Studio Lights Setup

[Big Mike]

I have been working on shots in my studio for about the past week and I have noticed that my shots appear to be overexposed. According to the histogram on the camera and in Lightroom, the exposure is perfect but the photo just seems blown out. I have been taking pictures of my wife that is pretty fair-skinned and the left side of her face seems to be blown out. Again, according to histograms the photo is not.

If you have parts of your image that are blowing out...then you are over exposing. That is why I recommended reducing the exposure.

If you like the exposure that you have (say, on her face) but are still getting parts that are blown out...then you need to diagnose where the blown out parts are being lit from, and change something. It might be something like your background umbrella is sending light back to your subject...or maybe it's bouncing off of the wall or ceiling. It's important for you to consider all of the light sources that may be affecting your scene....and that includes the light that is bouncing off of surfaces in the room.

Like we mentioned above, starting with one light can really help you to visualize where the light is going. Besides adding light to your subject with a reflector, remember that you can subtract light from your subject by blocking light. You can use just about anything to block light, we call them flags or Gobos (Go Between). Black objects work well because they won't reflect much light back into your scene.

Lastly, you say that parts of your image are starting to blow out...but that the histogram looks fine. That makes me wonder what you consider a good histogram to be...maybe you could upload a sample image, along with the histogram.

 

[gsgary]

this is what you get with light on your black backdrop' it looks crap unless it is perfectly flat or nicely ruffled

And no light on the background

Don't worry about the histogram when shooting in the studio because if you are shooting high key it will be well over to the right and if shooting low key it will be well to the left, these above if you looked at the histogram it will be to the left but that does not mean it is bad

 

[dandaluzphotography]

Thanks for the example. I'm still gonna do my homework tonight!!!

Danny

 

[dandaluzphotography]

Ok...

So here is my latest attempt.

Settings were 1/200, f/8, 35mm, ISO 100

Definitely looks better than the last one. I've also attached a diagram of the setup. Thoughts?

Histogram:

Diagram of the setup:

You guys probably know about this, but I found a pretty cool website that lets you create exportable studio diagrams. Check it out. Creator / Home - Online Lighting Diagram Creator - Tools for photographers

Danny

 

[dandaluzphotography]

Lastly, you say that parts of your image are starting to blow out...but that the histogram looks fine. That makes me wonder what you consider a good histogram to be...maybe you could upload a sample image, along with the histogram.

Hi Mike,

I've always thought a good histogram to be one that doesn't clip highlights or cause darker parts of an image to lose detail. Gary brought up a good point before which I have actually read before but lost sight of; that just because a histogram is mostly left or mostly right, doesn't make it bad. Bright image, histogram more to the right, darker image, histogram more to the left. As he demonstrated with the pics he attached, left or right doesn't make it bad, it just reflects what the image is.

Thanks,
Danny

 

[Derrel]

Well, that's side-by-side umbrella lighting: soft lighting with almost no shadowing, big double catchlights in the eyes. She has a lovely, very symmetrical face, which is great for photography. I honestly think it would have looked better to have used one umbrella to light her, and just used a reflector for a little bit of fill on the off-side. her skin is still very smooth and un-wrinkled, and so, I think you ought to save this lighting setup for another 30 years or so, for her.

 

[dandaluzphotography]

I honestly think it would have looked better to have used one umbrella to light her, and just used a reflector for a little bit of fill on the off-side.

Thanks! I'll try that setup tomorrow and upload the result.

Danny

 

[Propsguy]

Well your shutter speed is static in studio... there's no advantage to changing your shutter speed because for one thing, you need to work within the limits of your flash sync speed, and for another, the duration of the flash is determining the time element of your exposure.

Your ISO should also be static in studio.... keep it low... that's the end of that discussion.

For your exposure, choose the exposure that gives you the depth of field that suits your shot, and adjust your lighting to suit.

In other words, no... don't adjust your lighting and then adjust your camera to suit. Set your camera to give you the desired capture, and light to suit.

best of of luck....

 

[joealcantar]

If you use an accurate light meter you will not have these issues.

That's coming soon!

-
2nd this.
-
Another option is to turn on your blinking highlights when you are viewing your pics on the camera it may help point out the blown highlights regardless of the histogram.
-
Shoot well, Joe
-
Someone mentioned a single light on her , that would be cool. Reflector for fill (get brave and get it close to her. Tell her to turn a little more so it is not a straight on shot. you want to have and angle on the face. (Never broad light a broad) well that is the way a master explained broad lighting on women. You can try the second light as a hair light, (very low power) to give it a different look.
-

 

[Big Mike]

Well, it looks like you have the exposure figured out (for that shot anyway). But like Derrel said...that is very flat lighting. That may be good for documenting that you have a wife...but it's not very artistic.

So next time, turn off one of the lights and just use one. That will allow you to create a lit side and a shadow side of your subject. The position of the light and the position/angle/pose of the model will determine how & where the lit side transitions into the shadow side. This is where you can learn and use portrait lighting patterns.
Using only one light, your shadow side will likely be very dark, which usually makes for a very moody type shot. Once you have the lighting pattern you want, use the 2nd light (or a reflector) for fill. Traditionally, the fill light was placed very close to the camera position, rather that opposite the main light.

 

[GeneralBenson]

If you use an accurate FLASH meter you will not have these issues.

Quoted and edited for clarification. Not all light meters will work for flash exposure.

Not needed though. While there are some advantages to using light meters, and some people definitely prefer to work that way, they most certainly not needed to get a good exposure. Shooting film is one story, but now we have screens on the back of our cameras that are reasonably accurate, and more importantly, histograms that are completely accurate.

So I hate to say it, but unless you camera and Lightroom are broken exactly the same way, then you don't know how to read of histogram. The only time clipped highlights can be hard to see on a histogram is when they represent a small portion of the photo, and therefore are a very small piece of the histo, like if a person who was small in a photo had a blown out face, it wouldn't represent much of the histo. Bt since your shooting portrait, I would assum that the face is the majority of the photo, in which case, if it's blown out, then qit should be a big chunk of the histogram jammed up against the right wall. Do you understand how to read histogram data? Anything touching either wall is gone. No data. The right side is highlights, the left side is shadows. Just because all the data is opn the histogram, doesn't mean it's not blown out, in terms of way to bright. Theres still information, but it can still be too bright. If you're shooting a portrait, and the hist is all over the right side, its probably too bright, unles you're shooting high key on purpose.

Between you back screen preview and the histogram, there's no reason why something should ever look different than you thought it would.

 

[gsgary]

This is a crap photo of my partner i was shooting dogs and in between waiting for more customers i told here to pose (she hates her photo being taken)
but it gives you an idea of what a hair light looks like even if it is a bit strong

 

[dandaluzphotography]

Well, it looks like you have the exposure figured out (for that shot anyway). But like Derrel said...that is very flat lighting. That may be good for documenting that you have a wife...but it's not very artistic.

So next time, turn off one of the lights and just use one. That will allow you to create a lit side and a shadow side of your subject. The position of the light and the position/angle/pose of the model will determine how & where the lit side transitions into the shadow side. This is where you can learn and use portrait lighting patterns.
Using only one light, your shadow side will likely be very dark, which usually makes for a very moody type shot. Once you have the lighting pattern you want, use the 2nd light (or a reflector) for fill. Traditionally, the fill light was placed very close to the camera position, rather that opposite the main light.

Thanks for the reply. I'll be trying that tonight.

Danny

 

[GeneralBenson]

Well, that's side-by-side umbrella lighting: soft lighting with almost no shadowing, big double catchlights in the eyes. She has a lovely, very symmetrical face, which is great for photography. I honestly think it would have looked better to have used one umbrella to light her, and just used a reflector for a little bit of fill on the off-side. her skin is still very smooth and un-wrinkled, and so, I think you ought to save this lighting setup for another 30 years or so, for her.

Agreed! If you want something to look interesting, don't light all of it.

My vote would go for what Derrel said, and then use the other light as a rim/hair light to give her some separation from the black void. Right now it has about as much depth as a postage stamp. A little separation light to make her pop off the background would give a long way.

 

[dandaluzphotography]

This is a crap photo of my partner i was shooting dogs and in between waiting for more customers i told here to pose (she hates her photo being taken)
but it gives you an idea of what a hair light looks like even if it is a bit strong

I've seen examples of a snoot being used with a hair light. Is this generally a good method? You mentioned the hair light is a bit strong. My idea of a hair light is very faint light just to bring out highlights. Is this thinking correct?

Danny