Photo Shoot Attempt 2 (56k...8 photos)

SkWeEkiE · Oct 13, 2006

Alrighty everyone, i am back again with my 2nd attempt @ Portraits. I finally ditched the Home Depot Construction lights and bought some cheap 110w Studio lights from EBAY (Set of 2 for $70 bucks). I know they are not the best but they are sure better than HARSH constuction lights.

This is my Girlfriend who was extremely irritated with me because she wanted to go to sleep and i wanted to test out my new lights... so, I won!

Please feel free to TEAR ME UP with the C&C because I cannot learn any other way!

Enjoy...

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

SkWeEkiE · Oct 13, 2006

6.

7.

8.

oldnavy170 · Oct 13, 2006

Those are nice shoots. I really like the close-ups. Great job!

Big Mike · Oct 13, 2006

Nice work. I'll say it again, you are lucky to have such a good looking and willing model to pose for you.

#6 is my favorite. That one stands out because there is shadow on her face which adds depth. The others are more evenly lit...which is more of a glamour style. That still works and looks good...I just like the artsy stuff better.

Keep up the practicing.

hyp0rbyte · Oct 14, 2006

Very nice.

Could you post a link of the lights you purchased?

ShutteredEye · Oct 14, 2006

Overall you did a good job, especially for the first time messing with these lights.

Couple of suggestions:

First either move your model further away from the back drop and/or open your aperture wider to get a more shallow depth of focus. This will blur out your background, while leaving your model sharp, and we all won't see every crease of your white sheet.

Second, the lighting feels really even to me, which isn't necessarily a bad thing in every situation, but... In portraits like these, where I assume the intent is to get a very intimate and personal feeling, you want more shadows. Not dark, but more shadows. When playing with lights the hardest part to learn is how to look at the shadows rather than the lights. Painting with light really means painting with shadows.

Hope that makes a little bit of sense.

Cute girlfriend by the way!

Lensmeister · Oct 14, 2006

I like #3 & #4 the best she looks natural and not posed. But that's just me. The lighting to me is great too.

I do agree on the backdrop and knocking it out of focus more ... or even use PS to blur it a little.

Overall well done

Thanks for sharing

SkWeEkiE · Oct 15, 2006

hyp0rbyte said:
Very nice.

Could you post a link of the lights you purchased?

Here you go bro:
http://cgi.ebay.com/2-Studio-Strobe-Flash-Umbrella-Softbox-Light-Stand-SET2_W0QQitemZ320037629913QQihZ011QQcategoryZ30087QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

ShutteredEye said:
Overall you did a good job, especially for the first time messing with these lights.

Couple of suggestions:

First either move your model further away from the back drop and/or open your aperture wider to get a more shallow depth of focus. This will blur out your background, while leaving your model sharp, and we all won't see every crease of your white sheet.

Second, the lighting feels really even to me, which isn't necessarily a bad thing in every situation, but... In portraits like these, where I assume the intent is to get a very intimate and personal feeling, you want more shadows. Not dark, but more shadows. When playing with lights the hardest part to learn is how to look at the shadows rather than the lights. Painting with light really means painting with shadows.

Hope that makes a little bit of sense.

Cute girlfriend by the way!

Thanks for the tips! The reason i had her be so closed to the BKG is because that is NOT A SHEET, but a $1 shower curtian that i had just bought right before the shoot and pinned it up to the wall, but it was very small all around so i had to have her close to it, in order to keep the "wall" out of the shot!

-I understand what you mean about the lighting vs shadow's and will DEF have to work on that!

*Thanks for the comments and input everyone! I've got a lot of work to do!

hyp0rbyte · Oct 18, 2006

I have been looking at this set. Do most lighting sets use the same hardware? If I purchased something like the ebay link above, but then purchased some Alienbees' in the future would the same stands work?

+bump for a good shoot

ShootHoops · Oct 18, 2006

Great shots. I like #6 the most.

SkWeEkiE · Oct 18, 2006

hyp0rbyte said:
I have been looking at this set. Do most lighting sets use the same hardware? If I purchased something like the ebay link above, but then purchased some Alienbees' in the future would the same stands work?

+bump for a good shoot

Thanks for the comp! And i am not sure about the hardware...

JenniferLynn84 · Oct 19, 2006

You've got to be really careful about shots like #7, because of the natural neck wrinkles everyone gets in such a position. It's the same thing when you get someone to look over their shoulder. Next time see if you can cover it with her hair, or get her to stretch out her neck.

Love love love 6. 8 isn't terrible! Practice, practice!

SkWeEkiE · Oct 19, 2006

JenniferLynn84 said:
You've got to be really careful about shots like #7, because of the natural neck wrinkles everyone gets in such a position. It's the same thing when you get someone to look over their shoulder. Next time see if you can cover it with her hair, or get her to stretch out her neck.

Love love love 6. 8 isn't terrible! Practice, practice!

Thank you very much for the advice!

and practice i shall!!!

....off to bed for me