testing out the new softboxes

[Derrel]

Thank you, I had the fill light at more of an angle than the main light. If I don't angle it it is in the way of my subject. I thought the videos I watched said to do it that way. I guess I was wrong.

I did snap one shot of my punching dummy just using one light and it definitely had more shadows on one side.

Well, who knows what the video you watch was advocating. There are a LOT of how to videos and articles and blog posts clogging up the internet these days, and not all of them are made by people with high skill or experience levels. There is a lot of BAD advice, and incomplete advice, as well as a good dose of utterly stupid advice, all available for free on the web, and on YouTube. One of the single biggest bits of bad advice is the diagram showing two identical lights, placed at 45 degree angles to the subject; a GREAT way to light flat artwork on a copystand, but not the best lighting for a lot of portraiture subjects. "Some" shadowing is often a good thing. Shadows reveal shape, and show depth and distance. Sometimes we want a LOT of shadowing, other times less, sometimes almost none. Lighting cannot be reduced to a formula; when you encounter some web-based information and lighting **is** reduced to a formula, beware. Also, lighting diagrams really are not entirely adequate to learn lighting from, and many are poorly drawn or made, and ignore facts, equipment, and circumstances.

What do I mean by "circumstances"? Well, consider that when working in a small apartment living room, with white walls and 8-foot high ceilings, something like say an Alien Bee 800 monolight fired at full power through a 60-inch shoot-through umbrella will act as a massive light source, that spews light all over the room, and acts as BOTH a main light AND as its own fill light! Buuuuuut, if the same light is taken outdoors and used to shoot a group portrait from 25 feet away, it will act almost like hard, mid-day sunlight will! So, a lighting diagram that ignored the shooting "circumstances" can easily mislead a person who is going entirely by simple drawings.

Lighting is something you have to learn on your own, with your lighting gear, and your OWN RESULTS as the final guide to placement and power levels. What MIGHT work well in one circumstance might fail in another circumstance. In small environments, at close distances, lighting is done one way; in bigger environments, lighting is 'different'. Lighting is not as cut-and-dried as many web-based video tutorial peeps seem to indicate. You must be careful of who you go to for information, and learn how setups are actually arrived at, where they are used, and WHAT equipment is being used, and how much alike or different it is from what you have.

 

[dannylightning]

But those are her brand new glasses and she really likes them. that looks like a good read, I read part of it this morning before I went to bed, Ill read the rest when I get time. thanks.

most the videos that I watched showed the photos taken with the lighting set up and the photos did look pretty good I think I set mine up kind of like the last video I watched but I cant remember which video it was... I think my problem is my lights need to be about equal distance to the person since I am kind of cramped. if my weight lifting cage was not down there or the pool table was gone I would have enough room. I may be able to rearange some of the junk on the other side of the room and make a little more space to work with but I seem to live with hoarders.

Friday I am going to go to to talk to my friend about setting up in the bar he runs. Ill probably have to buy a backdrop stand