Kerstin

Justiceiro

The boyfriend of one of my colleagues really loves this photo:



Apparently, he's had this poster on his wall for years. So my colleague wanted to do a version of it herself for his birthday. Anyway, the photos aren't the same, but here are some from out shoot.

This is pretty much the closest to the photo:







I actually like some of the others better.


















I actually used three industrial 500W halogen lamps, because I can't use my US lights here in Germany. I think the lighting turned out OK (alhtough you can't control for intensity)- the whole setup cost 30 euros as oposed to several hundred.

C&C is welcome.

Nikolai

I think the last one is closest, actually.
Since you apparently are very limited with the lighting, the rest of my notes is kinda moot, since I'm sure you'd take care of many issues if you had your lights up and running.
The biggest gotach probably is a bland BW treatment...
Try to minimize the light spill next time, all you need is a few "flags" (blankets, poster boards, anything that can block the light)
HTH & Good luck!

lfortier

They're all very nice but I like the last one the best. Although, I would like to see the brightness and contrast increased a bit.

Pretty good for industrial lighting.

1pocket

I would also suggest you turn your model to a little angle - these shots are all dead square to the camera. A little angle ought to be both more flattering and more interesting than square on...

Fun birthday present, kudos to you and the model.

Justiceiro

Nikolai wrote:

I think the last one is closest, actually.
Since you apparently are very limited with the lighting, the rest of my notes is kinda moot, since I'm sure you'd take care of many issues if you had your lights up and running.
The biggest gotach probably is a bland BW treatment...
Try to minimize the light spill next time, all you need is a few "flags" (blankets, poster boards, anything that can block the light)
HTH & Good luck!

Thanks for the advice guys. I personally prefer a "punchier" B&W conversion, but the model likes them more this way, not as contrasty. (No accounting for taste). Fortunately, she's willing to sit for more shots in the future, so I will play around a bit with the model.

Nicolai, could you describe more clearly what you mean by "blocking the light? Do you mean liek making barn doors? Assume youa re talking to a lighting noob (which you are- I've practiced with two hot lights int he US, but I don't think this counts).

Nikolai

Justiceiro wrote:

Thanks for the advice guys. I personally prefer a "punchier" B&W conversion, but the model likes them more this way, not as contrasty. (No accounting for taste). Fortunately, she's willing to sit for more shots in the future, so I will play around a bit with the model.

Great, then we see more of her:-)

Nicolai, could you describe more clearly what you mean by "blocking the light? Do you mean liek making barn doors? Assume youa re talking to a lighting noob (which you are- I've practiced with two hot lights int he US, but I don't think this counts).

I meant any device that can block the light from going where you don't want it to. Barn doors are in fact greatly overrated, I'd say they are only good for blocking the flare, if at all. Besides, that don't work with any diffuser...
So what I was talking about was flags, gobos, boards, etc. Any large piece of material/foam/paper/etc. you can get your hands on.

I'm using lightstands with a horisontal bar on top (made out of PVC pipe and attached with gaffer tape:-) and a black fabric hanging from it:



There are tons of ways to skin the cat:-)

Justiceiro

Nikolai wrote:

Great, then we see more of her:-)



I meant any device that can block the light from going where you don't want it to. Barn doors are in fact greatly overrated, I'd say they are only good for blocking the flare, if at all. Besides, that don't work with any diffuser...
So what I was talking about was flags, gobos, boards, etc. Any large piece of material/foam/paper/etc. you can get your hands on.

I'm using lightstands with a horisontal bar on top (made out of PVC pipe and attached with gaffer tape:-) and a black fabric hanging from it:



There are tons of ways to skin the cat:-)

Interesting. I definitely have to get better lights.

evoryware

I do like your attempts.
I just wish she were farther away from the background because the shadows are distracting. Shadows in 3 different directions.
Shadows aside, I like 1 and 4.
I don't like the nostril shot.