An outdoor portrait of a friend of mine,

[Jgolden]

I was out shooting some images of the fall foilage when my friend asked me if i would take a picture of her, sure why not, I had my RB67 with me, this was shot with the rb67, 127mm C and Acros 100 B&W film, flash was a Nikon SB-800 (talk about combining something new with something old) this is my first post on photocamel, love the site

[dre4303]

Nice clarity of the subject and DOF with background blur. Perhaps a bit more fill light on the subject. The important question is did your friend like the image. If so then success all around.

[Jgolden]

yes she liked it, interesting about the fill light, i backed the flash down about a stop and a third, when i was researching fill flash, some folks said they power down 2 stops, seems a bit too much, i think next time when i have strong backlighting i will probably bring the background down a stop too. thanks for the feedback

[nldunne]

How would the image look with the flash as the main light and b/g and side light as fill? Just an idea.

[patterfr]

Overall it's a pleasing shot, but as far as critique. Norm's right. The eye goes to the cheek. Sunlight is good for rim light/backlight but gets difficult when it casts shadows on the face. Generally the eyes of a portrait ought to be the brightest spot on the face. Just something to work on/think about.

[Songman45]

Originally Posted by patterfr

Overall it's a pleasing shot, but as far as critique. Norm's right. The eye goes to the cheek. Sunlight is good for rim light/backlight but gets difficult when it casts shadows on the face. Generally the eyes of a portrait ought to be the brightest spot on the face. Just something to work on/think about.

I agree with Fran. Seems to me the flash is coming from pretty much the same direction as the prevailing light. Reducing the flash only reduced it's contribution to the exposure which was filling in some shadow most likely. So artistically, the fill didn't add anything. Functionally, when you reduced it you simply dimimished its role. Had you pumped it up two stops and exposed for the stopped down value, the surroundings would have been darker and the face would have probably lightenend up. You'd still have that harsh shadow at the neck.

Using the sun as a main light is seldom a good idea. It causes folks to squint, and it makes really tough shadows. Try turning your subject and letting the sun act as a kicker, hair or rim light. Then use a reflector or a modified flash to serve as a main.

There's two cents worth. I'll bill you.

Steve

[Jgolden]

thanks guys for all the great advice