The rare appearance of my munchkins.

[Derrel]

Awwwww, cute munchkins, Jazzie!

 

[JustJazzie]

Awwwww, cute munchkins, Jazzie!

Thanks Derrel! They sure keep me busy.

 

[Big Mike]

I hate to pick apart what you're doing with your lighting, because it does look good. But I would bet you would get fairly similar results, with a lot less effort, if you lost the shower curtains.

There is a common misconception that you must shoot a light through something opaque to make it softer. That is part of the reason that clear plastic flash accessories sell so well. People confuse 'diffusing light' with 'softening light'.

What you (typically) want for portraits is 'soft' light. The softness of light is a result of the relative size of the light source, relative to the subject. For example, a bare studio light (or any small light bulb) is a hard light source because it's rather small. Also, the closer the light & subject are together, the softer the light will be. The sun is many times larger than the earth, but because it's so far away, it's relatively small to us and thus is a hard light.

The purpose of a softbox or umbrella is to increase the size of the light source, thus making the light softer. As you are already doing, bouncing the light onto a larger surface (a wall or reflector etc.), increases the size, thus increases the softness.

To be fair, putting something opaque between the light and the subject will usually soften the light, but only because the light is spreading out, and the larger size as it hits/goes though the opaque sheet, will make the light softer. Note that it's not softer just because it's going through the plastic, but because the plastic happens to make the source larger, relative to the subject.

So in your situation, because you are already bouncing the light off of the wall, the light may be soft enough. The curtain probably isn't hurting, but it may be more trouble than it's worth.

As for putting the reflector behind a curtain, that's not necessary. Just get the reflector closer to the subject if you want it to be softer...but usually with a fill light, softness isn't important because it shouldn't be casting shadows, just filling in the shadows case from the key light.

 

[JustJazzie]

I hate to pick apart what you're doing with your lighting, because it does look good. But I would bet you would get fairly similar results, with a lot less effort, if you lost the shower curtains.

There is a common misconception that you must shoot a light through something opaque to make it softer. That is part of the reason that clear plastic flash accessories sell so well. People confuse 'diffusing light' with 'softening light'.

What you (typically) want for portraits is 'soft' light. The softness of light is a result of the relative size of the light source, relative to the subject. For example, a bare studio light (or any small light bulb) is a hard light source because it's rather small. Also, the closer the light & subject are together, the softer the light will be. The sun is many times larger than the earth, but because it's so far away, it's relatively small to us and thus is a hard light.

The purpose of a softbox or umbrella is to increase the size of the light source, thus making the light softer. As you are already doing, bouncing the light onto a larger surface (a wall or reflector etc.), increases the size, thus increases the softness.

To be fair, putting something opaque between the light and the subject will usually soften the light, but only because the light is spreading out, and the larger size as it hits/goes though the opaque sheet, will make the light softer. Note that it's not softer just because it's going through the plastic, but because the plastic happens to make the source larger, relative to the subject.

So in your situation, because you are already bouncing the light off of the wall, the light may be soft enough. The curtain probably isn't hurting, but it may be more trouble than it's worth.

As for putting the reflector behind a curtain, that's not necessary. Just get the reflector closer to the subject if you want it to be softer...but usually with a fill light, softness isn't important because it shouldn't be casting shadows, just filling in the shadows case from the key light.

Looks like there will be some more test shots in my future. I will do some samples with and without the shower curtain for the key light. As for the fill, I wanted the light the size of the shower curtain, but since it's sheer, I needed something opaque to bounce the light off of if that makes sense at all.

I'll admit I got the idea from the Sue Bryce natural vs strobe lighting challange and they were shooting off the wall and through a scrim, thought I haven't studied the differences for myself.

 

[MichaelHenson]

Regarding your focusing frustrations, I just had an epiphany (and I know all the pros/more experienced are going to laugh but whatever)...I discovered back button focus the other day and think it's a lifesaver for those times when you need to focus and recompose. You can set it to lock where you push the back button to focus and once you let up it stays focused on the original point. Might help for scenarios like this? Dunno...just a thought.

 

[The_Traveler]

(I have a really bad headache and didn't read much so please forgive if this is a repeat.)
On my monitor these all look a bit too bright. There isn't much color or microtexture in their faces.

They are, however, just so darn cute.
(And I'm really happy that my children are all grown.)

 

[JustJazzie]

Regarding your focusing frustrations, I just had an epiphany (and I know all the pros/more experienced are going to laugh but whatever)...I discovered back button focus the other day and think it's a lifesaver for those times when you need to focus and recompose. You can set it to lock where you push the back button to focus and once you let up it stays focused on the original point. Might help for scenarios like this? Dunno...just a thought.

Actually, I just recently gave up on BBF. I just can't get the hang of it, though I am sure I will try it again in a sports like setting. I did not focus and recompose in these, my little one is just so wiggly that I am sure I need to stop down so his movements don't matter as much.

(I have a really bad headache and didn't read much so please forgive if this is a repeat.)
On my monitor these all look a bit too bright. There isn't much color or microtexture in their faces.

They are, however, just so darn cute.
(And I'm really happy that my children are all grown.)

View attachment 88236

beautiful edits as usual, Lew I did pull down the brightness on their faces a bit. I hope your headache passes soon!

 

[gsgary]

The eyes are not sharp

 

[LCLimages]

Beautiful kiddos Jazzie. My daughter doesn't sit still either. I agree with E. Rose your key light is too low on #2. That is also something I have done a few (many) times. I am short. When I first ventured into indoor shooting, I had a bad habit of setting my key too low.

Is the shower curtain the only diffuser you have? I shoot with speedlights, but I wouldn't trade my giant octobox for anything (ok, maybe a 5DmkIII) I love your ingenuity though, I still DIY something if I can. It just seems like a lot of work!

Besides what others mentioned, they look a little magenta-toned on my screen. Don't know if that's your BG competing with the shot, or processing. But they look pink-ish.

 

[snowbear118 49]

Awwww.

 

[vipgraphx]

Jazzie - don't give up on focus and recompose. Once you get it the hang of it, its really helpful in many situations.

try raising your ISO and dropping your exposure, this can help freezing life.

The camera you have should be more than capable of higher ISO with little to no noise….

 

[JustJazzie]

Jazzie - don't give up on focus and recompose. Once you get it the hang of it, its really helpful in many situations.

try raising your ISO and dropping your exposure, this can help freezing life.

The camera you have should be more than capable of higher ISO with little to no noise….

would that help in this case? Since the exposure is black until the flash goes off, isn't it the flash actually freezing the motion not the ss? That's how it works In my water drop pictures anyways......

 

[vipgraphx]

That Im not sure I don't see why not, but why are you shooting so dark with the kiddos?

You can get the same results without the screen being black.

 

[Braineack]

I would have sacrificed ISO here in order to obtain more DOF. Downside of using natural light in a studio shot.

 

[JustJazzie]

That Im not sure I don't see why not, but why are you shooting so dark with the kiddos?

You can get the same results without the screen being black.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. I'm just exposing for what my flash meter tells me too....

I would have sacrificed ISO here in order to obtain more DOF. Downside of using natural light in a studio shot.

these weren't natural light at all. These were shot with a strobe. I could have stopped down, but I was trying to blur out any wrinkles in the muslin. These were spur of the moment shots so I didn't have time to wet them down and let the wrinkles fall out.