Steven Gotz Loc: San Lorenzo CA

I saw light coming in through a doorway into a large, rather cavernous room that was barely lit. It is the kind of room where when you walk in from the daylight you have to pause a moment for your eyes to adjust to the dark.

So I put my friend in the light, which left the wall behind him at least 25 feet away. And it is dark marble. I used a fairly small aperture (for that lens) at f/5.8, used a 95mm setting (cropped sensor so more like 190mm on a full frame camera) and set the ISO at 800.

The sun streamed in from his right (camera left).

My wife held up a 5 in 1 reflector using the mixed gold/silver side over on his left side (camera right).

So, just the sun and a single 48" reflector.

I didn't have to do anything in Photoshop to the background since it was totally black in camera, but I did clean up a few places on his face and I cleaned up a few stray hairs.

Being relatively new at photography, I am having trouble judging the lighting on this one. I like that it isn't flat, and yet fairly even with a few shadows, but it would be useful to hear from others what you folks think about it.

My instincts always create lighting that is too even. Did I go too far with the shadows, or just about right? Or still not enough shadows?

Oh, and I doubt this would be a good way to pose a woman, but for a mature male it seems pretty good to me. How about you?

Thanks in advance for any comments, good, bad, or otherwise.

Cibafan Loc: Virginia

I think it just right.

LLucas Loc: Upstate South Carolina, USA

I like it a lot, too. I think the lighting is very nice.

dljen Loc: Central PA

I like it a lot. You did a great job.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Nicely done - good background.

Rick36203 Loc: Northeast Alabama

The highlights in the silver-white hair from the reflector side of the image are a bit intense, and they tend to pull my focus to that area. Other than that, good job. :thumbup:

RichardQ Loc: Colorado

The lighting, posing and exposure are fine. But I think it's better to use a vertical format for a portrait like this. My suggestion would be to take alternate shots in vertical and horizontal format so they can be compared. Just a suggestion. As an observation, I think photographers should consider turning their cameras on the side for verticals more frequently than they do.

gonate Loc: sacramento,calif

I agree with you Richard, (Vertical ) would change to photo, and make it better.

Cibafan Loc: Virginia

I do not know what camera you used but if the image is large enough direct from the camera you could just crop it, if you wanted it to be vertical. You placed him so that he is turned and looking correctly for cropping to a vertical format. Nice image.

Heirloom Tomato Loc: Oregon

I like the dark background, the color and focus, and most of the lighting. Their is a dark shadow on the right side of his head, and then a very bright area highlighting his white hair. I think it would be better to have that shadowed area be lighter, and the highlight area not be so bright. Other than that..... it looks very good. You could crop a bit off his right shoulder area and make a vertical if you want to change it.

Don L G

Looks good to me, but war is female model when you need one....
:thumbup: :thumbup:

Franku Loc: Wallingford, PA and Parrish, Fl

I think your photo is great!
I have been playing around with self-portraits when I have the opportunity and I have noted your technique for taking the photo. I will be trying it.
Thanks for the info regarding the method you used.
Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

Kingmapix Loc: Mesa, Arizona

This is when it is nice to have a willing assistance in your photo taking.
I think that I will get a reflector for my wife to handle during some on my natural light shots. Doing photography together is healthy to a marriage.

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

My only comment would be that it is very common for people to go immediately to the silver or gold (shiny) surface on your reflectors when the white side will generally do the trick. For natural light, you did a great job. Many times when people do "natural light" its just a snapshot that was done outside. You put thought into this, and it shows. Great job, and keep shooting.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

Very nice!