My little guy

[aphotographynut]

This is my son Ronnie. The photo represents about 57 shots worth of effort with only THIS ONE being good enough to print (IMO). Other than cropping and a little sharpening, there was no other editing done. Lighting was a combination of indirect natural light from a window, and a light on a stand to the left (Reveal natural light brand from GE(?)).

C and C welcome.

PS: We adopted him from Korea, so his skin tone is different from the wife and I's..

[zero rc]

ronnie is lucky to have such a cool father, good for you for bringing him to the us! this is a very nice picture but i dont think the GE light goes well with the ambitent lighting comming in the window. might i sugest ditching the ge bulb and instead using a bounce card to reflect the window light. in this shot the main is the window and you seem to be using the GE as your fill/kicker. it seems like enough light is comming in through the window so all you would have to do is use a bounce card to add light to the shadow side of the face. the problem with the GE light, is that the color temp looks like its way off from the natural light. notice how half of his face has an orangy/red tint to it? the bounce card dosent have to be anything special, a white piece of bristol board or even aluminum foil stretched over cardboard wll do the trick. you can fix the orange glow in post, but its a hassel!! this is a very nice shot and your son is a very lucky guy!!

[Benji]

Zero RC beat me to the draw! A bounce card (I suggest a silver reflector) at camera left would have worked much better.

Even though the GE bulb is warmer than the natural daylight, you might want to try it as a hair light as his hair nearly blends in with the dark background. Warm hair looks better than warm skin especially if the warm skin also has cool skin going on at the same time!!! (You could also experiment with using it as a fill light above the camera. It will mix with the ambient outdoor light.)

The 45 degree angle of his body is EXCELLENT and even though his head is tipped to the feminine shoulder it works here because of his age. Lastly a black chair would work better here especially with the dark background and dark clothing. One of the rules of portraiture is that the prop(s) should be in the same key as the background and clothing. As it is the white chair tends to draw our eyes away from the face of your wonderful son.

Benji

[harryd]

Fine looking young man. I am glad you got expert advise before I got here, I like their suggestions much better than anything I could tell you.

[nldunne]

Ben

I have a sheet of dull side - gold reflector material - on a foot or so square cardboard for a reflector. I found this in a large sheet - and trimmed it down - at an art supply store. I also have dull side cooking foil on the other side.

How would the gold work here? It does give a very slight hint of a warm tint - nothing like this GE light though.

My thanks for the assistance - if I come across some room lighting like this.

Excellent image - here - just the same.

Norm D

[aphotographynut]

Thanks for all the advice. Like I said, I normally don' t post here (just don't take a lot of portraits) and flowers are a LOT more patient!! HA. I will try to put all the good advice to good use on the next "ordeal".

Andy

[Athena]

He's very cute Andy - how old is he?

[k9ofkaos]

Originally Posted by acigarnut

Thanks for all the advice. Like I said, I normally don' t post here (just don't take a lot of portraits) and flowers are a LOT more patient!! HA. I will try to put all the good advice to good use on the next "ordeal".

Andy

You should post here more often. Your son is adorable.

[aphotographynut]

Originally Posted by Athena

He's very cute Andy - how old is he?

Hi Athena:

Ron is 4 (5 in spring). We adopted him from Korea and were lucky enough to get him when he was less than 6 months old. Hard to believe we have had him 4 years already.....

On RARE occasions I get him to cooperate with pictures. I hope to get more (or of my two daughters) and post here.

[aphotographynut]

I almost forgot, I have a question on the whole "light/different light" thing....would a custom white balance have helped this situation? I just bought an Expodisk and was planning on trying it out on a difficult situtation like this. Is it worth the effort? (I didn't mind the cost, since the convenience factor seemed VERY high).