Trying Umbrella's

[sibebabe]

Had the umbrellas 4 ft high probably 3 ft back pointed down. I know the backdrop is terribly wrinkled, that's why I got it out. My son was kinda scared of the lights so I was happy to get a few happy pictures!

 

[tirediron]

Not bad, but it wouldn't hurt to bring them in even closer. The lighting here is nice enough, but a bit flat. Try one light closer to camera axis and a second around 70-80 degrees off-axis; this will give you a bit of shadow and create some depth in the image.

 

[sibebabe]

Thanks I'll set that up this weekend!

 

[HL45]

Cute kid! Love the fire truck

 

[sibebabe]

Question? Any idea why the shadow is so hard on his forehead in the first picture? He doesn't have an overly pronounced forehead so I wondered what I did with the light to make it so dark and hard.

 

[Braineack]

I don't see this hard shadow on his forehead. There is no hard lighting in these pictures...it's pretty even and flat. The lights are coming from above, so his forehead is casting a slight shadow under his brow ridge. Look at the shadows cast under his mouth/chin in comparison.

 

[Derrel]

He does look a bit worried/confused at the lights...but that should fade soon. I actually don't min d the background...the wrinkles are so,so numerous that it looks almost like a painted backdrop! If the fabric were moved a bit farther back, it would fall more outside of the depth of field zone, and would look less-textured. But, again, in THIS instance, I have no issues with the backdrop fabric. If you play with him under the lights, and get him happy, I think after a few minutes, his trepidation will fade, and he will start to ignore the lights totally. I do not mind the lighting pattern either. I think it's okay. I would continue to shoot this way, and see how it goes, what fruit it bears.