Broken Hearted

[indeedies]

I have this idea to create an entire story with this character ending with this shot. Before I tear down my setup anyone have any advice on doing this better?

1/200, F/16, ISO 200
Two SB 600s 1/20th power

The setup:

My main concern is that the BG doesn't seem as crisp white as I want it. The left side is more grey than the right hand side of the shot.

Thanks for any advice and ideas!!

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Go for it. I love photo story books and I'm working on several ideas myself.

However, why keep it in a small box? Why not mix studio and natural settings shots? And, sorry but if you are going to do more studio shots, you need to work on your technique. The bottom of the pill container is almost non-existent.

 

[indeedies]

Go for it. I love photo story books and I'm working on several ideas myself.

However, why keep it in a small box? Why not mix studio and natural settings shots? And, sorry but if you are going to do more studio shots, you need to work on your technique. The bottom of the pill container is almost non-existent.

I realized I should have started with a non-white pill bottle but once I was involved I couldn't find one. I do agree with you that I should put this in a more real environment but I built this stupid box and have only used it once lol.

I think I'll follow your suggestion and try this in a living room setting.

Any ideas on how I can fix the pill bottle dillema?

 

[Derrel]

The light from each flash needs to be equalized if you want the background paper to be equally white on both sides. Light falls off (diminishes in intensity) very quickly at close ranges, so a very small amount of distance adjustment can and will make a big difference in the light intensity--at close ranges. At longer ranges, the fall-off is not nearly so dramatic. Soooo, to make the left side pure white and not very light gray, it needs more light, and the pill bottle needs a little less light.

As for the pill bottle/background blend, a slight exposure change could help bring out the difference, or a slight adjustment of the actual lighting. Either approach could be used, or a combination of both approaches. It looks to me like the pill bottle is actually over-exposed on the very end at the top right of the bottle; but notice how the bottle's exposure drops a little bit, to a recognizable edge just one inch away from that top,right hand corner? THAT is what I was talking about above--the inverse square law. You can see that the light is too bright at one point, and then it drops in intensity just a SMALL bit farther away, but then across the entire remainder of the bottle's width, the entire thing looks white. When your lights are set so,so close to a set, there is a huge amount of fall-off at the close ranges, and then a more-gradual, almost imperceptible amount of fall-off. At longer distances, the lighting is in fact, pretty even across the majority of the set.

So...some adjustments need to be made. Shoot with the light not quite so close to your diffusion material sides, and you'll have a more even, more easily-controllable light.

 

[indeedies]

The light from each flash needs to be equalized if you want the background paper to be equally white on both sides. Light falls off (diminishes in intensity) very quickly at close ranges, so a very small amount of distance adjustment can and will make a big difference in the light intensity--at close ranges. At longer ranges, the fall-off is not nearly so dramatic. Soooo, to make the left side pure white and not very light gray, it needs more light, and the pill bottle needs a little less light.

As for the pill bottle/background blend, a slight exposure change could help bring out the difference, or a slight adjustment of the actual lighting. Either approach could be used, or a combination of both approaches. It looks to me like the pill bottle is actually over-exposed on the very end at the top right of the bottle; but notice how the bottle's exposure drops a little bit, to a recognizable edge just one inch away from that top,right hand corner? THAT is what I was talking about above--the inverse square law. You can see that the light is too bright at one point, and then it drops in intensity just a SMALL bit farther away, but then across the entire remainder of the bottle's width, the entire thing looks white. When your lights are set so,so close to a set, there is a huge amount of fall-off at the close ranges, and then a more-gradual, almost imperceptible amount of fall-off. At longer distances, the lighting is in fact, pretty even across the majority of the set.

So...some adjustments need to be made. Shoot with the light not quite so close to your diffusion material sides, and you'll have a more even, more easily-controllable light.

Thanks Derrel! I was hoping you would chime in with your expertise. I'll give this a shot and see what happens. I was able to use the paint brush in LR and paint over the grey with an overexposure brush which seemed to have done the trick but it was tedious. And the bottle problem still exists lol.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Can't add much to what Derrel said.

As far as the environment is concerned, I was not talking about your living room. Take it outside. Take it to see the world.

This is the book that inspired me in doing a photo story: [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Little-Riding-Hood-Fairy-Tales/dp/1568461437]Amazon.com: Little Red Riding Hood (Fairy Tales) (9781568461434):…[/ame]

Later, I saw the movie Amelie in which a garden gnome is taken around the world for photo ops and I thought about what an amazing book could be made from this or a similar idea.

There are quite a few things like that out there. Go to the bookstore or the library and get inspired.

 

[indeedies]

I knew you weren't talking about the living room. Just another idea I had. I'm also thinking about the alley in behind my apartment building or the park across the street. Either way I agree and put away the lightbox (after practicing what Derrel suggested of course).

Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[c.cloudwalker]

No, don't put it away. Not what I said. Just mix different places, situations, etc. Use everything you have to use.

 

[dak1b]

DOMO!!!!!!!!!!