help and advice for a complete novice would be much apreciated

heavanslilangel · Mar 4, 2012

hi all, im from england, i have recently got into photography and am loving it. most of what i already know is self taught by either researching the internet or experimenting with my camera. at christmas my husband brought me a fuji hs20 exr and i have spent the last few weeks trying to stay away from the preset functions and use my program mode etc so that i can play with my settings and work out for myself what results they will achieve. i also recently started a 10 week course " digital photography for beginers", after which i will be able to progress onto an NCFE certificate in photography level 1. i also recently purchased a lastolite hilite with train and some flash/strobe studio lighting (180 watts x 3) soft box x2, tripod, shutter release and some other bits and pieces that came with the lights, i.e, gels, honeycomb,flash trigger etc. its not high end stuff but my budget didnt stretch far and what i have seems to be doing what it says on the tin. i am really taken with this portrait photography stuff right now. i know i need to broaden my outlook and i have been out and about and taken some other shots outside/macro shots etc but i really do love the pp. but i am however looking for some advice (ideally i would love someone to mentor me if anyone had any spare time) but any advice would be well appreciated. so heres one of my problems, i set up my hi lite,( 6x7), lights,tripod, camera etc but i dont know how to set off the flash on the strobes with this remote thingy that came with them. it seems that the only way to trigger the flashes on the strobes is with the built in flash on my camera and that is giving me a yellow light , i tried adjusting white balance etc. and if i shut the on camera flash down the strobes will not trigger, ahhhhhh. what am i doing wrong. i am using 2 x 180 watts in my hi lite, 1 x 180 watt with soft box and turned down just over half way for my sbject, i seem to be getting the white background, ok sometimes i need to just adjust the brightness a little with photo editing but it seems pretty white to begin with. also would anyone have any idea what lights and what wattage i would use to light the train as there is a slight colour diffrence between the hi lite and train which is annoying the hell out of me. this is my first post so im still working how to post on this site but once i have i will try to add a couple of pictures i have taken, any advice would be great good or bad, it all helps and i am eager to learn. thanks in advance for any replies,

lisa

heavanslilangel · Mar 4, 2012

$393739_10151134825540517_761125516_21794564_369893889_n.jpg

$401333_10151168044640517_761125516_21905578_2060877548_n.jpg

[QUO[Qtaken with muslim backgrond,first ever attempt[/QUOTEmuslim background first attempts][/QUOTE]others taken with hi lite

heavanslilangel · Mar 4, 2012

first two pics were my first ever attempts at pp, taken with muslim background and no lights, last 3 are taken using my new hi lite.

KmH · Mar 4, 2012

Your post is difficult to read because you have ignored the Shift and Enter keys on your keyboard. It's just a solid block of text.

heavanslilangel · Mar 4, 2012

oh, sorry, do you mean the text on the photos? i did realise when i posted the photos which is why i put the other post underneath the photos, or did you mean the whole text as its comming up ok when i look at it,lol.

Forkie · Mar 4, 2012

heavanslilangel said:
Hi all, I'm from England, I have recently got into photography and am loving it. Most of what I already know is self taught by either researching the internet or experimenting with my camera.

At Christmas my husband bought me a Fuji HS20EXR and I have spent the last few weeks trying to stay away from the preset functions and use my program mode etc so that I can play with my settings and work out for myself what results they will achieve. I also recently started a 10 week course; "Digital Photography for Beginners", after which I will be able to progress onto an NCFE certificate in photography level 1.

I also recently purchased a Lastolite Hilite with train and some flash/strobe studio lighting (180 watts x 3) soft box x2, tripod, shutter release and some other bits and pieces that came with the lights, i.e, gels, honeycomb,flash trigger etc. It's not high end stuff but my budget didnt stretch far and what i have seems to be doing what it says on the tin.

I am really taken with this portrait photography stuff right now. I know I need to broaden my outlook and I have been out and about and taken some other shots outside/macro shots etc but I really do love the PP. But I am however looking for some advice (ideally i would love someone to mentor me if anyone had any spare time) but any advice would be well appreciated.

So here's one of my problems, I set up my hi lite,( 6x7), lights,tripod, camera etc but I don't know how to set off the flash on the strobes with this remote thingy that came with them. It seems that the only way to trigger the flashes on the strobes is with the built in flash on my camera and that is giving me a yellow light. I tried adjusting white balance etc., and if I shut the on-camera flash down the strobes will not trigger, ahhhhhh. What am i doing wrong? I am using 2 x 180 watts in my hi lite, 1 x 180 watt with soft box and turned down just over half way for my subject, I seem to be getting the white background ok, sometimes I need to just adjust the brightness a little with photo editing but it seems pretty white to begin with. Also, would anyone have any idea what lights and what wattage I should use to light the train as there is a slight colour diffrence between the hi lite and train which is annoying the hell out of me.

This is my first post so I'm still working how to post on this site but once I have I will try to add a couple of pictures I have taken. Any advice would be great; good or bad, it all helps and I am eager to learn. Thanks in advance for any replies,

Lisa

I think KmH meant something like this!

heavanslilangel · Mar 4, 2012

hehehe, oh i see, no paragraphs etc.

yep sorry my mistake, note to self, take more time when writing my posts. lol, thanks forkie.

480sparky · Mar 4, 2012

heavanslilangel said:
oh, sorry, do you mean the text on the photos? i did realise when i posted the photos which is why i put the other post underneath the photos, or did you mean the whole text as its comming up ok when i look at it,lol.

i think kmh means you cant write proper english when you dont use capitalization and ignore using punctuation marks this turns everything you write into one big long sentence i realize you may do this with all your facebook friends but most people here prefer that you take an extra three seconds when you create a post and use things like the shift key and those little dots and lines that create a readable post i hope this clears it up for u

That said, if you're looking for C&C:

The boy in B&W, I like the expression. However, the dot (button) on his hood it totally distracting.

The girl with the crayon is out-of-focus.

And with the blocks, the hiked-up dress and 'unmentionables' showing is one for the Recycle Bin.

heavanslilangel · Mar 4, 2012

Thanks 480 sparky,
This is my first ever time posting in any sort of forum, so please excuse me for my lazyness.
I will however try to remember my punctuation in the future.
And yes facebook has been my worst enemy, always trying to squeeze as much text as allowed into one small text box.

heavanslilangel · Mar 4, 2012

Mmmm seems i have alot to learn,

But hey, thats why im here right? ,and eveyone has to start at the begining,

Thankyou for the c&c, (what does c&c stand for by the way?)
The little girl is my baby, as is the little boy,
The dress is actually one of those really short dress/top things that has an open back and the pants she is wearing are frilly at the back so are suposed to be displayed, but i see your point and take it on board,
Thankyou

480sparky · Mar 4, 2012

One more suggestion:

Pacifiers are not very photogenic.

heavanslilangel · Mar 4, 2012

Actually i was looking at other posts earlier,
One of which was of a child with a dummy, and someone had said the same thing,
So valid point and also taken on board.

KmH · Mar 4, 2012

Thank you. That is much better and your stock in my book, has increased in value.

Your lighing is generally on the lens axis. That eliminates any shadows on your subjects faces. No shadows makes their faces seem flat, which is why people say the lighting is flat.

Photographic portraiture is about using shadows to 'model' the subjects features. The photo of the man does that, as does the photo of the little girl holding the large Crayon.

heavanslilangel · Mar 4, 2012

Thankyou kmh,

I have looked again at the pictures and i get what you mean.
The first two pictures were taken without any lighting except the camera flash, as i was waiting for the studio lights to arrive,

The one of the man (my husband) and my daughter with the crayon were the first pictures i took once my lights arrived.And i had the key light off to the right side,just in front of the camera/tripod,turned just over half way down.

I have a terrible habit of running away with myself,(TRYING TO RUN BEFORE I CAN WALK), and like i said i am still really only at the basics at the moment.

I might take some more practice shots tomorrow taking on board some of the advice given.

Thanks again