New Lighting Kit C&C

[smithphoto]

Hello all. I'm completely new to TPF but this seams a much better place to receive and give advice compared to many other places I have searched recently. So, on to the good stuff.

I have always loved photography and shown it as always being 'That odd guy that always has a camera'. Just recently I finally bit the bullet and purchased a cheap lighting kit. Mainly just for the use of teaching myself the basics of portrait lighting and having some equipment to abuse later on down the road. I'll post a few images from my first shoot with the kit for C&C.

One note: I was shooting for a 'dramatic' look to the photos. This is obviously not something I would consider for school type photos

This was from a timer and a tripod. Bad comp I know.

So this is just a few. Wanted to get some feedback. Thanks guys.

 

[ATXshots]

I think that these are all too dark. You need some highlight areas.

 

[rub]

I agree that they are too dark. Seems like the fcus is pretty soft too, but that may just be my eyes. Kuddo's to you though for teaching yourself. I'm sure you will be happy with the results after a few more tries.

 

[Village Idiot]

What's in the lighting kit?

 

[tirediron]

I like the poses, but I'm afraid as the images go overall I don't see 'dramatic' I simply see 'underexposed'.

 

[smithphoto]

The kit isn't all that great, but like I said, it was just to get my feet wet.

Brand AlkiPhoto
2x 150 watt strobes
1x 110 watt strobe
each with a 70w modeling bulb
two small soft boxes
snoot, barndoor, filters, ect..
remote trigger, sync cords,
1x gold umbrella
white/black/gray backdrops

I think thats about it...I know eventually i'll need much more power but hopefully i can make do with this for now.

 

[ddm1975]

I agree with whats been said, these are underexposed. Also, how far were your lights? Maybe they were a little too far away. I'm struggling w/ lights too! Not much help but I wish you luck and have fun!

 

[smithphoto]

On reason they are so dark is I was shooting with ISO 100 and about f/13. They are underexposed on purpose but the more I look at them theres just not enough detail.... any where really. lol

As far as the kit I don't love it, but it works. Theres only half power and full power settings, so it's a little hard to controll. I just have to learn to work with what I have.

More suggestions welcome.

 

[ddm1975]

Play around with your settings. For example try lowering your ap. to f/12 and take a series of shots, then lower your ap. to f/11 and take a series to shots, ect. Maybe slow down your ss a bit and that may bring out a little more detail but still give you that dramatic look that you are going for! When you load your set onto your computer (I'm assuming you're digital), view all of the shots and when you find the range you are going for check your exif and go from there. Have you done any post processing? That may also help you achieve what you are looking for. I look forward to seeing your other tries!

 

[switchesmd]

It's possible to achieve a dramatic effect with shadows while still maintaining a certain level of contrast. Try to find more of a dichotomy between the light and dark and emphasize the darks to build drama.

 

[smithphoto]

Alright. thanks everyone. Hopefully I'll be shooting an outdoor family shoot within a week or so. Looking forward to what everyone has to say.

 

[Raze]

Hi, I liked this shot but I think this is a little better and all I did was the "Auto Levels" in Photoshop. (I think it keeps what you were going for but makes it look better exposed. Keeping in mind I'm only a newbie! ) I know a lot of people don't like PP much but you can spend as much or as little time as you want on an image (like the two seconds I took on this) to get the results you want.

 

[smithphoto]

I'm not sure I agree with it being better. To many artifacts across the image but thats juts me. I do appriciate the time you spent on this. I do agree that the faces look better exposed, I'd just need to go in and try to clean up some of the artifacts.

I actually have no problem using photoshop on images. I think it can make a good photograph better, but it cant make an awfull photo good. Some are too bad to be fixed, but if it's just a simple exposure issue or maybe just messing with the colors a bit, I see no problem with it. But I do feel that a photoshoped image must be built on a strong foundation.

 

[Raze]

The artifacts come from it already being a fairly compressed jpeg and then saving it as a jpeg again which compresses it further. Doing the same on the original would produce a much better result.
It was just a quickie to show the better contrast (more processing like a little sharpening on the faces etc on the original would be better).