Finally a white background. C&C Please!!

[indeedies]

After trying this on my own and failing I did some searching and realized my mistake. Who knew you needed a second flash to expose the background . Anyway, hoping for some critique on what to do in the future. This was a self portrait so hoping when I do this for the family this weekend I can get some better.

Now to completely expose myself as a noob here are the specs of this shot: 1/200 sec, F5.0, shot with the D90 and Sigma 28-70 2.8 and an ISO of 3200. I've never really messed with ISO before and when I was practicing yestereday forgot to turn it down before shooting today. Just one more thing to add to my notebook of "Stupid things to check before you push the shutter button".

Please be honest with your critiques. This forum has helped me a ton so far and I'm hoping to get better.

Thanks everyone!!

 

[Noonz]

I really like the shot, good stuff. The only thing i would suggest is getting the whole person/toy in the frame

 

[Photo Phan]

funny pic!!!

 

[indeedies]

I really like the shot, good stuff. The only thing i would suggest is getting the whole person/toy in the frame

I agree and realized I should have just moved the entire setup back a few more feet. I was backed into the wall as it was. I will be doing this next time. Thanks for the second opinion

 

[Samanax]

Could you provide complete setup information please...how many flashes were used, what power setting was used, how were the flashes positioned, how far from the subject was each flash, if any light modifiers were used and exact camera and lens settings.

Did you want to shoot this at ISO 3200? Or was that the mistake? There is noise in the shadows areas and noise tends to kill detail.

Have you read the information over at the Strobist web site?

Strobist: Lighting 101

Strobist: Lighting 102

Basics of Flash Photography - Four Fundamentals We Must Know

 

[indeedies]

Could you provide complete setup information please...how many flashes were used, what power setting was used, how were the flashes positioned, how far from the subject was each flash, if any light modifiers were used and exact camera and lens settings.

Did you want to shoot this at ISO 3200? Or was that the mistake? There is noise in the shadows areas and noise tends to kill detail.

Have you read the information over at the Strobist web site?

Strobist: Lighting 101

Strobist: Lighting 102

Basics of Flash Photography - Four Fundamentals We Must Know

I had two speedlights working. One attached to the chair I was sitting on at about 1/16th power (this was my Lumapro or something like that) and the other camera right at about a 45 degree angle to subject. I was using a Westcott 23" umbrella and shooting into it with an SB600 at around 1/64th power. Also, the chair was about two feet from the background. The ISO was comletely unintentional and I didn't even realize it until I uploaded into LR.

I have read the Strobist site. I'm trying to start with some basics and just trying to harness the power of the strobes before I start messing around with ambient light. Strobes are kind of fun and I love the look you can get with them if done right.

Any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Shawn

 

[Samanax]

When doing strobist stuff I used to spend a lot of time messing with my camera and flash settings (both on manual) while taking a lot of test shots. I tend to keep flash power at 1/8 or higher if I'm shooting into my shoot through umbrellas and 1/16 or lower what I'm shooting bare flash or with my snoots or other modifiers. But it also depends on what I'm shooting (I shoot mostly tabletop stuff). I'm guessing you had the flash power set low because your images were washing out at ISO 3200.

I generally keep ISO at 100 and play around with shutter speed and aperture until I get the look I want. I rarely ever shoot at ISO 200 or higher when I'm playing with my strobist stuff.

I recently got a Sekonic L-358 Flash Master light meter and it's really helped reduce my setup time since I don't have to take as many test shots as I used to. You still have to play around with the flash power and camera settings to get the look you want, but the light meter is really helpful. One of the best purchases I've made recently.

And yes, off-camera flash is a lot of fun to play with. I like being able to control the light rather than being at the mercy of it.

Keep playing with your strobes and have fun as you explore more creative opportunities.

 

[indeedies]

It took about 20 test shots before I realized what was happening with the lights and camera and was able to tone it down a bit. I hope the more and more I set up and practice the easier this will be. I was thinking about getting a light meter but it seems I can just check the back of the camera and see if I have a correct exposure. As I become more professional in nature maybe I'll want the ease of the light meter though.

Thanks for the advice Samanax and I will practice your settings on my initial test shots and work from there.

Any more advice anyone?