Help! How do I make this look less fake?

[DeadEye]

Ok you are set with all you need.Now play with it and remember to keep it simple to start with.

Use just one subject (for simplicity).

It will be hard to get a pure white background without backlight so i would X that out.

Stand your subject close to the paper backdrop if you want the light color that you were going after
Put a strobe with reflector (6"funnel thingy) and barn doors on a boom stand. Position it so it is above (out of camera view) and almost touching the paper, aimed close to straight down but forward a tad, now the barn door should be up on the backside so that it lets the light spill in an inverted v across the backdrop. Flag the other door down to control this as your hair light AND keep it from creating lens flare.

Placement will be tricky, just the right spot will yield the background you want and double as a hair light

Use the modeling light to help in placement and get this light nailed in place before the subject enters the set.

Now stand or sit the subject so that the barn door flaged side of the hair light just hits the backside of the hair, again placement of subject will be tricky.

Tip~ You can angle this setup to make it look more natural as with the sun (our brain like to see light as if the sun made it)

Phewwww. Now you have a hair light with spill to light the backdrop


Main light, I would choose the beauty dish (22 or so inch) and grid it.

Put it on a stand with wheels and counterweight at bottom if you got it.
Up high about 9 feet aim it down at angle so the nose shadow looks good

This light should sorta graze the subject .

Hope this helps.

D.E.

 

[JeffieLove]

Holy crap. Thanks

I only have one kid coming into the studio this week I think. So I will definitely use this this week Thanks again for the huge amount of help! Hopefully I can make this work

 

[GooniesNeverSayDie11]

Part of the reason it looks fake isn't because of the flat lighting, its because of the boy on the right. His shoulder and arm lines are nearly exactly the same as the edges of the dump trunk. The pose is totally visually awkward. Flat lighting and flat perspective. :meh:

This is exactly what I was going to say. I don't think your edit looks too bad actually, just the awkward posing of the boy gives an odd perspective and makes it look cut and pasted.

 

[JeffieLove]

Any suggestions how I can change that in post?

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

You can't.

 

[Pea-Pod]

I would have to agree, Play with the lighting. Is this something that you can Re-take? Also it looks like the whole picture itself is over exposed. The white on the background doesnt have to be "Bleach white". Sometimes its to much. What kind of lights are you using? Im by no means a pro, but thats what I am seeing .

 

[KmH]

In post, your best bet is to try the 'Color Range' function if you have Ps CS.

 

[OrionsByte]

To me what makes it look fake is that the kids are very low-contrast, which just doesn't fit against such a bright white background. Here's a small adjustment to show you what I mean - I know it looks like crap, because generally I don't think you want this much contrast for portraits, but I think it looks a little less "fake."

The real way to fix this, as others have said, would be to light it differently when the shot was taken, to avoid that flat look and get more natural contrast.

 

[JeffieLove]

I would have to agree, Play with the lighting. Is this something that you can Re-take? Also it looks like the whole picture itself is over exposed. The white on the background doesnt have to be "Bleach white". Sometimes its to much. What kind of lights are you using? Im by no means a pro, but thats what I am seeing .

I can't reshoot at this point... I have another client scheduled to be in the studio with me this week.

Do you mean that you think the original is over exposed?? I thought it was good as far as exposure if not even a little under exposed...

The lights we have in the studio I think are basically equivalent to AlienBees but they aren't alien bees. Like we have 800w, 1200w, 1600w, and 1800w. The hair light in this photo was an 800w and the main light was a 1200w. The only other thing I had was a reflector camera left. The main light was right next to me at camera right and the hair light was almost all the way at the back of the backdrop camera left. The hairlight had just a 6" reflector thing on it and the main light had a super large softbox. The biggest one we have in the studios at school, not sure of the dimensions.

In post, your best bet is to try the 'Color Range' function if you have Ps CS.

I will find that tool and see what I can do with it. I've never heard of it or used it.

 

[mrpink]

Okay... So, here's the original...

Like the others said, the only way to make it look totally legit is to reshoot with proper lighting.

Here is my quick take on it.


EDIT_ONLY_MRPINK_TPF5 by Matt Francosky, on Flickr







p!nK

 

[Forkie]

Part of the reason it looks fake isn't because of the flat lighting, its because of the boy on the right. His shoulder and arm lines are nearly exactly the same as the edges of the dump trunk. The pose is totally visually awkward. Flat lighting and flat perspective. :meh:

I guess I haven't figured out how to get "non-flat" lighting in the studio...

Hummmmmm Was this not an assignment? In studio lighting? Lets not try to PS this .

The more you fiddle with the lights the better you will be, I think thats the way to go.

What do you have in the way of modifiers?

The assignment was to do a portrait using two lights. We don't have to have the background pure white. Having the background pure white is 100% just something I want to learn either using my lighting set up or via PS.

Modifiers we have: Grids (honeycomb things), softboxes of all different sizes, reflective umbrellas, may have shoot through umbrellas (don't remember sorry...), beauty dishes, and we have just those silver funnel looking things that go on the strobes.. Oh, and snoots and barn doors... I think that's it... Pretty much everything lol

Could you put a white sheet or paper over the lights to soften the flash a bit?

 

[JeffieLove]

I used softboxes on the hair light and the main light. The fill was only a reflector. I don't think the light can get much softer than that...