[Hacker]

I finally got a chance to set up the studio lights this morning and tried to shoot my kids, but boys being boys they didn't want to co-operate for too long.

This is James, I realise it's a the eyes are a bit OOF but apart from that I quite like it



Explaining the intricacies of Nintendo's Animal Crossing :



Harry, my 10 year old wannabe rocker who thinks that guitarists shouldn't smile:



But finally we got one:



And my personal favourite:



As always, C&C welcome.

[Hacker]

[Angela]

oops! Missed this one!

I'm loving the moody faced young guitarist, Hacker! What a star he is going to be!

My favourite is the first one though, gorgeous eyes!

[photojazz]

Nice, shots..I am a drummer, we are looking for a new guitarist!!!

[Sonsey]

You seem to be starting to get to grips with the lighting rig there mate, I'm certainly no expert but a little work on light placement to get the light a little more even (depending on what effect your trying to achive of course!) and some work on poseing and you'll be flying. I've heard that looking through catalogues to see how the various models pose can help a bit with the latter.

[Dave]

Good set of shots. Now have you thought how easy it will also be to drop in new backgrounds in PS, due to that lovely white background

[Hacker]

Originally Posted by Dave

Good set of shots. Now have you thought how easy it will also be to drop in new backgrounds in PS, due to that lovely white background

Ooooh, I hadn't even thought about that, what do you reckon the would be the best way to do it?

[Steve]

The lighting is very good for all these shots although in the second the shadows are just a touch to harsh. The first shot would be the clear winner for me (pose and lighting wise) however with portrait photography, it’s vital that when you can see the eyes they are totally in focus. As you have already said it is slightly off and as a straight studio type portrait this lets it down slightly. As a shot for the family album though it works brilliantly. You could also selectively sharpen the eyes to improve this slightly

Out of the other shots, the coloured guitarist is the strongest but I think it would benefit from the same black and white treatment that the last shot has had.

Overall a very good set of photos and I hope you take my comments/critique above in context.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by Hacker

Ooooh, I hadn't even thought about that, what do you reckon the would be the best way to do it?

Well basically you need to make a layer mask of the main subject & there are many ways of doing it, but this might prove a good starting point :- PS: Masking with Alpha Channels

Also consider adding a drop shadow to make it more reailistic.

Anyone advise best way ?