# Self Portrait



## mwcfarms (Dec 2, 2010)

Well, I can't get my kids to sit still long enough to really play with my lighting set up. Trying to work on a family christmas card and been monkeying around with the backdrop light set up from Derrel. 

Anyways here's yours truly.







Couple of things that I noticed. The chair arm right side is showing and bugs me and it I think I should crop it but played a bunch and couldn't decide where.


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## Robin Usagani (Dec 2, 2010)

Nice.....  Try again farther from lights.


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## mwcfarms (Dec 2, 2010)

Schwettylens said:


> Nice.....  Try again farther from lights.



You talking xmas or strobe?


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## loosecanon (Dec 2, 2010)

Clone out the chair arm and the blue spot above it, also the white line coming off your left arm. Tone down the warmth a bit. Other than that a good shot of a beautiful model.


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## teajayyy (Dec 2, 2010)

Im sorry, i just joined, but i so far I have realized people are so picky.. The average person would never notice or care for the arm chair or anything else that will be mentioned..I know this is a place for professional talk / correcting others but if your ever doing a nice picture for someone, I don't think you should stress so bad about fixing it up (if you are). Because i doubt they'd notice a small thing like this


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## loosecanon (Dec 2, 2010)

In order to gain perfection one has to be picky.. the op mentioned the chair arm bugged her, so I was just pointing out some of the corrections I would make, that is the purpose of these forums (at least for me). I have an edit for her if she so desires, I usually edit a lot of the shots I see here for my own challenge that's how I practice.


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## Derrel (Dec 2, 2010)

You've got a great Christmas tree + minilight setup in the background, pretty much exactly replicating the setup we talked about. The strobe's position is very good in terms of how high it is; it's pretty flattering in terms of where it's placed, but bringing it around front a bit more might be just a tiny bit more-flattering and would give even-more flattering rendering on the face and bustline. The distance between you and the background looks good, but I'd like to see the lens focal length a bit longer, so that it would magnify (and I mean literally render larger) the size of the out of focus highlights in the background. Also, I wish your hands were in the pose, to complete it...maybe holding something "Christmas-like", like a Santa figuring, or a Jesus figurine, or even a nicely gift-wrapped, small present. To me the lack of the hands coming together is the missing element...the chair arm, and the blue light are minor quibbles...add the hands coming together and holding something, or even folded, and the pose will magically be completed. This photo is just "so close!" to being perfected! As it is, it's very nice, and better than most of this type. Self-photographed shots like this are often pretty difficult to do, but the raw materials are all there...sitter, mini-lights, tree, strobe, wardrobe,color balance,all look good.


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## GeorgieGirl (Dec 3, 2010)

You look great! Was this one light? If so can you tell me more about what you did with it? Thanks!


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## Edsport (Dec 3, 2010)

It looks perfect to me but if i was to be picky i would clone out the chair's arm and the white line on the opposite side is a bit distracting, i'd clone that also. You look great by the way, very nice...


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## Frequency (Dec 3, 2010)

I liked the image very much; the tiny lights in the back ground matches with the twinkle in your eyes. Smile never looks artificial. The golden line hair on the right side of image is confusing, because it gives a dual appearance there. If i look at this as the border of hair i feel it that way; but on closer look i see hair spread even more to right-side

So well done

Regards


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## Robin Usagani (Dec 3, 2010)

I meant be farther away from the lights in the background so the bokeh will blend more, or do what derrel was saying.  I love looking at bokeh on the of another especially different colors!


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## mwcfarms (Dec 3, 2010)

Schwettylens said:


> I meant be farther away from the lights in the background so the bokeh will blend more, or do what derrel was saying.  I love looking at bokeh on the of another especially different colors!



I was already about 8 to 10 feet away but had switched my 50mm out for my 35mm when I was messing around. Going to try again later today with Derrels suggestions. Thanks for all the feedback everyone. :hugs:


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## mwcfarms (Dec 3, 2010)

loosecanon said:


> In order to gain perfection one has to be picky.. the op mentioned the chair arm bugged her, so I was just pointing out some of the corrections I would make, that is the purpose of these forums (at least for me). I have an edit for her if she so desires, I usually edit a lot of the shots I see here for my own challenge that's how I practice.



You may always share edits of any of my stuff. I am hear to learn and grow also. Usually I am my own worst critic. I noticed the arm chair, the blue dot doesnt bother me so much. The WB is a bit warm but not sooooo much that I couldn't live with it. The chair arm is a bother and tonight will try and work on that. I did a fast clone last night but wasnt happen with the way it turned out.


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## mwcfarms (Dec 3, 2010)

GeorgieGirl said:


> You look great! Was this one light? If so can you tell me more about what you did with it? Thanks!



Thanks, yes I have an Alien Bee 400 Strobe with shoot through umbrella camera left probably close to 45degree.  Shot with my 35mm. 



Frequency said:


> I liked the image very much; the tiny lights in the back ground matches with the twinkle in your eyes. Smile never looks artificial. The golden line hair on the right side of image is confusing, because it gives a dual appearance there. If i look at this as the border of hair i feel it that way; but on closer look i see hair spread even more to right-side
> 
> So well done
> 
> Regards



I had to go back and see what golden line you were talking about, assuming you mean my hair and the way I part it?



erose86 said:


> Derrel said:
> 
> 
> > You've got a great Christmas tree + minilight setup in the background, pretty much exactly replicating the setup we talked about. The strobe's position is very good in terms of how high it is; it's pretty flattering in terms of where it's placed, but bringing it around front a bit more might be just a tiny bit more-flattering and would give even-more flattering rendering on the face and bustline. The distance between you and the background looks good, but I'd like to see the lens focal length a bit longer, so that it would magnify (and I mean literally render larger) the size of the out of focus highlights in the background. Also, I wish your hands were in the pose, to complete it...maybe holding something "Christmas-like", like a Santa figuring, or a Jesus figurine, or even a nicely gift-wrapped, small present. To me the lack of the hands coming together is the missing element...the chair arm, and the blue light are minor quibbles...add the hands coming together and holding something, or even folded, and the pose will magically be completed. This photo is just "so close!" to being perfected! As it is, it's very nice, and better than most of this type. Self-photographed shots like this are often pretty difficult to do, but the raw materials are all there...sitter, mini-lights, tree, strobe, wardrobe,color balance,all look good.
> ...



Awesome catch Emily thanks, it would bug me in the end also so thanks for pointing it out. 



Derrel said:


> You've got a great Christmas tree + minilight setup in the background, pretty much exactly replicating the setup we talked about. The strobe's position is very good in terms of how high it is; it's pretty flattering in terms of where it's placed, but bringing it around front a bit more might be just a tiny bit more-flattering and would give even-more flattering rendering on the face and bustline. The distance between you and the background looks good, but I'd like to see the lens focal length a bit longer, so that it would magnify (and I mean literally render larger) the size of the out of focus highlights in the background. Also, I wish your hands were in the pose, to complete it...maybe holding something "Christmas-like", like a Santa figuring, or a Jesus figurine, or even a nicely gift-wrapped, small present. To me the lack of the hands coming together is the missing element...the chair arm, and the blue light are minor quibbles...add the hands coming together and holding something, or even folded, and the pose will magically be completed. This photo is just "so close!" to being perfected! As it is, it's very nice, and better than most of this type. Self-photographed shots like this are often pretty difficult to do, but the raw materials are all there...sitter, mini-lights, tree, strobe, wardrobe,color balance,all look good.



Thanks Derrel, will try this again tonight. You think the WB was ok  then? Someone earlier had mentioned it was a tad warm and I questioned  that myself. 




teajayyy said:


> Im sorry, i just joined, but i so far I have realized people are so picky.. The average person would never notice or care for the arm chair or anything else that will be mentioned..I know this is a place for professional talk / correcting others but if your ever doing a nice picture for someone, I don't think you should stress so bad about fixing it up (if you are). Because i doubt they'd notice a small thing like this



Thanks, I know exactly what you mean but we all tend to be our own worst critics and your right my mom and husband both didnt pick up on the things that were pointed out here. 

And Emily look I have successfully tackled a multiquote. HAHA. :lmao:


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## Derrel (Dec 3, 2010)

Good job on the multi-quote post. The white balance looks warm...yes...but that's subjective. I think holiday shots look best when they are warmer than normal, or warmer than neutral.


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## kundalini (Dec 3, 2010)

Good to see something other than your feet.  I figured you to be a 'looker'.  

Nice SP.


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## Frequency (Dec 3, 2010)

I mean I could see you this way too

Even a small change in hair pattern can alter the appearance, i feel 

Regards 

See the difference in the hair spread on the right part of the image

1. Original







2. Altered


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## mwcfarms (Dec 3, 2010)

kundalini said:


> Good to see something other than your feet.  I figured you to be a 'looker'.
> 
> Nice SP.



Lol, but my feet are cute. Well at least I think so. And thanks. Now what is SP since I'm abbreviate illiterate can you please tell me what SP stands for even though its probably something simple and I'm going to slap my forehead once I see it. 



Frequency said:


> I mean I could see you this way too
> 
> Even a small change in hair pattern can alter the appearance, i feel
> 
> ...



Ah I see what you mean but I honestly had to look more than once to see what you did. Well 99.5 % of the time I have a ponytail in. Can't stand my hair in my face but can't stand to cut it. All I did before I took this was take it out of the tail. :blushing:


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## Edsport (Dec 3, 2010)

Blurred the background a bit...


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## kundalini (Dec 3, 2010)

mwcfarms said:


> Lol, but my feet are cute. Well at least I think so. And thanks. Now what is SP since I'm abbreviate illiterate can you please tell me what SP stands for even though its probably something simple and I'm going to slap my forehead once I see it.


 Yes, your feet are cute.... and I won't bore you with my foot fetish stories.  :mrgreen:

SP = self portrait


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## mwcfarms (Dec 3, 2010)

kundalini said:


> mwcfarms said:
> 
> 
> > Lol, but my feet are cute. Well at least I think so. And thanks. Now what is SP since I'm abbreviate illiterate can you please tell me what SP stands for even though its probably something simple and I'm going to slap my forehead once I see it.
> ...



LOL I wish you could see me slapping my forehead.


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## mwcfarms (Dec 4, 2010)

So ok this is the second attempt. And before anyone chimes in I know its soft lol. I had a really hard time focusing on where my eyes were going to be by myself. Other night I had my 4 year old stand on the chair and I focused on his shirt where my eyes were. Tried a make shift thing but didn't really work. 

Pose is different but everything I tried holding looked goofy and forced lol.


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## oldmacman (Dec 4, 2010)

mwcfarms said:


> So ok this is the second attempt. And before anyone chimes in I know its soft lol. I had a really hard time focusing on where my eyes were going to be by myself. Other night I had my 4 year old stand on the chair and I focused on his shirt where my eyes were. Tried a make shift thing but didn't really work.
> 
> Pose is different but everything I tried holding looked goofy and forced lol.



Bokeh and colour look great. It really is tough to get that focus when you are fighting really thin DOF. Sorry about chiming in on the softness... really just acknowledging how difficult it is.


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## mwcfarms (Dec 4, 2010)

oldmacman said:


> mwcfarms said:
> 
> 
> > So ok this is the second attempt. And before anyone chimes in I know its soft lol. I had a really hard time focusing on where my eyes were going to be by myself. Other night I had my 4 year old stand on the chair and I focused on his shirt where my eyes were. Tried a make shift thing but didn't really work.
> ...



Don't be sorry at all. I really like every else about it except that its so bloody soft.


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## oldmacman (Dec 4, 2010)

mwcfarms said:


> Don't be sorry at all. I really like every else about it except that its so bloody soft.



Is the picture a surprise for your husband? If not, couldn't you set up the shot and get him to focus for you?  Anyway, I tried to see if the focus could be brought back and it made you look a little cartoony. One thing I did notice, though, is that the light modifier is filling your pupils and they are fully dilated.


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## mwcfarms (Dec 4, 2010)

Nope he wasn't home. If I was giving my husband pictures as a present they wouldn't be this kind.  Always wanted to do a boudoir session but don't want to pay the ridiculous amount to get it done. 

I had on the large softbox this time as opposed to the umbrella I did last. Should I switch back. I want to do some portraits of my best friends kid for her for Christmas shots and am just practicing. My kids are 2 and 4 and 13 and the young ones won't sit still and the teenager is at her fathers.


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## Edsport (Dec 4, 2010)




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## oldmacman (Dec 4, 2010)

mwcfarms said:


> Nope he wasn't home. If I was giving my husband pictures as a present they wouldn't be this kind.  Always wanted to do a boudoir session but don't want to pay the ridiculous amount to get it done.
> 
> I had on the large softbox this time as opposed to the umbrella I did last. Should I switch back. I want to do some portraits of my best friends kid for her for Christmas shots and am just practicing. My kids are 2 and 4 and 13 and the young ones won't sit still and the teenager is at her fathers.



The lighting is whatever you are comfortable with. It looks like you have a nice exposure in this pic so I wouldn't switch. You might be able to adjust the angle so that you don't have to do pp. When you take the shots of your friend's kids, you'll be behind the camera and spot those details. I was just saying you can clone some of the pupil back (as in the edit). 

If you ever come through Ontario, I'd be wiling to help with your boudoir shots  How big is your husband in case he doesn't like them?


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## mwcfarms (Dec 4, 2010)

oldmacman said:


> mwcfarms said:
> 
> 
> > Nope he wasn't home. If I was giving my husband pictures as a present they wouldn't be this kind.  Always wanted to do a boudoir session but don't want to pay the ridiculous amount to get it done.
> ...



Haha um he's not that big. 6'2 - 215. He's just a farm boy you know. :greenpbl:  Lol, I used to come to Ontario every summer, St. Thomas area where abouts are you?


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## oldmacman (Dec 4, 2010)

mwcfarms said:


> Haha um he's not that big. 6'2 - 215. He's just a farm boy you know. :greenpbl:  Lol, I used to come to Ontario every summer, St. Thomas area where abouts are you?



Oh, good. I am safe then. *wipes forehead*  Hey, we are only an hour or so away in a small town north of Kitchener.


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## mwcfarms (Dec 5, 2010)

And very last one. I know Derrel this isn't what you were talking about but I did get it mostly in focus lol. I tried using my 18 to 105mm also but the bokeh just wasn't as nice as the 50mm. I can't wait till my kid gets home so I can practice on her.


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## oldmacman (Dec 5, 2010)

mwcfarms said:


> And very last one. I know Derrel this isn't what you were talking about but I did get it mostly in focus lol. I tried using my 18 to 105mm also but the bokeh just wasn't as nice as the 50mm. I can't wait till my kid gets home so I can practice on her.



Yeah, I like the bokeh in the last pic better as well. It seems to lighten up the background and be more festive. If you do a taller shot like this, maybe you could try dragging the shutter a bit to make the background a little lighter.

I don't know if you are looking for details because these are basically test shots for lighting, but the bit of tree skirt at gift height is a little distracting when everything else is you and the tree. The focus is pretty good in this one... nice job. You could easily bring more sharpness to the eyes with some PP. How did the test sots with your kids go?


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## Robin Usagani (Dec 5, 2010)

RRRRRR  so pretty  

Yeah, the 2nd one you did has really nice bokeh  I really think you need to stick with that one.  

Or try this.  This may work but I am not sure.  Put the camera on a tripod.  Turn off all the lights except the xmas lights.  Set up off camra flash.  Set your aperture wide open and ISO to the lowest setting.  Drag your shutter and change the flash power as you please.  By making the flash be the main light you will freeze the subject with your flash.  By dragging the shutter you can control the intensity of the bokeh.  I wouldnt go slower than 1 second.  Keep adjusting flash and shutter speed so you get the right ratio you want.  I assume your flash cant be too powerfull because it will affect the overal exposure because the room is small.


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## GeorgieGirl (Dec 5, 2010)

Ooohh, I really like this last one! I like the umbrella of the first and then this one. You are doing some really nice work. :thumbup:


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## mwcfarms (Dec 5, 2010)

oldmacman said:


> mwcfarms said:
> 
> 
> > And very last one. I know Derrel this isn't what you were talking about but I did get it mostly in focus lol. I tried using my 18 to 105mm also but the bokeh just wasn't as nice as the 50mm. I can't wait till my kid gets home so I can practice on her.
> ...



Haven't done them yet, kid is sick now so I'm going to try with my brood tonight. I'm confused about the tree skirt at gift height comment. Which shot were you referring to? The first one you can see it but it doesn't appear to be gift height. Focus was much better for this yes, I had help lol. 

I shot this to intentionally make the dark background. One can only have so many shots of herself and bokeh.



Schwettylens said:


> RRRRRR  so pretty
> 
> Yeah, the 2nd one you did has really nice bokeh  I really think you need to stick with that one.
> 
> Or try this.  This may work but I am not sure.  Put the camera on a tripod.  Turn off all the lights except the xmas lights.  Set up off camra flash.  Set your aperture wide open and ISO to the lowest setting.  Drag your shutter and change the flash power as you please.  By making the flash be the main light you will freeze the subject with your flash.  By dragging the shutter you can control the intensity of the bokeh.  I wouldnt go slower than 1 second.  Keep adjusting flash and shutter speed so you get the right ratio you want.  I assume your flash cant be too powerfull because it will affect the overal exposure because the room is small.



Since Im using an Alien Bee how would this work? Thanks for the compliment. 



GeorgieGirl said:


> Ooohh, I really like this last one! I like the umbrella of the first and then this one. You are doing some really nice work. :thumbup:



Thanks Georgie. Practicing with myself is hard, I need my teenager to come back so I can get it down.


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## Tbini87 (Dec 5, 2010)

I really like the setup for this shot mwc. Really brings out the warm feeling of Christmas time to me. Great job.


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## mwcfarms (Dec 5, 2010)

Tbini87 said:


> I really like the setup for this shot mwc. Really brings out the warm feeling of Christmas time to me. Great job.



Thanks Tbini87, its been fun to play with. Almost time to take it down though. Hubby is getting sick of the setup in our front room.


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