No Cigarretts were harmed in the making of these photos....

[JustJazzie]

I'm in colorado. ;-)

Im trying to get some lighting practice in before tuesday when I am shooting my friend. This was done with two strobes, the hair light was gridded and diffused, the main light was gridded, diffused, and had barn doors on it.
iso 400. f4 & f 2.8, 1/200

1)

2)

3)

(This post has been updated with the suggested edits)

 

[frommrstomommy]

I like #1. I want to like 2 and 3 but something about your pose.. I think in the arms mainly.. feels tense.

 

[Granddad]

I tend to agree with frommrstomommy - but ignoring the poses and concentrating on the lighting, I think you've got the lighting pretty much spot on for #1. #2 and #3 the hair light is a bit strong and watch out for the shadows caused by her arms and fingers.

 

[JustJazzie]

I tend to agree with frommrstomommy - but ignoring the poses and concentrating on the lighting, I think you've got the lighting pretty much spot on for #1. #2 and #3 the hair light is a bit strong and watch out for the shadows caused by her arms and fingers.

Posing is always a struggle for me. I did set up a mirror this time, but it's obvious which one I had my glasses on for :giggle:

I definitely see what you mean about the hair light, didn't notice before. I will see if I can burn it down, and try to watch out for that on Tuesday!

 

[CameraClicker]

I think #1 needs more hair light. The top of her head fades into the background. I like the #3 hair light best.
The think I see is that your arms are brighter than your face. Why are you focusing on your arms? The brightest part of the photo is where the eyes go first, unless you are doing interesting things with focus or text. I keep finding your arms!
Try to get your light higher, the shadow from your nose should reach down to the corner of your mouth.

 

[JustJazzie]

I think #1 needs more hair light. The top of her head fades into the background. I like the #3 hair light best.
The think I see is that your arms are brighter than your face. Why are you focusing on your arms? The brightest part of the photo is where the eyes go first, unless you are doing interesting things with focus or text. I keep finding your arms!
Try to get your light higher, the shadow from your nose should reach down to the corner of your mouth.

I struggled finding the right lighting position. If I had it too high then I didn't have enough light in my eye sockets. Im hoping this is easier when I am lighting someone else and I can actually see what I am doing instead of "Guess, shoot, check"

 

[JustJazzie]

Okay, I burned (with a curve) the arm, Dodged the hair line (and fixed its shape) Better?

 

[Granddad]

I like the specs! - and if you ask 10 photographers' opinions you'll get 15 different versions... all of which are valid. Pick the one's that you agree with and consider the others, too. Art is a subjective thing.

Posing is a bear - I always recruit my wife as director of posing - then shoot hundreds of shots and dump 90+%. In a way shooting dancers (my speciality) is easy because I just tell them to dance and I shoot, shoot, shoot, then dump, dump, dump. As I get more experience I find I shoot less and dump less.

 

[JustJazzie]

I like the specs! - and if you ask 10 photographers' opinions you'll get 15 different versions... all of which are valid. Pick the one's that you agree with and consider the others, too. Art is a subjective thing.

Posing is a bear - I always recruit my wife as director of posing - then shoot hundreds of shots and dump 90+%. In a way shooting dancers (my speciality) is easy because I just tell them to dance and I shoot, shoot, shoot, then dump, dump, dump. As I get more experience I find I shoot less and dump less.

Thanks! I actually like my glasses too. In fact, I desperately need a new pair, but I can't find the same frames so I won't get new ones! Lol.

I shot probably 250 last night to get three decent ones. It's an embarrassing keep rate really. *sigh*

 

[Granddad]

Thanks! I actually like my glasses too. In fact, I desperately need a new pair, but I can't find the same frames so I won't get new ones! Lol.

I shot probably 250 last night to get three decent ones. It's an embarrassing keep rate really. *sigh*

Selfies are the hardest. Think of it as a discerning eye rather than an embarrassing keep rate.

 

[JustJazzie]

Thanks! I actually like my glasses too. In fact, I desperately need a new pair, but I can't find the same frames so I won't get new ones! Lol.

I shot probably 250 last night to get three decent ones. It's an embarrassing keep rate really. *sigh*

Selfies are the hardest. Think of it as a discerning eye rather than an embarrassing keep rate.

:Giggle: Thats much nicer than I would have put it!

 

[Derrel]

Very sultry! You make smoking sexy! I dunno...selfies are very tough, very low keeper rate due to the challenges present in lighting a phantom subject. My thoughts: the shadows cast by the hand and arm actually add to the 3-D feeling. The lighting pattern's results on the face and nose shadow are good at revealing facial shape. Main light casts an 11 o'clock catchlight, which is fine; anywhere in that top-most part of the eyeball keeps the nose shadow dropping downward a bit: I like it when the nose shadow drops DOWN a bit, below the bottom on the nose, but not touching the top of the lip; somewhere in that range is good for modified loop type lighting set-ups. This lighting setup works pretty well with the subject facing toward the camera; it's pretty close to optimal for the mood and pose/subject matter. If the subject were turned more toward the main light, the effect would be different. Overall, this is pretty good, but I do think the hair light is a slight bit weak at the very top of the head.

The thing about lighting changes is that mere INCHES in light and or subject or subject/light position can change the results significantly, for better or for worse. This lighting setup worked very well for this kind of low-key,sultry kind of subject.

 

[JustJazzie]

Very sultry! You make smoking sexy! I dunno...selfies are very tough, very low keeper rate due to the challenges present in lighting a phantom subject. My thoughts: the shadows cast by the hand and arm actually add to the 3-D feeling. The lighting pattern's results on the face and nose shadow are good at revealing facial shape. Main light casts an 11 o'clock catchlight, which is fine; anywhere in that top-most part of the eyeball keeps the nose shadow dropping downward a bit: I like it when the nose shadow drops DOWN a bit, below the bottom on the nose, but not touching the top of the lip; somewhere in that range is good for modified loop type lighting set-ups. This lighting setup works pretty well with the subject facing toward the camera; it's pretty close to optimal for the mood and pose/subject matter. If the subject were turned more toward the main light, the effect would be different. Overall, this is pretty good, but I do think the hair light is a slight bit weak at the very top of the head.

The thing about lighting changes is that mere INCHES in light and or subject or subject/light position can change the results significantly, for better or for worse. This lighting setup worked very well for this kind of low-key,sultry kind of subject.

Thanks Derrel, I always appreciate your thoughts. I did want a certain amount of shadows in these. I wanted more Of an edgy hard light feel. I was using a giant teddy bear bungee corded to a light stand to fill in as a lighting dummy, but apparently we don't have the same face shape. :giggle: I was trying to get the shadow right, but even the difference from what I was seeing in the mirror, (directly below the camera) was different from what my lens was picking up. someday, I swear I'll get the *perfect* selfie. That or I'll break down and hire someone. But I suppose that would take the fun out of it all, huh? ;-)

 

[Derrel]

I think the results look pretty good, really, even at this low resolution. It's a good, moody type of lighting set-up. I think the noir-ish lighting really works! If you use this kind of setup on another person, then you'll have the ability to literally SEE how the light is interacting on them, and also to shoot and then instantly review the lighting effect and pose on the camera's LCD.

I just wanted to mention, a lot of people are not aware that lighting is mostly about very SMALL changes, not big, huge changes, not global-level adjustments, not major revisions to the lighting, but very small, minor, carefully-arrived-at shifts. I mean instead of moving a light six feet one way or another, moving the main light maybe three or four inches higher or lower, or moving it six inches to a foot closer, rather than a huge, major shift. Or having the subject turn 10,15,20 degrees away or toward the main light. This lighting pattern is fundamentally solid; it's the SELFIE aspect, and the shooting blind aspects that might be undermining your confidence. If you had another person there, you'd be shooting probably 40 to 50% keepers with this lighting pattern and a similar subject dropping into place.

 

[JustJazzie]

If you had another person there, you'd be shooting probably 40 to 50% keepers with this lighting pattern and a similar subject dropping into place.

Let's hope this is true! I got a reluctant friend to model for maternity pictures on Tuesday! I've got a lot of poses planned and not sure how much time well have. 40% keep rate might make it feasible!