Technical C&C requested...

jenn76 · Dec 8, 2008

I'm back! I just fired off a few practice shots with my new lighting I got today.

Setup:
I am using my 420EX on one lightstand with a shoot-thru umbrella (camera left) and a 100 w/s monolight with a reflective umbrella (camera right). I have 2 reflective umbrellas, and one shoot-thru. I didn't have time tonight to switch them around, so I was playing with one of each. I plan to play more tomorrow!

Anyway, I'm hoping someone can give me technical C&C. This is by no means a creative shot. More DMV-like than anything. :lol:

It's my very tired husband who was kind enough to let me snap a few of him before he went to bed. So... I'm hoping for technical C&C that has to do with lighting, exposure, and how much shadow (if any at all) is acceptable with a photo. I adjusted the lights, how far away they were from him, etc, and I couldn't completely get rid of the shadow. What can I look for, work on, and be aware of when shooting indoors with my cheap lighting setup? Thanks in advance!

ANDS! · Dec 9, 2008

How many flashes do you have? You ALMOST got that sucker to fade to white. Next time I would either get that flash higher, or use a second one to blast that shadow into oblivion.

One thing you have got to watch out for are those color casts, of which this photo is afflicted by. Minor quibble easily dropkicked out of your photo though.

Also, no need to be stingy on the sharpening - certain photos are like Cacti with the Unsharp Mask their water, enough is never too much. So drink up:

jenn76 · Dec 9, 2008

Thanks for the feedback. I was frustrated not getting rid of the shadow completely, but I will definitely try the light higher tomorrow. I have 2 lights... an off-camera flash on one side and monolight on the other. I had light coming in from both sides, so I was hoping that would work to kill the shadow. I might also try using both reflective umbrellas, or switch the sides of the shoot-thru and reflective.

I also noticed that after I put the image from my folder to photobucket to here, it doesn't look as sharp as it does in my iPhoto folder. Weird. i guess maybe it loses some detail in the transfer. But I did sharpen it more and mess with it a little more... the color was better in yours, but it looked a little grainy, so I tried to smooth it out some too. I think my color is still a little off though. Yep, definitely too yellow. I need to work on PP too!

prodigy2k7 · Dec 9, 2008

I think you should tilt the chin down a little

jwsciontc · Dec 9, 2008

photobucket tends to do that, try flickr it worked better for me!

jenn76 · Dec 9, 2008

prodigy2k7 said:
I think you should tilt the chin down a little

I definitely agree... I was just working on lighting with my new light setup, so I asked him to just stand there to let me take a few to check on shadows, etc. I'm actually surprised he even smiled. I am off work tonight, so I'll be working on everything earlier in the evening... I'm hoping for actual poses this time! :wink:

I do want to work on poses that work for individuals and family shots. I will probably have my kids jump in on some too. *fingers crossed*

jenn76 · Dec 9, 2008

jwsciontc said:
photobucket tends to do that, try flickr it worked better for me!

I'll try that - thanks!

Big Mike · Dec 9, 2008

If the lights are in front of the subject, you will inevitably get a shadow. To get rid of the shadow completely, you would need to light the background separately. A 'background light' is very common.

Of course, if you had your husband take a step forward, away from the background...that might have done the trick as well.

I haven't used Photobucket in a while...but I never seemed to have the problems that so many people have. Are you resizing and compressing your photos before you upload them? You run into trouble when the file size is too big and Photobucket tried to compress it for you.

Village Idiot · Dec 9, 2008

Are you shooting in manual mode?

I'd say start with one light. You can start learning then progress from there. I setup one of my B800's with a softbox on it for a friend to play with. I have two shots of the same people. You can dramatically change lighting by just rotating yourself around the subject and leaving your light source firing from one side.

Then if you move on to two, don't work so hard for a completely flat light. Some shadows make the subject more dramatic. I'll post up two photos from this weekend this evening.

GeneralBenson · Dec 9, 2008

I agree with mike. Have him step away from the background. That will decrease the shadow. Read this article on Strobist: http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/06/lighting-102-12-position-distance.html He talks about the relationship between flash to subject distance and flash to background distance.

jenn76 · Dec 9, 2008

Big Mike said:
If the lights are in front of the subject, you will inevitably get a shadow. To get rid of the shadow completely, you would need to light the background separately. A 'background light' is very common.

Of course, if you had your husband take a step forward, away from the background...that might have done the trick as well.

I haven't used Photobucket in a while...but I never seemed to have the problems that so many people have. Are you resizing and compressing your photos before you upload them? You run into trouble when the file size is too big and Photobucket tried to compress it for you.

I like the idea of him stepping farther away from the background. That costs me less!

I didn't even think of that... I guess that's what happens when you're using new equipment for the first time at midnight!

I was using photobucket to resize the photos, maybe their compression is what's taking the detail out of my photos. Thanks for the insight. :thumbup:

jenn76 · Dec 9, 2008

Village Idiot said:
Are you shooting in manual mode?

I'd say start with one light. You can start learning then progress from there. I setup one of my B800's with a softbox on it for a friend to play with. I have two shots of the same people. You can dramatically change lighting by just rotating yourself around the subject and leaving your light source firing from one side.

Then if you move on to two, don't work so hard for a completely flat light. Some shadows make the subject more dramatic. I'll post up two photos from this weekend this evening.

Yes, I'm shooting in manual. Although I can't remember if that photo was taken in aperture priority or manual. I used both last night, trying to get the lighting right.

I'm interested in seeing your examples. I was thinking with at least 2 lights, I could nearly eliminate the shadows. I know what you mean about shadows having a dramatic effect though... I was just thinking in the beginning, I'd start with boring plain portrait shots to learn the light, and go from there. I'm brand new to this lighting stuff... I've read some on strobist, but kind of got lost in navigating the site. There's a lot more for me to read, but I'm definitely a better hands-on student!

Thanks for your tips, and I look forward to seeing your photos!

Village Idiot · Dec 9, 2008

jenn76 said:
Yes, I'm shooting in manual. Although I can't remember if that photo was taken in aperture priority or manual. I used both last night, trying to get the lighting right.

I'm interested in seeing your examples. I was thinking with at least 2 lights, I could nearly eliminate the shadows. I know what you mean about shadows having a dramatic effect though... I was just thinking in the beginning, I'd start with boring plain portrait shots to learn the light, and go from there. I'm brand new to this lighting stuff... I've read some on strobist, but kind of got lost in navigating the site. There's a lot more for me to read, but I'm definitely a better hands-on student!

Thanks for your tips, and I look forward to seeing your photos!

Shoot in manual. If you shoot in aperture priorty, it'll expose for ambient light and if you're shutter speed is too slow you'll get ghosting.

These two were shot with the light in the same place. It's a 320w/s monolight with a large soft box on it. The first is with the light almost on center axis and above. It was basically sitting on my right shoulder.

There are not a lot of shadows going on here. Since the light source is so big and so close and almost centered, you get minimal shadows to the side. With the light above, you get shadows under the chin with help define the face. Maybe a reflector underneath could help so the shadows aren't so dark, but this is with one light:

This is the exact same setup with me stepping about 45-90 degrees around the person and away from the light. It's the exact same setup, I'm just basically moving to the light isn't on axis, so you can see where it's not falling. You can fix this without making the light flat. If you were to take your second light and place it to the left, but make sure that once everything is setup the second light is about a stop or two darker. That will give you shadows and definition, but it won't be as harsh as my second photo or as flat as my first.