Portrait Practice - Total noob, part 2

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Different girls- more practicing. I am learning that toddlers do not love strobes! Critique at will- abuse is good for the soul!

 

[tirediron]

Wow, more nice work!

1. Well done; I love the expressions on the girls faces. The eyes in the girl camera left are perfect. Good conversion, but again, somewhat under-exposed. How are you metering? Perhaps bracket 1/2 & 2/3 stop over next time?

2. Again, well done. Good lighting, nice set-up; my only comment here is that a subject in a black shirt against a black background isn't ideal; perhaps a blue shirt to coordinate with her jeans?

Keep up the good work!

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.

~John

 

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John-

Thanks for the vote of confidence! It means a lot-

1. Regarding metering- I use a sekonic l308s light meter. I have been using it in the strobe/cord mode. I think I MUST be doing something wrong. I take the reading under the subject's chin which I think is correct- and I am generally using two or three strobes. (I am limited to a small garage space. As soon as I win the lotto, I'll rectify that problem. lol) Anyway- the meter reading always seems really high. Like say it's calling for F5.6- I'll go and shoot a test shot and it seems blown out. Although- I have really only been viewing the tests in the LCD. But generally I end up stopping down the lights and aperture down further, trying different things until I hit something that seems okay. UGGH! Did I mention I am a NOOB??

2. I'm so glad you said that about the background clothing. I read an article from this guy who said you really should have the clothes match the background so that the highest point of contrast in the photo was the face. Well- I have been trying to do that, and I am not loving some of the results. It would probably help if I could figure out how to light my background more appropriately. So much to learn!

 

[DeadEye]

Well you are doing very good.. Nice work. I use the sekonic L-358 in T mode as I go cordless. Is your lumisphere raised or sunk down? I meter at forehead most of the time ( depends on light placement ) . You might want to try just one light and use bookends ( to simplfy ) wile you try out metering the key , fill and backdrop to get the hang of the meter.

Great Work Dan:thumbup:

 

[DeadEye]

Side note~ When using two or 3 strobes turn off all but the Key to get your reading to set the apature on camera. All other readings Fill , hair , background are for setting up your ratio. The combined readings will give to high a value..

 

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Dan,

Aha! Well, clearly that is what I have been doing wrong. I have been metering with all the strobes flashing. Thanks a million! I will try it out asap-

Much to my great mortification, I don't know what you mean by "bookends"?

 

[DeadEye]

No problem , Im newb to this too. I just read the "Master Lighting Guide for Portrait Photographers" Its a good book.

Bookends are 4x8 sheets of foam core " get them cheep at a hardware store", Taped together so you can stand them up and use to reflect some light from the Key to make fill. Its more easy to move a bookend then it is a light.

 

[SuperThinh12]

good exposures

 

[tirediron]

...I'm so glad you said that about the background clothing. I read an article from this guy who said you really should have the clothes match the background so that the highest point of contrast in the photo was the face...

That holds true if you're using one of the standard mottled portrait backgrounds, or really anything other than black. With a plain, black, background however, lighting it it in such a way as to get separation and detail in black clothing on the subject is very difficult.