As you are no doubt aware) but I knew I could make it up in post with ISO100. . .The perceived DOF that people have commented on above is a result of sharpening layers with masks brushed in at differing opacities to get that effect. There are 18 layers in the final image.

Yes. That’s an astounding result at F/1.8 for that Lens.

Yes. I was almost 100% sure as to how the DoF was constructed and because of that I had an idea that you missed the focus fractionally. Those two elements were why I was so insistent about separating my original comments – A first Bravo on the shot: and a second Bravo on the Post Production.

I have already referenced this thread to two of my HSC Students: the fact that you posted the original full frame crop and also have confirmed the lens that was used is a great assistance to show these two girls what can be achieved: firstly, by relentlessly going after a shot like a dog after a bone and then, secondly, making the most of the file that you nail, even though the file was not perfect. Also it shows them how they should think outside the nine dots, for example you saw the background that you wanted and also the framing/composition that you wanted, but you had to make some slight compromises to get both.

This is a very excellent training thread, thank you for being so forthcoming and direct with the details describing how you got to your Final Image.

Thanks & regards,

Bill

[Rob Ekins]

Thanks again Bill.

I would be happy to share the PSD with your students if you think they would learn from it. Send me a PM if if you want me to do this. The file is 166MB so I would dropbox it and send a link that you could share.

Cheers.