First Attempt At Indoor with Lighting

[RyleaPhotography]

Hi folks, took a few shots of my model with a new light kit that I picked up. I mostly focus on outdoor photography but thought it might be good to expand the range.
Any feedback on areas of concern, tips or general feedback would be appreciated.

 

[Braineack]

Very flat lighting. Camera in wrong orientation.

 

[RyleaPhotography]

Braineack, when you say flat, meaning there's no lighting from the front?

 

[Derrel]

Very flat lighting. Camera in wrong orientation.

Yeah...the camera is in a horizontal orientation, but she is standing up and is much taller than she is wide, so the better camera orientation would be the one that puts the subject and the camera's frame in agreement...talls on standing people, most of the time.

The lighting appears pretty equal on both sides of her, in other words, kind of "flat lighting".

 

[RyleaPhotography]

Camera orientation...is this slightly better....

 

[RyleaPhotography]

Very flat lighting. Camera in wrong orientation.

Yeah...the camera is in a horizontal orientation, but she is standing up and is much taller than she is wide, so the better camera orientation would be the one that puts the subject and the camera's frame in agreement...talls on standing people, most of the time.

The lighting appears pretty equal on both sides of her, in other words, kind of "flat lighting".

I did notice that in my attempt to fill in so that I didn't have any shadows or dark spots, it seems off.

 

[Derrel]

Getting rid of all shadows is sometime not the best indoor lighting scheme, although at times, yes, it is a good idea. Shadows can provide the viewer with depth cues, and add a feeling of dimensionality. Of course, sometimes, shadows are best when minimized. It's always up to the photographer as to how best to light a shot.

 

[RyleaPhotography]

Getting rid of all shadows is sometime not the best indoor lighting scheme, although at times, yes, it is a good idea. Shadows can provide the viewer with depth cues, and add a feeling of dimensionality. Of course, sometimes, shadows are best when minimized. It's always up to the photographer as to how best to light a shot.

See, that's why I like working outdoors with natural lighting Thanks for the feedback. Will keep practicing.

 

[Derrel]

One thing about natural,outdoor lighting: there is usually a prominent direction from which the majority of the light come from, and a direction that light is headed toward; if one does the same thing with artifical lighting gear (umbrella, soft box, etc), it's often a pretty good way to start a lighting set-up. Pick a main or key light source, and make it come from a defined direction. That alone can solve many issues.

 

[RyleaPhotography]

One thing about natural,outdoor lighting: there is usually a prominent direction from which the majority of the light come from, and a direction that light is headed toward; if one does the same thing with artifical lighting gear (umbrella, soft box, etc), it's often a pretty good way to start a lighting set-up. Pick a main or key light source, and make it come from a defined direction. That alone can solve many issues.

Thanks Derrel. That makes a lot of sense. When i'm taking pictures of my model outside, I'm always consdering the location of the best lighting. I guess with the indoor, I overcompensated for the worry of shadows and ended up not creating one point of light and no fills.

 

[zombiesniper]

Excellent to see that you are expanding your photographic knowledge.

Lighting as with everything else has it's guidelines that are there to help you learn. There are great books/sites/videos to learn lighting.

I found that I understood all the theory quite quickly but as with most things it never really hit home until I started shooting.
So I suggest you get a friend, family member, mannequin head, doll, teddy bear etc. Something with a face that you can see how the lighting will affect the final image. This way you can try different lighting techniques and get a good feel for it.

As Derrel has suggested, getting the Key light set up correct before you introduce other lights is a great way to see what is happening and it can help you not get overwhelmed. I also agree that it does look like the lighting was very even in this shot which in turn does give the image a flat look. Having the fill light lower than the key will introduce more depth and interest to the image.

Good first effort.

 

[Derrel]

Camera orientation...is this slightly better....

Yes, this is so much better! It shows us the dress and the model, much more so than the horizontally framed shot did!

 

[Destin]

I agree with everything said above. You should also move your subject farther away from the background. It will help you to light the two separately, give more subject isolation, and hide wrinkles in the BG.

This is probably the most common mistake we see when people learn to shoot studio shots.

 

[Granddad]

I'm with Destin. Farther away from the background allows more DOF to hide small wrinkles. Best of all is to buy a whole bunch of crocodile clamps to stretch your BG tightly and smoothly to the frame (ironing or steaming is a waste of time, I tried that). I picked up about 20 cheapo clamps on Ebay for about £5 a couple years ago and they're still working fine (including the ones my wife stole for other purposes). If you still have a problem with wrinkles experiment with gaussian blur in PS; that can hide a multitude of background sins.