Got the wife to pose so i could mess around with my new off camera flash set up... Please C&C 1. 2. 3.
Adjust the exposure a bit and maybe a white balance. There are "rules" on lighting and posing. Let me rephrase that, there are "traditional lighting and posing rules" here is one of the links http://www.studiolighting.net/category/photography-video-tutorials/. Keep practicing and you'll ROCK it.
Jay, These look a tad bit underexposed,and judging from the catchlight positions in her eyes (and the shadows thrown), I think you have the main light a bit too low in relation to her. I think the third shot would have been better if her hands were not drawn up to her knee, and I think you are also a bit too low with the camera position in the third shot. In the first two shots, your camera is too high for maximal impact. One thing you've done very well is a very subtle hair lighting--most people go way overboard on hair lighting,and blast the hair so much that the it is 2 to 3 EV higher than the face,which often looks cheesy. The amount of hair light in 2 looks good. White balance might be just a tad bit warm.
Thanks guys, im having a hard time with this exposure thing... is it somthing i can jus fix in PP? Is the flash to far away? Its like 4-5 feet away on 1/8 power... the hair light was 1/16th power and alittle further away. The umbrella was pretty close to ceiling, i dont know if moving it closer would also raise the catchlights?
After going back into lightroom for these photos the exposure is definently brighter... is that because its the RAW file?
I opened up one shot in Photoshop and checked the R-G-B histograms individually, and all showed under exposure. I quickly added exposure and + 1.4 stops looked almost perfect to me. If the main light flash is at 1/8 power, I'd feel free to power it up a bit higher and maintain the same f/stop, since judging by the histogram your exposure is about 1.4 to 1.5 stops under maximum allowable before things start to clip on the highlight end. I would try hair light at 1/8 power and main light at 1/4 power as a start,which would be the same relationship you have now, only with a stronger main light output. Keeping the flash four to five feet away with a smaller to medium-sized umbrella is about right; as you can see, at that distance with that particular umbrella, it gives a moderately hard shadow on the nose. To get the catchlights higher up you might have to put the umbrella so the top is actually touching the ceiling, or lower the posing stool or bench. Let's take shot 2 as a basis:Have her sit up very tall,and lean forward ever so slightly from the waist. Tummy in, shoulders back, chest out, good posture,spine straight. I would angle her shoulders more steeply toward the camera, and lower the camera at least six inches; this will pull her far shoulder around and more out of view, and will bring her bustline into view and will be very flattering overall. Turn the camera to a vertical orientation,and her body will be filling up the width of the bottom of the frame, creating a "base" for the portrait,without the excessive dead space on a horizontal framing. Trust me...a little tiny of refinement in the posing and framing departments will elevate #2 to a real portrait shot.
Excellent exposure adjustments Jay--your photos demonstrate the value of capturing images in RAW mode! Since yesterday you went back to the original RAW captures and made excellent exposure adjustments,and the difference is substantially in favor of this newly-processed set of three shots.
