New college Photographer in New Jersey

[justneuro]

Hey Everybody!!!

My friend http://www.pbase.com/htsung -- just introduced me to pbase this site is awesome. I just bought my first digital camera and I have had it for 3 weeks.

I am a fine arts student at a University in central Jersey that does not have a photography department. After buying a fujifilm S7000 digital camera I am hooked on pursing art photography. I want my senior thesis in fine arts to be an instalation of three walls multi media , photography, video, panting, sound and internet art. But photography is my major passion right now.

Can someone give me advice on how to improve the lighting on my shots to exaggerate the essential and leave the obvious vague. I want the portraits to catch the light in the eyes and on the features of the nose and lips and mouth. I uploaded my first photos in my gallery --please critique.


respectfully,

Justin

[stevenoz]

I am a bit inexperienced with lighting, but I will give it a go.

Image http://www.pbase.com/image/26540254 has a over exposed look around the subjects mid face and is missing contrast to highlight the facial features. You can get hand held light diffusers and deflectors fairly cheap that will help avoid those over exposed looking areas. Your white balance settings look good, you just need to experiment with your lighting techniques to get the look right. I do most of my shots outdoors so it is easier to get a natural l look. As in image http://www.pbase.com/image/26540258Try to use a bit more natural back drops/surroundings, outdoor scenes or natural indoor settings, something to ad some contrast between the subject and background. Your subject with dark hair has a tendency to blend in with the background too much for my taste.

I am by no means an expert, but just had a few ideas.

Good luck and have fun with your new hobby

Steve