Lisa

Strax · 17 Apr 2007 at 13:33

A couple of pictures from last weeks shoot..

I'm slowly getting to grips with using these lights along with my new backdrops

C+C welcome

ChroniC · 17 Apr 2007 at 20:39

The first is excellent, it very hard to get a perfect black and a well lit subject, is there any photoshop work done to tidy that?
The second is good but i feel for me a little overexposed.

Good effort though, care to share your set up?

FranchiseJuan · 17 Apr 2007 at 22:00

Both you and your main light need to be lower. What focal length are you using? I think you might need a slightly longer lens for this particular person.

What is the purpose of these pics? I don't want to make any more specific comments until you answer this.

Strax · 17 Apr 2007 at 22:33

ChroniC said:
The first is excellent, it very hard to get a perfect black and a well lit subject, is there any photoshop work done to tidy that?The second is good but i feel for me a little overexposed.

Good effort though, care to share your set up?

The background was tidied slightly. It is a black backdrop, but I had to set it up in front of glass double doors going through to my conservatory, so because of the light shining through the backdrop a couple of areas had to be darkened.

The first was lit by a single strobe shooting through a white brolly. The second was lit by a single strobe through a white brolly, with a strobe with reflector shining onto a white backdrop.

Both you and your main light need to be lower. What focal length are you using? I think you might need a slightly longer lens for this particular person.

The first one was shot at 35mm, which is a bit wide. The camera was placed up with Lisa looking up. On reflection now, a small set of steps might have been the better option. The second was shot at 60mm. Can you explain why both the main light and myself needs to be lower? THis is all new to me so any pointers are good feedback

What is the purpose of these pics? I don't want to make any more specific comments until you answer this.

Any specific reason why you wanted to know the purpose? The shots are only for fun and some practice for me

FranchiseJuan · 17 Apr 2007 at 22:56

Strax said:
The first one was shot at 35mm, which is a bit wide. The camera was placed up with Lisa looking up. On reflection now, a small set of steps might have been the better option. The second was shot at 60mm. Can you explain why both the main light and myself needs to be lower? THis is all new to me so any pointers are good feedback

Any specific reason why you wanted to know the purpose? The shots are only for fun and some practice for me

For the first part, I can see immediately that you are above the model, but you have shot and cropped only head shoulders, and this tend to look better if you are level with the person (at least that is my preference). Also look at the catch lights in her eyes. This is a little too high, and tends to look better slightly lower (centered).

Ok now look at the first shot. See that shadow due to her smile on her cheek that is closer to the light? You can reduce that somewhat by bringing that light down, and turning her face slightly more towards the light.

On the second pic, you are getting stray light on her cheek that is not facing your main light (around the chin). I don't know if this was intended, but it is not something I would do. I guess it is personal preference. If it was not intended, then either move your light further towards the backdrop, or move the model forwards. The lighting is pretty flat in the second pic (Something I am also very guilty of sometimes). You can separate her from the background using a hair light or rim lighting.

The reason why I ask what these pics are used for is due to each type (genre) of shooting requires different styles of lighting.

Strax · 17 Apr 2007 at 23:17

On the second pic, you are getting stray light on her cheek that is not facing your main light (around the chin). I don't know if this was intended, but it is not something I would do. I guess it is personal preference. If it was not intended, then either move your light further towards the backdrop, or move the model forwards. The lighting is pretty flat in the second pic (Something I am also very guilty of sometimes). You can separate her from the background using a hair light or rim lighting.

This is some great feedback, exactly what I was needing to point out things that I have missed or got wrong.

The stray light on her chin away from the main light was not meant. I haven't got barn doors on my other light so I was suffering from light spilling onto the right side of Lisa's face. Hopefully I should be getting a set soon to try and control the background light a bit better.

How would you improve the lighting in the second picture? I only have 2 strobes, so a hair light isn't possible if I need to light the backdrop to brighten it?

FranchiseJuan · 17 Apr 2007 at 23:27

Strax said:
How would you improve the lighting in the second picture? I only have 2 strobes, so a hair light isn't possible if I need to light the backdrop to brighten it?

Remember one thing. A reflector can be used as a light if you can use it up close (but out of the shot obviously). Experiment with this.