Please check lighting...

[Photos de l'amour]

I was messing around today with my sb-600 cuz I am doing a practice boudoir shoot tomorrow and wanted to know what you thought of the lighting. Not the composition just the lighting. The lamp in the background was not for lighting, just was seeing what it looked like. I am looking for a nice warm light.

1.

2.

3. without flash

 

[Derrel]

With the flash on and the incandescent light in the background, the overall look is warm and pleasant. With the flash turned off, the overall look is a bit cool in terms of white balance. If you want to shoot without flash and with that light on in the background, the camera could use a white balance warm-up, something like -2 or -3 in the white balance offset. For shooting indoor people photos near a window, like in this scenario, the actual white balance you have the camera set to is super-critical.

 

[JasonLambert]

The lamp seemed to work in #1 but had some distracting shadows in 2 and is just blown out in 3. How about candles? Might look nice in a boudoir shoot. Your not using the lamp for lighting anyway.

 

[Photos de l'amour]

With the flash on and the incandescent light in the background, the overall look is warm and pleasant. With the flash turned off, the overall look is a bit cool in terms of white balance. If you want to shoot without flash and with that light on in the background, the camera could use a white balance warm-up, something like -2 or -3 in the white balance offset. For shooting indoor people photos near a window, like in this scenario, the actual white balance you have the camera set to is super-critical.

These are SOOC, is the white balance correct in 1 and 2? That is the lighting I will be using. I don't like the one without the flash at all. I just wanted to see what the flash was actually doing, lol.


I will def. have the candles lit, I have a ton in the room. Thanks

 

[pbelarge]

If it is not too late there, maybe try toning the light down just a little, lets see what it looks like. I like the shots, you have a heck of a model to work with.

 

[Photos de l'amour]

It's too late and my model is sound asleep, lol. What do you mean by toning it down? Is that in the camera menu under flash? This was my first time using the flash, I just got is a couple days ago.

 

[KmH]

Yes, the white balance was good in #1 & #2.

 

[NateS]

First off, you shoot at 1/20th with flash, but 1/5oth without (same aperture on both). Try shooting between 1/60th and 1/100th with flash to tone down the ambient and that lamp. You don't want to get rid of the lamp light completely, but don't want it blaring either. I'd also open your aperture up to around f/4 or so with the flash. If you're doing boudoir then the scene is just as important as the subject....so a little more DOF might not hurt.

 

[Photos de l'amour]

First off, you shoot at 1/20th with flash, but 1/5oth without (same aperture on both). Try shooting between 1/60th and 1/100th with flash to tone down the ambient and that lamp. You don't want to get rid of the lamp light completely, but don't want it blaring either. I'd also open your aperture up to around f/4 or so with the flash. If you're doing boudoir then the scene is just as important as the subject....so a little more DOF might not hurt.

Ok, all that is the part I am having a hard time with. I don't understand the 1/20th, that is the shutter speed, correct? In the camera it doesn't say that. It shows a number but in a dif. form I guess. I am shooting in manual mode so I just make sure the meter in in the middle. I might have forgotten in the one without the flash, IDK.

 

[reznap]

to OP:
That's how I started with manual mode on my Fuji camera. I'd just play with it til the light meter looked centered and click. That's not really using the camera to its potential though. Good times though

What NateS is saying is that if you use a shorter and faster shutter speed the light in the room is not going to be as bright. Whatever your flash lands on will look the same though. The flash happens (is on and then off again) pretty instantly so shutter speed has no effect on your exposure for what your flash lands on.

So (as another forum member put it) when shooting with flash, set your shutter speed for the background and the aperture for the subject. You can play around with aperture and flash power as well for depth of field purposes.. ie, open the aperture up a stop and turn the flash compensation down a stop.

EDIT: To everyone else: Also, all this talk of boudoir - I always related that to adults in their underwear.. not kids in their PJs. The term being used in this thread bugs me. Just my $.02

I'd also open your aperture up to around f/4 or so with the flash. If you're doing boudoir then the scene is just as important as the subject....so a little more DOF might not hurt.

He means close it a little.. higher number, smaller hole.

 

[Photos de l'amour]

What NateS is saying is that if you use a shorter and faster shutter speed the light in the room is not going to be as bright. Whatever your flash lands on will look the same though. The flash happens (is on and then off again) pretty instantly so shutter speed has no effect on your exposure for what your flash lands on.

So (as another forum member put it) when shooting with flash, set your shutter speed for the background and the aperture for the subject. You can play around with aperture and flash power as well for depth of field purposes.. ie, open the aperture up a stop and turn the flash compensation down a stop.

EDIT: To everyone else: Also, all this talk of boudoir - I always related that to adults in their underwear.. not kids in their PJs. The term being used in this thread bugs me. Just my $.02

I'd also open your aperture up to around f/4 or so with the flash. If you're doing boudoir then the scene is just as important as the subject....so a little more DOF might not hurt.

He means close it a little.. higher number, smaller hole.

So don't put my meter in the middle then? Putting it one click below middle will lower the shutter how much?
I understand the aperture part.

I don't understand your comment about boudoir though. These were test shots for a boudoir shoot I have today. I used my daughter to test the lighting. That is why it's a little girl in her pj's. Why does that bug you?

 

[reznap]

One click would be 1/3 a stop, I think. That's the default on my Canon camera and probably is the same on a D90. I'd go a whole stop (3 clicks faster), see how that looks. You'll see that the background will become darker and the subject will be lit the same by the flash.