Jessica

[tirediron]

From a portfolio shoot yesterday. Of interest to some may be the fact that the background is the same (Savage Thunder Grey); the coloured effects demonstrate how easily it can be changed with the simple expedient of a gelled speedlight. C&C always welcome.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

 

[jwbryson1]

Question: how many gelled speedlights did it take to change the color of the background and how close together did you place them?

I am still trying to get my black muslin backdrop to go dark blue with 3 gelled YN 560 Mark II units, but I always end up with black "spots" between the blue areas.

 

[tirediron]

1 SB800 on (I think) 1/4 or 1/8 power laying on the floor behind her; maybe 3' from the vertical section.

 

[jwbryson1]

1 SB800 on (I think) 1/4 or 1/8 power laying on the floor behind her; maybe 3' from the vertical section.

Wow, maybe I was trying to illuminate too much of the backdrop then. I was using 3 and had difficulty.

 

[tirediron]

You might have had the power too high as well which will just desaturate the gel; drop the output and try it.

 

[ColeGauthier]

My favorite one out of the gang would be the first one! I think these could you use a tad bit more warmth such as the example below. Not too much of a fan of the pose in the last picture. Just my opinion

 

[tirediron]

Thanks! #5 is my least-favorite as well, but that was toward the end of the shoot when we were in the "Hey, let's try..." mood. I can't see your example image (I get a secure server log-in request), but I'm curious as to how cool they appear. They're dialled in on my calibrated monitor, both visually and according to my Colorchecker Passport.

 

[ColeGauthier]

Sorry about that! I have fixed the link! Yeah that's how I get too when we get close to the!

 

[runnah]

Warmed it, darkened the midtones and changed the shirt. The issue I had was that her red shirt, the necklace and the very light chest area all were taking attention away from her face.

 

[jwbryson1]

You might have had the power too high as well which will just desaturate the gel; drop the output and try it.

I had no clue---that makes sense. I was thinking the higher the output, the greater the saturation, but I guess a higher power output may just overpower the saturation. Cool. :hail:

 

[tirediron]

Okay, I see the difference; I'm going to have to look at my monitor calibration... I agree with your comment about the shirt, but the problem now is, for me, it doesn't work with the dark blue background nearly as well.

 

[runnah]

but the problem now is, for me, it doesn't work with the dark blue background nearly as well.

I disagree. What are you trying to highlight here? Her shirt or her face?

Her eyes are amazing so that should be the focus here.

 

[cgipson1]

John, Skin tones do look cool to me too (Especially #1 cyan and #3 green)... Runnah's edit is pretty good.

 

[tirediron]

but the problem now is, for me, it doesn't work with the dark blue background nearly as well.

I disagree. What are you trying to highlight here? Her shirt or her face?
Her eyes are amazing so that should be the focus here.

Definitely want to highlight the eyes, (You have no idea how long it took to get her to open them like that!), but I don't like black on dark; now, if I take the dress and make it a very dark red vice black... It's not a right or wrong thing, it's subjective.

John, Skin tones do look cool to me too (Especially #1 cyan and #3 green)... Runnah's edit is pretty good.

Time to recalibrate, definitely! I like the edit, I just think the black is too much "dark".

 

[hirejn]

Not bad, but do you do retouching? These generally show some dimension, and that's key in portraits. Highlights protrude and shadows recede; you need both.