C&C on indoor session

[joylyn]

Indoor lighting what can I say I have a difficult time setting things up especially in such a small space. I used my canon off camera flash with white umbrella to the left of her and set my other umbrella up to the right of her. I dont have a meter and some what used the meter on my 7d. But with flash I get alittle confused on how I should compensate for the meter reading while using flash I used my nifty 50 at 3.2 1/100 sec. What do you think? I am going to purchase a soft box real soon .
1.


2.

 

[jowensphoto]

I think you did alright, though I struggle with OCF myself. I'd say the first is better than the second in terms of light. Her right arm is a bit bright in the second, but again it's not bad!

The composition could use work. They are both cropped very tightly and the pose in the second just seems awkward. I don't know which is the subject and it confuses my eyes.

Are you from WV? I recognize the uniform (I'm near Winchester).

 

[joylyn]

Ty jowensphoto for your input . Im not a fan of the second pose either but she asked if she could pose that way and well I said sure . Yes I'm from Wv about an hour and half away from Winchester.

 

[texkam]

Yes, not too bad at all. Nothing that a little more experience and refinement won't make better. Watch the hot spots. Go for a big softbox. The unlevel bg in #1 is visually distracting.

 

[Designer]

I'm not crazy about the seat covering in #1, and I believe this shot could use a bit more light on the left side of her hair. (right side of model)
You've cropped her elbow.

I like the pose and frame of #2. Her arms echo the sides of the frame. Good balance, good light on her face, but as mentioned above, too much on her arm, and perhaps not enough on her lower torso. Also, the ball is casting a shadow on her hair. I think this shot could benefit from repositioning the light to more straight-on.

Also the crop is quite close so if she is going to frame these, make sure there is a little more margin all around.

 

[The_Traveler]

I think #2 is quite bright and too tightly cropped

 

[Qveon]

IMO your shot is good and i don't see a problem with your white umbrella, but if you setup your umbrella like 2 foot from your subject then i would say move it back to 3-4 foot and add one stop to your flash. This may slightly light your background though. And like stated above maybe bring the light angle slightly back towards the camera

 

[pixbyjason]

I like #2 best but only cause im not a fan of her angle. Looks like she may fall over. Nice job though, Im more impressed that your working with what you have and making it work.

 

[cgipson1]

IMO your shot is good and i don't see a problem with your white umbrella, but if you setup your umbrella like 2 foot from your subject then i would say move it back to 3-4 foot and add one stop to your flash. This may slightly light your background though. And like stated above maybe bring the light angle slightly back towards the camera

So you like hard light? You do realize that the farther away a light source is, the harder the light will be? I like soft, pretty light myself!

Joylyn... what size umbrellas?

What KIND of umbrellas (white with black back? White shoot through? White reflective, no back)?

What was the distance from umbrella to subject?

 

[Derrel]

Cloning in some extra canvas area around her, as Lew did in Post #6, really improves the second photo. I see quite a significant difference in the uniform color between shot 1 and shot 2...was that intentional? Not that either uniform color is "bad"...it just seems odd that there is such a big difference.

I do not think the white rug is really a good posing aid for women's basketball shots...just does not seem to be situationally appropriate...

I think the pose of #2 is more "fun" than the static-feeling seated pose of shot #1.

As to umbrella flash and distance...when an umbrella is pulled in really close to a person, the light has VERY steep fall-off from one side of the frame to the other side. In fact, when an umbrella or softbox is pulled in very,very close to a person,even across the short span of the width of a human face, there can be a 1- to 2- f/stop DROP in light intensity, and at the edges of the frame, there can easily be a 4 to 5 f/stop drop off in intensity....so the idea that moving a light very,very close automatically creates "soft" light is not exactly, a 100-percent "given" when the subject is moderately large and the light is positioned very close.

If you're shooting an apple, YES, a close light will give soft lighting that's fairly low-ratio across the width of the subject...if the subject happens to be two people, standing side-by-side, pulling the light in "very close" but off to one side or the other creates HUGE fall-off, while moving the light farther away from the people will create much,much,much more-gradual fall-off and more "even lighting", with an almost-imperceptible fall-off in lighting intensity across the entire width of the frame.

 

[cgipson1]

Cloning in some extra canvas area around her, as Lew did in Post #6, really improves the second photo. I see quite a significant difference in the uniform color between shot 1 and shot 2...was that intentional? Not that either uniform color is "bad"...it just seems odd that there is such a big difference.

I do not think the white rug is really a good posing aid for women's basketball shots...just does not seem to be situationally appropriate...

I think the pose of #2 is more "fun" than the static-feeling seated pose of shot #1.

As to umbrella flash and distance...when an umbrella is pulled in really close to a person, the light has VERY steep fall-off from one side of the frame to the other side. In fact, when an umbrella or softbox is pulled in very,very close to a person,even across the short span of the width of a human face, there can be a 1- to 2- f/stop DROP in light intensity, and at the edges of the frame, there can easily be a 4 to 5 f/stop drop off in intensity....so the idea that moving a light very,very close automatically creates "soft" light is not exactly, a 100-percent "given" when the subject is moderately large and the light is positioned very close.

If you're shooting an apple, YES, a close light will give soft lighting that's fairly low-ratio across the width of the subject...if the subject happens to be two people, standing side-by-side, pulling the light in "very close" but off to one side or the other creates HUGE fall-off, while moving the light farther away from the people will create much,much,much more-gradual fall-off and more "even lighting", with an almost-imperceptible fall-off in lighting intensity across the entire width of the frame.

Yep... falloff can be an issue with two people and a single light... but with one subject it usually isn't that big an issue, especially if using a large modifier. That is why I asked how far, how big! I was wanting to know more about how she lit it. If she was using a small shoot through, I would think that pulling it farther away would not help much
But I will admit you have more studio experience than I do, Derrel! So I could be wrong! I do agree that the 2' that the poster above hypothesized... would be too close for a small umbrella, especially if it was hit too "hard" with light...

 

[joylyn]

I know its cropped to close and to be honest I was as far back as I could go and with the prime I didnt have much play if you know what I mean. I do have a 18-200 telephoto lense but it isnt as sharp as the nifty 50 . I would love to have the 24-70 but at this time I cant afford it so im trying to make what I have work. I love the added space around her but I want more of her body in the shot . How did you do that? the umbrella light was about 10 feet away from me the flash with umbrella was about 6 feet away.

So you like hard light? You do realize that the farther away a light source is, the harder the light will be? I like soft, pretty light myself! I like soft light but I wanted to light up her eyes

Joylyn... what size umbrellas? not sure of the size they come with the cheap back drop kit I purchase about 2 years ago.

What KIND of umbrellas (white with black back? White shoot through? White reflective, no back)? they are white

What was the distance from umbrella to subject?

I didnt measure my bad . The room I took the pictures in is very narrow I'd say in the 1st picture the first one about 3 feet away with the off camera flash behind white umbrella at an angle ( wall was in the way) The second one was also at an angle about same distance.

I see quite a significant difference in the uniform color between shot 1 and shot 2...was that intentional? Not that either uniform color is "bad"...it just seems odd that there is such a big difference.

I changed and used 2 umbrella lights and moved both lights closer to her like right next to her. I am ordering a softbox but not sure what I should go with to start out. I have ordered a reflector and of course gray card. I was so worried about the exposure and not getting any noise and to be perfectly honest Im lost when it comes to lighting indoors. Thanks for all your help I will be practicing with a dummy lol (manquin) starting today. Just not sure where to start . What position should i have my lights ? how far away ? how close to camera they should be ?

 

[Qveon]

So you like hard light? You do realize that the farther away a light source is, the harder the light will be? I like soft, pretty light myself!

I think you misinterpreted my post. I said move the umbrella to three or four foot away from the subject. I did not say move it three to four foot back in addition to where it is sitting now.

Back to the post: and this "Inverse Square Law" you are learning about applies to light in ANY form. So if you setup a soft box that close you will get the same result. IMO if I were going to attempt this shot, first I would have either had her hold the ball with the other hand or put the light on the other side the (light opposite her extended arm) the I would have put the light about 18" from her and exposed my camera for the side of her face closest the light then put a white reflector (white foam core) just out of frame on the opposite side of her body. Then just keep inching my light back till I was happy with the shadows on the non lit side of her body.

I have a very small "studio" myself and if I remember I'll make some examples when I get home

 

[cgipson1]

So you like hard light? You do realize that the farther away a light source is, the harder the light will be? I like soft, pretty light myself!

I think you misinterpreted my post. I said move the umbrella to three or four foot away from the subject. I did not say move it three to four foot back in addition to where it is sitting now.

You are correct.. I did misinterpret that! I apologize.