icky shadows!

[amberl]

(these may be oof my glasses broke)

How do I avoid that icky shadow? I have two lights pointing at her and one behind her.


I do have these in raw, too I just don't have anything to edit them with in the raw format yet. I am going to get cs5 after the beginning of the school year.

 

[tirediron]

First, you need much greater separation between the child and the background. Not sure what your light positioning was, but I'm guessing you weren't using any modifiers. I would suggest one light camera right or left at about 30 degrees with either a soft-box or reflective umbrella as your key light, a second light with umbrella a couple of stops down slightly left or right of camera, reflecting down, and a smll speedlight or strobe immediately behind her, aimed at the background to blow out the background. Depending on your lights, you may want a reflector on the opposite side of your key to help reduce shadow.

Edited to add: This 'site will really help you understand basic lighting placement.

 

[Scatterbrained]

What are you using for flash? If you don't have any light modifiers you could always bounce the light off of a wall or a large sheet of white board to soften it up.

 

[KmH]

The shadows get softer as you make your lights appear larger, which is what photographic umbrellas and softboxes are all about. The goal is usually to get them as close to the subject as possible while still keeping them out of the picture.

An alternative to umbrellas and softboxes is diffusion panels.

If you are using continuous lighting be extra careful, because they get really, really, hot.

 

[white]

Yep. Diffuse lighting and a reflector opposite. The larger the light source, the softer the shadow. Small lights become larger behind diffusing screens, etc. Same principle as the sun behind the clouds.