1st Studio Shoot

[tank121]

Next Monday I'll be carrying out my first studio shoot using my friends sister as the model, mainly head and shoulders shots. I will be using the college studio with two soft boxes and from my experience last night they will generally positioned at 45 degrees to the subject.

There is a choice of three 3 different colour back drops blue, black and white. The model has blonde natural hair so what would be the best combination of colour in the top she'll be wearing and the back drop?

I'll be using my D5100 and Sigma 17-50 2.8, I intend to fill the frame with my shots and use an aperture in the range 5.6-11.

My shutter speed with be 1/125 in sync the lighting.

My series of shots will include -

Model looking at the camera
" " at me
" " off camera focusing on an object in the room
At the edge of the shot looking into the space.

With this combination will i be able to just capture pics of just the eyes or lips?

Any other suggestions for poses etc would be greatly appreciated. Any good websites with examples?

 

[Designer]

I've always thought blue compliments blondes best.

 

[Braineack]

I will be using the college studio with two soft boxes and from my experience last night they will generally positioned at 45 degrees to the subject.

I suggest you rethink this boring lighting setup.

Try using a key 45° to subject and the other, on the same side as the key, a fill 10° to subject.

Or even a key 45° to subject and the other behind, opposite of the key, as a rim light.

or just one light.

 

[tirediron]

Blue is definitely a good colour for blondes, but why not think outside the box? Borrow a speedlight from someone (if you don't have your own) and gel that to give you different colours. Gels on black can give you some great, rich colours, and gels on white some nice, soft pastels. As for lighting, I agree 100% with Braineack - two at 45 will be BORING!!!!

You can do a two-light high-key set-up, with the key facing her directly and the background right behind her, scrounge up some black paper, fabric or whatever and turn the SBs into strip lights and light her from the sides with narrow strips. Remember too, you can effectively turn this into a three light setup by just adding a reflector...

You should be able to get your shutter speed to 1/200 I would think (but if not, no big deal). Your aperture range should be fine, and your lens will do, but keep it at the LONG end of the focal length.
As for your poses, I'm not sure what the difference between looking at your and the camera is. What I'll often do, especiall with inexperienced models is use this to teach them the rudiments of flow posing. Figure out what your recycle time on your lights will be (in other words how fast you can shoot) and then figure out how many shots you want in a sequence and then tell her to start by looking here, and slowly moving her head so that in X seconds, she's looking there. Don't forget to shoot from above and below.

 

[Derrel]

No matter WHAT you do, do NOT place two lights at 45 degrees to the subject: that is the way to light flat artwork or text pages to create flat, shadowless lighting that has zero character. That is the way to place two lights aimed at a background to ensure, flat, even lighting and create a perfectly uniform background. That is the way to create hideous images of a person! You want to establish one main source of light. One, main lighting source creates one, main direction. It creates some shadowing, which reveals form and depth, dimensionality. As Braineack mentions, there are other generally acceptable ways to position lights. Two lights at 45 degrees to the subject is not the way to light a person.

 

[tank121]

So am I best using just one soft box or one from low and one from above? Sorry I forgot to mention in the set up last night in addition to the two soft boxes there was a third light shining on the back drop.

 

[tank121]

Is that a better set up? Use one soft box and a reflector on the other side, back light focused on the blue back drop

 

[tank121]

Will the one above result in better images than the two soft boxes at 45'degress?

 

[Derrel]

Will the one above result in better images than the two soft boxes at 45'degress?

I would say yes. Two boxes, each at 45 degrees creates "competing" shadows, and looks awful. In your diagram, I would move the reflector a bit closer to the camera, so that it is more in front of the subject.

Try this: set up the light on the left of the subject., Have her turn her body AWAY from the light >>>>>>>>>

Then, have her turn her head BACK TOWARD the light <<<<<<<<<<

You have shoulders going one way, angled to the right>>>>>>>>

Head back to the Light <<<<<<<<<<

 

[tank121]

Thanks Derrel. Is the main light still at the front and not moved directly to the left side?

 

[tank121]

Had a good day at the Photography show,at the Nec got,some good ideas.

 

[tank121]

My model has blonde short hair and blue eyes, originally I was thinking of her wearing a red or orange top to complement the blue background but she has said
She doesn't own those colours. My model is a friend and used to do modelling in her early twenties, now 45.

What colours would work she's got a lot of black and white tops and whit what background choices are black, white and light blue which will be lighted.

 

[tank121]

Derrel are you saying place key light at 9 o'clock?

 

[Derrel]

WHERE to place the key light depends on how the model is positioned in relation to the camera. It could be placed BEHIND her a bit, as say 10 or 11, if she is faced to the 9 o'clock position and you are shooting a PROFILE view of her face. If she is positioned for a 3/4 view of her face, the key light might be at 9 or 8 o'clock. If she is facing the camera directly and both ears are visible to the camera, that would be a full-face view, and the key light could easily be at 7 or 8 o'clock. This is ALL based on trying to achieve a lighting pattern know as the modified loop pattern.

Look up modified loop lighting pattern on Google search, and there are some good examples, and a couple diagrams.

Simply put, as the subject changes her head position, the placement of the key light needs to move; as much as we'd like it to be a one-shot, one-and-done deal, key light placement cannot be reduced to one, simple formulaic position.

 

[tank121]

What about the colours?