Technique to improve these shots ...

[alancheong7]

These are the usual when on assignment for our in-house mag - most are on Aperture priority, sometimes with built-in flash.
More specifically, including lighting, what can I or should I do to get better results, please?
1 lightstand or 2? Brollies? Remotes?
How do I balance the light? As you can see, some are shot against windows ...
Appreciate pointers and feedback.

[alancheong7]

Apologies for the non-rotation ....

[alancheong7]

seniors and ... young entrepreneur...

[alancheong7]

... dancer & market consultant ...

[alancheong7]

... academic, old war horse and banker ...

[alancheong7]

... bankers and arts ...

[alancheong7]

... arts and NGO ...
the varied but sometimes similar backgrounds are to show wot I'm usually up against.

[Crazymalaysian]

1. Bump ISO if possible
2. Get focusing correct (in some shots the main subjects are out of focus)
3. Get white balance correct (Some shots seem too cool)

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. :)

[ykgen]

no need so many lighting if u r just shooting portraits/mug shots.. unless u r shooting like FHM or Maxim cover girls.. haha

my advice is use a mounted flash.. bounce it or invest a lightsphere or throw in a reflector.. like cm said.. boost your iso a bit..

focusing is very important.. i noticed during my jobs.. many inexperienced photogs simple focus n shoot..

they shoot instead.. focus properly n wait until the subject raise their head instead of reading text or look at other direction..

[jayhan]

Alan, not many people get the chances to shoot these kinda people (I guess). However, from these pics you have posted up, I cant say I like them... well at least not most of them.

Among so many, the half body portrait of the banker dude in suit with red tie is the best I can see.

Apart from the list of shortfalls which have been noted to you by the others (which I agree, so I dont wanna go on that anymore), there are many minor details which you have forsaken. Bear in mind these details are really important in making up for a portrait shot. For an example - the splitted blue neck tie of the "academic, old war horse and banker " shot. It really depends on what you wanna achieve... these shots shows more of a candid rather than posed shots, so I can understand how you need to take snap shots rather than having that one perfect take.

Lighting wise, most of it seems ok. Nothing dramatic, as I guess you must have opted to play safe. However, whenever you feel you have bagged some safe shots of these people, always try request for some quick experimental shot. You'd be surprised what you can get at times.

Go on and shoot more, and I'm sure you will improve (dont we all? lol)

Cheers!

[hanuman]

... arts and NGO ...
the varied but sometimes similar backgrounds are to show wot I'm usually up against.

Small world, I went to uni with Yasmin's sister Orked in Fresno State.:D

[ckchowov]

Inconsistant. Some with green tints. Some not in focus. Some 'weird' composition. Some are very good.

[JackJack]

those are quite good already. if u want better lighting, get a flash gun.

other to improve, the focusing point

[galee]

:) Don't worry Alan, my pics are going to be worst than yours if I were to take it. Anyway, most have been pointed out by our fellow SA's here... :D

Keep up the good work~

[alancheong7]

Wow, great feedback, thanks guys! Really appreciate it.

CM, ykgen, Jay, Jack, galee, chow ... domo domo. These were shot before I bought the SB800, if not all, then most. And I didn't know how to play with EV, aperture and ISO then. And as noted, the WB was not consistent.
Thank you all very much.

galee, don't be so humble lar .... :D and thanks.

[noordin]

As casual portraits, they are OK. But your white balance seem to vary for the same person. That's the basic correction you have to do. If you had shot in RAW then you could have changed the WB to be consistent.

[astroboy]

Alan... as snapshots the portraits r fine. But if u wan to do more corporate/lifestyle shots.... then u need to approach the job with more pre-shoot planning and a good conceptual approach.

I know how some of these corporate bigwigs dun have time for hair/make-up and may even only give only 5 mins of their time. But u can work around this constraint. Find out more abt the personality. Are they more comfortable at home for eg? One of the guys in your photos... i know is a property guy. Why not have pose him against one of his flasghip i-Zen condos as a backdrop? I think his show unit is superb. U just need to ask him to sit down on the sofa. I think he will be more than happy to oblige.

1. I would place them against more interesting backdrops. Look around the office. Maybe outdoors? Play with depth of field after u find a nice backdrop.

2. Use props... an office plant perhaps. A window blind with light streaming thorugh.

3. Understand and use lighting to your advantage. Do u want to use fill flash? Do u want mood with just a touch of highlights? Do u want to play with colour gels?

I post some eg later. Okay... now u owe me tuition fees...hehe!

[astroboy]

Okay..lazy me just rip off some images frm my website... here is a CEO seated with all his certs (ie achievements) on the wall. I also used the wood colour of his big desk to throw back some warm lighting onto his face.

http://www.awarna.com/people_images/people_13.jpg

This guy is a lecturer...so I looked around his office and found they have their own inhouse library. So i placed him there n shot at a low angle for a more interesting perspective.

http://www.awarna.com/people_images/people_15.jpg

A classic projectorlight-on-face shot. This one not easy. The light must be very weak... just strong enuff to light up the details on his suit but not kill the projector light.

http://www.awarna.com/people_images/people_18.jpg

This is what i mean by using existing props. I found a frosted glass panel after looking around his office, so i switched off the office lights. Placed the plant behind the glass panel and light it from behind the glass... giving the soft light-shadow effect.

Then i used fill-light to light up his face.

http://www.awarna.com/people_images/people_16.jpg

If u can find an interesting outdoor, u can use depth-of-field and a long lens to blur out the b/ground with nice bokeh. I used a SB800 w/umbrella to light up the model's face.

http://www.awarna.com/people_images/people_12.jpg

[qqmeng]

astroboy... hts one good tutorial! kudos !

[alancheong7]

Unc Noordin, Pete,
Muchas gracias. Thanks very much. Lovely pix there, Pete. Especially the office guy in the chair, the fill light on the man with arms folded and plant behind glass, and the lecturer looks so evenly lighted.

Just wot i need to strive more ...

[ivanchong]

Okay..lazy me just rip off some images frm my website... here is a CEO seated with all his certs (ie achievements) on the wall. I also used the wood colour of his big desk to throw back some warm lighting onto his face.

http://www.awarna.com/people_images/people_13.jpg

This guy is a lecturer...so I looked around his office and found they have their own inhouse library. So i placed him there n shot at a low angle for a more interesting perspective.

http://www.awarna.com/people_images/people_15.jpg

A classic projectorlight-on-face shot. This one not easy. The light must be very weak... just strong enuff to light up the details on his suit but not kill the projector light.

http://www.awarna.com/people_images/people_18.jpg

This is what i mean by using existing props. I found a frosted glass panel after looking around his office, so i switched off the office lights. Placed the plant behind the glass panel and light it from behind the glass... giving the soft light-shadow effect.

Then i used fill-light to light up his face.

http://www.awarna.com/people_images/people_16.jpg

If u can find an interesting outdoor, u can use depth-of-field and a long lens to blur out the b/ground with nice bokeh. I used a SB800 w/umbrella to light up the model's face.

http://www.awarna.com/people_images/people_12.jpg

This is really a short and straight forward tutorial! Bookmarked :)

[wasabi]

alan, some photo frighten me... :P

[johan2]

I just found some info on how to improve hand held low light shots or shooting when not using flash, and how to steady our cam when shooting.
http://www.forphotography.com/how-tos/long_exposure.shtml
I hope you all find it useful. I sure did.
(Basic info but a very good place to start.)