Tried something new and would like some help

[SoulfulRecover]

Watched a video a friend gave me on some back lighting stuff and gave it a quick shot last night. It came out ok but I feel like I wasnt getting as much light wrap as I should have. I used an Alien Bee 800 with a small shoot through umbrella. Maybe my light source was too small? Try my large umbrella? (I dont have a soft box yet. Just a small and large umbrella and a beauty dish)

I tried using a reflector to get a little detail on the shadow side but it didnt do much. Maybe I just couldnt get my angles right.

I have the light source at about the 2 o'clock position from the subjects view and quite close in. Maybe back the light out and add a second set of diffusion material? Maybe I just need a second light source for some fill?

Since it was just a test I didnt bother dropping in a back drop so please excuse the poor post work for the black back ground.


Untitled by Shutter_Inc., on Flickr


Untitled by Shutter_Inc., on Flickr

 

[Big Mike]

Looks OK to me. A little more fill wouldn't hurt, but too much more and it would really change the feel.

I think that part of it is the framing/cropping that you're using. You're including their whole head(s) and cropping very close to the front of the face(s). I think it would be better if you left more room in front of them and/or cropped out some of the dark back-of-head space.

I really like the main lighting, keep playing with this.