first people shots with lighting. c&c please (nws)

[12sndsgood]

My buddy brought over his lighting setup. two alienbees with soft box and umbrella and shot this in my garage with my friend danielle, the goal was just to use the lights and learn them a bit and get a feel for them as well as maybe get a few good shots with his companies shirts for there site( he works at a motorcycle customising shop) so we were both learning the whole light setup. my setting were way off i think and i wasn't real happy with the outcome. but here's a few of what i got.

1

DSC_0225 by Sndsgood, on Flickr
2

DSC_0273 by Sndsgood, on Flickr
3

DSC_0252 by Sndsgood, on Flickr

 

[tirediron]

C&C per req:

These aren't bad; there's definitely room for improvement, but they're not bad. The first comment I have is that you need to get your model much further from the background, ideally using longer glass and larger aperture's to soften the backdrop.

For shots like this, don't forget the little things like ironing the t-shirts. Removing those wrinkles can make a big difference to the overall image. As well spend a little time researching poses. Your model seems a little stiff and forced to me in most of these.

1. IMO a black shirt and grey background is less than ideal, but if that's all you had, that's all you had. Be cognizant of things like the lock of hair over her right eye which has created a deep shadow. I would also have considered a kicker or reflector to bring a little light in to her waist area.

2. A little too hot on the key light I think. You've got some bright highlights on her face and blown areas on the shirt.

3. The strongest of the three IMO. Nice exposure, good lighting and pose.

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.

~John

 

[12sndsgood]

yeah i read a few people comments on other posts about not being so far back against the background after the fact lol, in the garage with my car in the other bay we were dealing with a bit of a limited area.

didnt really think about ironing the shirts. something to think about if i ever do this again for real.

poses i definatly need to work on. she wasn't sure how to stand. shes just a friend who doesnt mind posing for me but wants me to tell her exactly how to stand and i definatly need to do some reasearch on that one.

i thought about her hair blocking the light. we didnt have any reflectors though im sure if i looked in the garage i probably could have found something to work. part of my problem is once i get shooting i just kinda forget about things and shoot instead of slowing down and thinking more on what im seeing and what the camera is seeing.

i really had fun doing this, and would like to do it more. just with my limited experience and that its really just a hobby i dont want to drop money on my own lighting setup just yet. did just pick up a SB900 so have to start learning how to use it.

 

[12sndsgood]

anyone else care to critique?

 

[Derrel]

My main point in a C&C on these is that the best way to emphasize the model and the product is to get the background out of focus and farther behind her, so that the background fabric falls well,well outside the acceptable depth of field. Ironing the muslin might be a PITA, but it will eliminate the wrinkles. However...if you can get the background fabric literally 10 to 12 feet behind her, it will be far enough behind that wrinkles are a non-factor.

THIS very issue is a real problem/factor when shooting a crop-frame d-slr in a cramped space, and I know first-hand how difficult it can be to shoot in a garage or living room makeshift studio. I in fact used to work in a portrait studio where I shot a half-frame long-roll film camera with an image capture size very similar in size to a Nikon 1.5x APS-C frame, so I am intimately familiar with backgrounds and how they render with the smaller capture format. At another studio, we used RB67's which had a MUCH shallower depth of fiend and a MUCH more impressionistic background rendering of fabric backdrops. The best thing to do with a 1.5x d-slr is to shoot from a far distance, with a telephoto lens setting,and to keep the model as far in front of the fabric as you can; the long lens will give a narrow angle of view **behind** the model, and this will sublimate the background. It's worth it to open the garage door and shoot from outside in, to get farther away, or even to shoot from another room, to get the increased camera distance.

I also see some evidence of a too-cool white balance in shots #2 and #3...she looks a tad bit blueish in her face. Also, and not many people think of this, but most real people look better when they apply a pumice stone to their elbows before a photo session. She actually looks like an excellent model for this Bad Dad line of T-shirts. Right age, right body type, right "look". Very pretty lady.

 

[12sndsgood]

what i just heard is that i need to get my butt in gear and get working on my show car so that next time we try this i can get it out of the garage and gain another 10-15 feet lol.

danielle is a good friend of mine and always willing to model for me when we can get together which has been great.

thanks for the C&C