Ashley

[ronlane]

I had a request for more photos of Ashley from my photo shoot with her. Honestly, I felt like I struggled with the lighting on her for this shoot. I was using the AD200 with the barebulb and no modifier due to the windy conditions. (I did us my 38" Octa on one of these images.)

1) This one is the one where I used the octa. You can tell that the light is much softer.



2) again bouncing the light off the silver air ducts.



3) color image similar to the b&w from the other thread.



4) working the location and poses.



5) One of the first images that I took at this location. Was not bouncing the light on this image and the wb is much cooler than the others. (I need to look at that in post)

 

[Fujidave]

Some very nice images you took Ron, I have just started to learn on how to bounce flash too.

 

[Jeff15]

Very nice images.....

 

[ronlane]

Some very nice images you took Ron, I have just started to learn on how to bounce flash too.

Thank you. Yeah, it isn't too bad when you have something decent to bounce it off of. When I saw the silver air ducts I knew that I would get some spectacular highlights that would be nice.

Very nice images.....

Thank you.

 

[smoke665]

It's always a good day when you have an attractive model to shoot. Overall decent series, but the elephant in the room for me are the blown specular highlights on the cheek bones. Of the ones I checked it looks like they were all shot at f/2.8, 1/125, ISO 400. While this might work on ambient only light, adding a flash changes your exposure options. Since aperture controls flash exposure and shutter controls ambient exposure you need to account for both, by balancing your ambient with your fill flash. If you don't have high speed synch here's a little old school information.How to Mix Ambient Light and Fill-Flash for Outdoor Portraits

 

[tirediron]

Unfortunately, I have to agree with Smoke on this set Ron; they're great, except... I like the idea of using the air ducts as a reflector; very clever! Unfortunately, sometimes you're just threaded no matter what when Ma' Nature won't play along.

 

[ronlane]

It's always a good day when you have an attractive model to shoot. Overall decent series, but the elephant in the room for me are the blown specular highlights on the cheek bones. Of the ones I checked it looks like they were all shot at f/2.8, 1/125, ISO 400. While this might work on ambient only light, adding a flash changes your exposure options. Since aperture controls flash exposure and shutter controls ambient exposure you need to account for both, by balancing your ambient with your fill flash. If you don't have high speed synch here's a little old school information.How to Mix Ambient Light and Fill-Flash for Outdoor Portraits

Thanks @smoke665. The highlights on 2,3 & 4 to me are what make the shot. Yes, I believe I was shooting at 2.8 on eTTL on the flash. According to the histogram, there are no blown-out highlights. In all three the histogram doesn't even reach the right side at all. Again, they are bright spectular highlight but I knew that I was going to get that with a bare bulb bouncing off a silver air duct.

 

[ronlane]

Unfortunately, I have to agree with Smoke on this set Ron; they're great, except... I like the idea of using the air ducts as a reflector; very clever! Unfortunately, sometimes you're just threaded no matter what when Ma' Nature won't play along.

Thanks John. I agree, in a perfect world I would have taken my 38" Octabox and gotten some very soft light from it. I didn't take it due to high winds and lack of sandbags or someone to hold the c-stand and keep the box from blowing all over the place.

 

[smoke665]

The highlights on 2,3 & 4 to me are what make the shot.

Fair enough. I'm viewing the low res web image on a tablet, there may be more detail in the highlights on the original then I'm seeing on my end. I tend to be an eye person, who finds distractions near the eyes objectionable, but that's not to say either is right or wrong, to each their own.

I've not experienced specularity when changing the color of the reflector, unless it's coming in at an extreme angle. I use white, gold and silver frequently, I feel like silver helps to alleviate redness in skin. I am very careful in metering my ratios, backgrounds and highlights.

 

[ronlane]

The highlights on 2,3 & 4 to me are what make the shot.

Fair enough. I'm viewing the low res web image on a tablet, there may be more detail in the highlights on the original then I'm seeing on my end. I tend to be an eye person, who finds distractions near the eyes objectionable, but that's not to say either is right or wrong, to each their own.

I've not experienced specularity when changing the color of the reflector, unless it's coming in at an extreme angle. I use white, gold and silver frequently, I feel like silver helps to alleviate redness in skin. I am very careful in metering my ratios, backgrounds and highlights.

No worries Smoke. I had to actually go back and check the histogram before I posted that.

I not saying they are perfect, I've never shot a perfect picture and I am always trying to learn. I've learned from PPA and others that you shouldn't broad light a lady but in these 3 of these that is exactly what I did. We had a good model that was posing well and changing when the shutter would fire so I did not interrupt the flow. Once I saw the mood and pose on these, I really liked them. Got some flat lite ones that are just okay from later in the shoot when we moved from those steps.

 

[smoke665]

I've learned from PPA and others that you shouldn't broad light a lady but in these 3 of these that is exactly what I did

Okay you lost me here, why???? Whether you use broad or short lighting depends on the look you want to achieve. I prefer broad, as short seems more sinister, but either will create sufficient shadow to thin the face and add depth. Flat I reserve for those cases where I need to hide a lot of imperfections (less shadow/contrast).

 

[ronlane]

I've learned from PPA and others that you shouldn't broad light a lady but in these 3 of these that is exactly what I did

Okay you lost me here, why???? Whether you use broad or short lighting depends on the look you want to achieve. I prefer broad, as short seems more sinister, but either will create sufficient shadow to thin the face and add depth. Flat I reserve for those cases where I need to hide a lot of imperfections (less shadow/contrast).

Yes, you can do both and it is a preference for what you are going for. I've just heard some of the photographers say that. Most likely for their print competitions.

I also have learned this saying too, "Know the rule so you can break the rule." lol

 

[smoke665]

I also have learned this saying too, "Know the rule so you can break the rule." lol

True that. Knowing the rules gives you an expectation of a repeatable result, whether you adhear to them or not.

 

[Derrel]

B&W conversions of shots 1,3,and 4,seem like a good idea to me. Shot #5 might also make a good B&W.
I am not too stressed by the broad lighting used here..Short, or broad...she is young and attractive, and she can be lighted a multitude of ways and still look good.

 

[ronlane]

Hey John,

Learning some new techniques for retouching in PS and came back to these photos. (Well a couple of the ones with the harsh highlights.