Baby portrait C&C.

[jwbryson1]

I shot this photo yesterday using 2 YN 560 strobes camera left and camera right, bounced into black reflective umbrellas. I also had 1 SB-700 on the floor behind her in a cold shoe, fired at 1/64 power. I think 1/32 or stronger may have lifted her off the background better. All triggered with dirt cheap Cowboy radio units.

The photo is also a bit grainy to me and I'm not sure why. I took this image with a Nikon D90 at f/13, 1/250, ISO 400.

Comments welcome. Thanks for looking. :mrgreen:

[/URL] Katelyn Pink Dress-1 by jwbryson1, on Flickr[/IMG]

 

[jwbryson1]

Bump

 

[Robin Usagani]

Well, to start.. there is no reason for you to be on ISO400. I think it is pretty good overall. It is kinda tight though. The catch light can be improved.

 

[jwbryson1]

Well, to start.. there is no reason for you to be on ISO400. I think it is pretty good overall. It is kinda tight though. The catch light can be improved.

What would you shoot this at in terms of ISO? 200? It's in my basement and fairly dark, though I think I have it worked out so that I can leave the overhead lights on and still get the background clipped. ISO 400 should not cause that level of noise in my D90.

How would you improve the catch light?

Thanks for the comments. :thumbup:

 

[cgipson1]

I agree with Schwetty! Was there a reason you used F13, and ISO 400? You could have lowered the ISO (Low 1 ISO 100) and shot at F8 to get the same image.

how were you lighting it? How were you modifying the light? Not seeing large modifiers in the reflections? Did you tweak exposure much in PP?

 

[jwbryson1]

Here is a wider version of the same shot. Does this look better?

[/URL] Katelyn Pink Dress 2-1 by jwbryson1, on Flickr[/IMG]

 

[jwbryson1]

how were you lighting it? How were you modifying the light? Not seeing large modifiers in the reflections? Did you tweak exposure much in PP?

The lighting is described in my first post---2 reflective bounced umbrellas camera left and right, and a single SB-700 on the floor behind her. It was a bit dark in my basement so I moved the ISO up from 200 to 400 to accommodate, but in hindsight I think ISO 100 or 200 would have worked and certainly f/8 was a possibility.

I had her sitting on a black muslin cloth and I had a black muslin backdrop. The one on the floor was picking up a lot of white lint and dust and I think lowering to f/13 might help with that. I did have to increase the exposure in PP by 1 or 1.5 stops, so I get your point, but it looked much much brighter in the LCD display on back of the camera. I was shocked by how dark it looked when I imported it to LR.

Still learning this stuff.

What suggestions would you have for improving the catch lights? What about shooting through the umbrellas instead of bouncing the light?

 

[o hey tyler]

Garbage, but you already knew that, right?

Had to.

 

[jwbryson1]

Garbage, but you already knew that, right?

Had to.

You were the one I was expecting to do that, so are you happy now?

Moving on...

 

[cgipson1]

how were you lighting it? How were you modifying the light? Not seeing large modifiers in the reflections? Did you tweak exposure much in PP?

The lighting is described in my first post---2 reflective bounced umbrellas camera left and right, and a single SB-700 on the floor behind her. It was a bit dark in my basement so I moved the ISO up from 200 to 400 to accommodate, but in hindsight I think ISO 100 or 200 would have worked and certainly f/8 was a possibility.

I had her sitting on a black muslin cloth and I had a black muslin backdrop. The one on the floor was picking up a lot of white lint and dust and I think lowering to f/13 might help with that. I did have to increase the exposure in PP by 1 or 1.5 stops, so I get your point, but it looked much much brighter in the LCD display on back of the camera. I was shocked by how dark it looked when I imported it to LR.

Still learning this stuff.

What suggestions would you have for improving the catch lights? What about shooting through the umbrellas instead of bouncing the light?

Sorry.. read that, and had a brain fart! The PP tweak (for underexposure) would explain the noise. On the catchlights, not much you can do. I prefer a larger key (gives a larger catchlight) usually... and will sometimes edit out the fill catchlight (personal preference, I like a single catchlight). For shots like this, I often use a single large brolly, and a reflector on the fill side.

It looks like you have both umbrellas the same height? Put the Key higher... and the fill a bit lower.. try to get the key catchlight at about 11 o'clock in the eye...

You can try the shoot through... and see how it does for you. you may find these interesting...

Shoot Thru Umbrella and Bounce Umbrella – a Comparison | ESSENTIALS For Photographers

How an Umbrella Works

 

[jwbryson1]

how were you lighting it? How were you modifying the light? Not seeing large modifiers in the reflections? Did you tweak exposure much in PP?

The lighting is described in my first post---2 reflective bounced umbrellas camera left and right, and a single SB-700 on the floor behind her. It was a bit dark in my basement so I moved the ISO up from 200 to 400 to accommodate, but in hindsight I think ISO 100 or 200 would have worked and certainly f/8 was a possibility.

I had her sitting on a black muslin cloth and I had a black muslin backdrop. The one on the floor was picking up a lot of white lint and dust and I think lowering to f/13 might help with that. I did have to increase the exposure in PP by 1 or 1.5 stops, so I get your point, but it looked much much brighter in the LCD display on back of the camera. I was shocked by how dark it looked when I imported it to LR.

Still learning this stuff.

What suggestions would you have for improving the catch lights? What about shooting through the umbrellas instead of bouncing the light?

Sorry.. read that, and had a brain fart! The PP tweak (for underexposure) would explain the noise. On the catchlights, not much you can do. I prefer a larger key (gives a larger catchlight) usually... and will sometimes edit out the fill catchlight (personal preference, I like a single catchlight). For shots like this, I often use a single large brolly, and a reflector on the fill side.

It looks like you have both umbrellas the same height? Put the Key higher... and the fill a bit lower.. try to get the key catchlight at about 11 o'clock in the eye...

You can try the shoot through... and see how it does for you. you may find these interesting...

Shoot Thru Umbrella and Bounce Umbrella – a Comparison | ESSENTIALS For Photographers

How an Umbrella Works

Thanks. Good information.

Single catch light. I had not considered that. Good idea!!

[/URL] Katelyn Pink Dress 3-1 by jwbryson1, on Flickr[/IMG]

 

[Robin Usagani]

If you are not mixing ambient light then pretty much your subject is lit almost 100% by your strobes! You can increase the power of the strobes or open up the aperture if you want it brighter. You pretty much dont need higher ISO unless you are introducing ambient light you want to mix.

 

[jwbryson1]

If you are not mixing ambient light then pretty much your subject is lit almost 100% by your strobes! You can increase the power of the strobes or open up the aperture if you want it brighter. You pretty much dont need higher ISO unless you are introducing ambient light you want to mix.

Thanks. I get that now. :banghead:

 

[o hey tyler]

You were the one I was expecting to do that, so are you happy now?

Yes, I am. Thank you.