Lighting, Catch Lights, & WB Advice

[smoke665]

One of a series of photos not in the final picks, but representative of the problems.'

• The background has red's in the panel, and I was lazy, didn't shoot a balance card before I began. Now I can't decide if the WB is to warm or to cool. Any comments on if this looks right on your monitor?

Lighting was an Octabox on camera right at 5 o'clock, just above the head, angled down slightly, approximately 8' away. Fill light was camera left at 8 o'clock, at head level bouncing off umbrella, approximately 6' away. Lights metered for 2:1. ISO 200, 50mm, F/8 @ 160.

The whites aren't showing blown on the histogram, but the detail on the fur could be better, in the white areas. In fact the histogram shows close to full exposure. Really annoying is the unattractive large catch light replica of the main in the right eye, and both the main and the fill light in the left eye.

So the questions are:

1. Is this a good setup for the lights, or should they be moved, to achieve better detail in the white fur sections? Overall?
2. Can I somehow adjust the lights to diminish the catch lights, or is this going to be a clean up in post?

no-image-available-grid.jpg by William Raber, on Flickr

 

[Derrel]

WB looks ever-so-slightly warm to me, and I mean barely noticeable. I do not think there's anything "wrong"with the WB as shown, but it's always up to the photographer and his vision. The whites look pure enough to me. Catchlights look okay, but if you are unhappy, I would clone the tiny secondary catchlight in that one eye out.

 

[smoke665]

Catchlights look okay, but if you are unhappy, I would clone the tiny secondary catchlight in that one eye out.

I did that in the finals, as well as reduced the one in the right. I think I read that pet eyes are more reflective, but is there any adjustment (up,down, back, forward) that might minimize it some???

 

[Derrel]

Catchlights are always a family of angles issue...incidence equals reflection. Higher and smaller on the light source usually makes catchlights easier to control/position. Something like a 16-inch parabolic reflector with a diffusion cover on it is easier to control than say, a big, curved-front 60-inch shoot-through umbrella. I'm actually not bothered by this catchlight pattern; to me, these catchlights bring eye sparkle.

It is possible to use a large light source, from VERY close-up, so that the catchlight fills the entire eyeball's surface, becoming not a small, pin-point catchlight, but rather a large, fairly diffuse highlight that softly covers the whole eyeball surface. But I do not think this is very practical unless you have a BIG, big modifier.

I dunno. I see no isue with these catchlights. But as I mentioned, elevating the main light high above can minimize the catchlight's glare, but you need to have the room to do that, and keeping the modifier's physical size smaller makes this easier to do, since the eyball is slightly curved, and will "see" the front of a lighted modifier that is larger more readily than a smaller-dimensioned modifier.

 

[Gary A.]

I echo Derrel. The whites look good. That bench is amazing, the back looks new but the rest of the bench looks as if it will fall apart if you blew on it. The balance seem slight off to my eye ... I'd crop a bit from the right, right up to the tail and take some off the top. Yeah, you'll lose the eggs, but it will make the Sadie Mae more prominent.

Dogs and Cats have a special reflective layer/element in their eyes to enhance their low light vision and extremely large pupils. Which is why at night their eyes glow like a Satanic demon when you shine a flashlight directly at them.

 

[smoke665]

Ok @Derrel just a tad cooler on the WB. I guess what's getting me is the size of the catch light. On the one's I corrected post, they're much smaller.

@Gary A. cropped as suggested to a 5x7. The old garden bench was one of those cheapo models that has been setting outside for 10 years. It had a back that went all the way across at the top, but rotted and fell off last year. The ends are cast, and the back is actually a composite (which has held up well). On my list of projects to rebuild, though that will destroy the character for a few more years.

I really need to get in the habit of shooting my White/gray/black Balance Card at the start of a session.
no-image-available-grid.jpg by William Raber, on Flickr