New Studio Setup. C&C!

[JackRabbit]

Canon EOS Rebel T1i

Manual settings:
ISO 100
f/7.1
1/125

 

[syphlix]

i don't like the pose - she showing me her pits (and don't really like the finger that peeks out on the right side of her head)

also, you could try messing with the lighting ratios btwn your two lights to add more depth.

could also try using one light for the subject and a light either on the background or for a rim to add some separation

 

[JackRabbit]

I tried that second idea but I found that half the time the off camera flash wouldn't fire because of the ****ty optical slave, excuse my French. I feel like the necessity of having an flash on camera limits what I can do so much. I wish I could somehow produce 60ish dollars so I could at least get some cactus triggers. but unfortunately, I have had no such luck.

but until then, bouncing is my best option.

 

[dizzyg44]

As the old adage goes in portraiture...

If you want to make a face interesting, don't light the whole face.....

I.e. the shadows and contrast needed as others mention.

for cheap off camera lighting, you don't need wireless though they are convenient. Get really long pc sync cables and a hotshoe to pc adapter if your camera doesn't have a pc socket. If you look around you can find all the cabling you need for around $10.

 

[gsgary]

She is also a bit too close to the background and there is no separation from the background , try one light from behind as a hair light or to light the background slightly and one at the front with a reflector
She has got to be your sister ?

 

[Timothy]

i think a bit of a crop off the bottom give a bit of a better overall look, if you crop just below the chest, as you seem to had chopped her at the wrist as it is, and as another said the finger showing on the other side of the head is distracting, just for next time eh.

And maybe if you could get some backlighting in there, or a hair light, perhaps a continuous light.

but your doing some good work, and practising which is the best thing

 

[jackieclayton]

i like it, but the lighting is a little flat and i'm not super crazy about the pose, but i think thats just my taste. gorgeous girl, love her hair color!

 

[Timothy]

typical that that's what you would notice, no doubt first

 

[kkamin]

what camera are you using and what setting?

Why is that relevant to you? I'm just curious.

 

[Timothy]

just wondering what gear he was using and what apature and shutter speed

why does it matter to you out of curiosity?

 

[kkamin]

just wondering what gear he was using and what apature and shutter speed

why does it matter to you out of curiosity?

Just curious. I see people ask that sometimes and I couldn't figure out why exactly. Makes sense. Thanks.

 

[Timothy]

that's alright, and he said that he used f7.1 then i could say, well hey if you want to speerate the subject from the background more, try something like f4 or similar

sometimes it can help with the comments imo

 

[JackRabbit]

Ok so I did another shoot yesterday and did what you guys said and dropped the power on one of my flashes and I found that it created a "two faced" effect in that one side of the face was slightly shadowed, but it was split right down the middle.Is this a desirable effect? From what I've seen in portraiture, this is not a good thing.

 

[JackRabbit]

this is a diagram of my old lighting set up and my new one. Any suggestions for how to improve this?

 

[kkamin]

Ok so I did another shoot yesterday and did what you guys said and dropped the power on one of my flashes and I found that it created a "two faced" effect in that one side of the face was slightly shadowed, but it was split right down the middle.Is this a desirable effect? From what I've seen in portraiture, this is not a good thing.

That is called split lighting and it probably isn't very flattering for your subject. My advise is to look up lighting diagrams for beauty lighting or Rembrandt lighting. Those styles tend to model the face in a nice way.