Winter preschool portrait - C&C requested

[adamhiram]

I recently upgraded my lighting kit from Godox TT600 speedlights to AD400 Pro (Xplor 400 Pro) monolights. This was meant to be a reshoot of a recent fall photo, but after various mishaps and delays (discussed at length here), my kid actually outgrew that outfit, so out with the warm fall colors and in with the winter grays.

I've been learning more about hair and rim lighting recently, and am looking for some technical feedback. For this shot, I followed some much-appreciated recommendations from @JBPhotog on placement of the hair light.

Shot on a D500 at 85mm, f/8, 1/250s, ISO 100

• Key light is a 38" octabox above and camera left, closer to on-axis for more even lighting
• Fill is a white reflector, metered to 1 stop under key
• Hair light is a small gridded stripbox behind and above subject, metered to the same as key
• Background light metered to 1 step under key on a dark gray painted canvas background
• Camera-to-subject distance is 11', subject-to-background distance is 7'

20200119-DSC_6698a by adamhiram, on Flickr

Pull-back shot for lighting setup

20200119-DSC_6734a by adamhiram, on Flickr

 

[Designer]

I've been learning more about hair and rim lighting recently, and am looking for some technical feedback.

Looks very good as is, so my only suggestion is to turn your strip light sideways so it lights more of his hair. You might then see the need to dial the power down a bit.

Also, just wondering if you got a shot with his head level. This laughing shot is going to be Grandma's favorite, for sure, but maybe mom would like to see him just smiling.

 

[smoke665]

Some smile with just the mouth and some like your son just smile all over! Great shot, Adam, see much improvement in lighting, though with the head tilt not sure just how much the hair light is contributing as the top of the head is hidden, but it didn't really matter anyhow. Good Job!

 

[Derrel]

Lighting looks polished, subtle.

 

[JBPhotog]

I see a bit of spill on your cute sons forehead from the hair light, so I would echo the suggestion on the strip box, turn it 90 degrees so the light hits the shoulders and not the face or forehead. If you find it is too wide, flag it off on the edges by placing black card under the grid cloth to essentially shorten the strip box.

Great job and an improvement over your previous test.

 

[adamhiram]

Also, just wondering if you got a shot with his head level.

Sure, plenty of other shots.


20200119-DSC_6682-collage by adamhiram, on Flickr

 

[adamhiram]

Looks very good as is, so my only suggestion is to turn your strip light sideways so it lights more of his hair. You might then see the need to dial the power down a bit.

I see a bit of spill on your cute sons forehead from the hair light, so I would echo the suggestion on the strip box, turn it 90 degrees so the light hits the shoulders and not the face or forehead. If you find it is too wide, flag it off on the edges by placing black card under the grid cloth to essentially shorten the strip box.

Thank you, I will definitely try rotating the hair light stripbox 90° next time. I was a little concerned with it adding distracting highlights to the shoulders, since I had it dialed up quite bright for dark hair. It's only 10"x24", so hopefully I don't need to mask it any smaller. It still feels like trying to precisely position a hair light on a subject that never stops moving is a bit of a lost cause, but I'm not giving up!

 

[JBPhotog]

Love the shots of him being a kid, lol.

Yeah a 10x24 is not big enough to be a concern if it was hitting the shoulders.

 

[tirediron]

Nicely done!

 

[Derrel]

I love the collage shots! Very good stuff. It will not be too many years before you will look back on these super fondly. Even your behind-the-scenes stuff looks good.

I very much like your painted backdrop, which would be a great candidate for warming or cooling with various colored gels.

 

[Jeff15]

All good to me.......

 

[DanOstergren]

Also, just wondering if you got a shot with his head level.

Sure, plenty of other shots.


20200119-DSC_6682-collage by adamhiram, on Flickr

Love these!

 

[adamhiram]

I very much like your painted backdrop, which would be a great candidate for warming or cooling with various colored gels.

Thanks Derrel, that's exactly why I chose it. I created a color chart based on all the gels I had at the time about a year and a half ago here, and will likely do it again with the new gels I picked up to use with these bigger lights.

 

[adamhiram]

Love these!

Thanks, Dan!

 

[Christie Photo]

Nice! I do want to move the background light in closer to the background so that it falls off toward the edges. I would leave it at the same power level. I think you might like that.

Good goin'!
-Pete