Lighting Portrait - first test shot

anonymouscuban

OK... so I am now the proud owner of two AB-400 Strobes with lightstands and umbrellas. I do not own a light meter, yet. I set this up tonight, quick and dirty in my living room and forced my wife to sit down for a test run - she had just got done cooking so not too happy about it.

Obviously this is setup for broad lighting. I have the key light positioned on camera left at 1:30 and I have the fill light directly behind me and slightly over to cemera right. Again, I don't have a light meter so I first took a couple test shots with just the key light on and chimped until the exposure looked correct. Then I guessestimated the setting on the fill and took couple test shots, chimped and this is the shot that looks best to me.

How is it? Under, over, correct? How is the light ratio? One question I have... notice the catch lights. There are two. Is it acceptable to have two catchlights and if not, how do you avoid this?

1/250 at f/7.1, ISO 100


Here is another shot I took, this time Short Lighting. I moved the fill back on this shot. Is this good or too much shadow?

1/250 @ f/5.6, ISO 100

gmonkeh

You did a good job on the lighting. Something you might want to do is clone out the extra catch light in the eyes. I believe it's the umbrella you used as fill.

Nikolai

Overall - very nice for the 1st attempt...:-)
Next time I suggest use one umbrella up front, add a reflector for fill, and use second just with a reflector as a hair light, diagonally to the main.
Make ure it doesn't shine into the lens, use some flag/gobo to prevent it...

Nikonic1

Nikolai wrote:

a reflector as a hair light, ...

That's all I was thinking. Her hair gets a little lost into the BG. Very nice though.

blaser321

I think two catch lights are OK but the hair light is important for separation form the BG
and I think theses shot could be brighter

divamum

These are one heckuvalot better than my first attempts, I"ll tell you that! Very nice, Alex (and your wife is so beautiful!) - I really like the softness of light that you've created, and it looks very natural and pleasing. I agree that dark hair needs a lift to separate from dark bg - it's always a problem. I'm guessing you were very far away from your bg though and using light falloff to make it dark, since you were at 7.1 and still have some dof blurring going on (what was the lens?)

anonymouscuban

Nikolai wrote:

Overall - very nice for the 1st attempt...:-)
Next time I suggest use one umbrella up front, add a reflector for fill, and use second just with a reflector as a hair light, diagonally to the main.
Make ure it doesn't shine into the lens, use some flag/gobo to prevent it...

Thanks Nikolai. I will try this setup. I need to go buy a piece of foam core today to use as a reflector. I will try it and post the results later today.

anonymouscuban

divamum wrote:

These are one heckuvalot better than my first attempts, I"ll tell you that! Very nice, Alex (and your wife is so beautiful!) - I really like the softness of light that you've created, and it looks very natural and pleasing. I agree that dark hair needs a lift to separate from dark bg - it's always a problem. I'm guessing you were very far away from your bg though and using light falloff to make it dark, since you were at 7.1 and still have some dof blurring going on (what was the lens?)

Thanks Diva. I must agree with you that my wife is beautiful. I knew that the separation was going to be an issue since I did nothing to light her hair. I was mainly focusing on properly lighting her face and I was really trying (yet) to get the hair lit correctly.

I set this up in my living room with no real background. Directly behind her is a couch, follow by the formal dining room. The dining room wall is roughly about 13 feet from where she is sitting. I purposely used a fast shutting speed to try to get the background as dark as possible so it didn't clutter the shot.

I shot this with my Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8 at about 60mm. I first shot at f/8 but it was a bit dark, so I opened the lens a bit and I liked the exposure.

Now to give it another go with the use of a reflector and the second strobe as a hair light.

anonymouscuban

OK... so I took the suggestions from Nikolai and others. I setup my key light on camera left at about 1:30 position. I then used a large piece of foam core, positioned slightly to camera right as fill. I placed it below her and angled up. Then I took my other AB-400 with reflector and placed it behind her and to camera right. I used a cardboard box to direct the light at her hair and to avoid spill on the rest of her.

I think it turned out OK. I still got some light spill from the hair light on her left shoulder and it also peaked through onto her neck on the her left. I need to get some barn doors to make this easier on myself. I think maybe the hair light was aiming too low.

So... what do you guys think?

#1


#2

Nikolai

anonymouscuban wrote:

OK... so I took the suggestions from Nikolai and others. I setup my key light on camera left at about 1:30 position. I then used a large piece of foam core, positioned slightly to camera right as fill. I placed it below her and angled up. Then I took my other AB-400 with reflector and placed it behind her and to camera right. I used a cardboard box to direct the light at her hair and to avoid spill on the rest of her.

I think it turned out OK. I still got some light spill from the hair light on her left shoulder and it also peaked through onto her neck on the her left. I need to get some barn doors to make this easier on myself. I think maybe the hair light was aiming too low.

So... what do you guys think?

1) I think it's better:-)
2) main (light) / fill (foam reflector) work fine
3) considering the results I'd move the hair light higher and towards the center. Spill on the shoulders is desirable.
4) Forget the barn doors. You need a grid/crate, but those don't work on umbrellas. However 30 degree grid would work on the 7" reflector you already have, so you might consider getting a set of grids (10-20-30-40) next.
The Force is strong with you, my young padawan!

anonymouscuban

Nikolai wrote:

1) I think it's better:-)
2) main (light) / fill (foam reflector) work fine
3) considering the results I'd move the hair light higher and towards the center. Spill on the shoulders is desirable.
4) Forget the barn doors. You need a grid/crate, but those don't work on umbrellas. However 30 degree grid would work on the 7" reflector you already have, so you might consider getting a set of grids (10-20-30-40) next.
The Force is strong with you, my young padawan!

Nikolai,

I also like #1 better. It's a bit tighter and I like the angle of her face a bit more.

When you say move the hair light towards the center, do you mean so it is position more towards 6:00 or in relation to the angle of the light pointing downwards so it hit more of the top of her head? Not sure if my question is clear... let me know and I will rephrase.

Yes... now I remember your demo of the honeycomb grids and how they can very effectively create a beam of light. I see that the set of 4 is only $99. Not bad. I will pick those up next.

Thanks for your last comment. It is very encouraging. I am really enjoying this. I can already see the endless possibilities that one can create using light. First let me get these basics down and then I will begin to experiment.

BTW, I have decided to convert my garage into a studio instead of one our extra bedrooms. I will have much more room and a bit more freedom when it comes to modifying it. I will have many questions regarding this but first I need to do some organizing in there. Its a mess... left over from our last remodeling job on the house.

Nikolai

anonymouscuban wrote:

Nikolai,

I also like #1 better. It's a bit tighter and I like the angle of her face a bit more.

When you say move the hair light towards the center, do you mean so it is position more towards 6:00 or in relation to the angle of the light pointing downwards so it hit more of the top of her head? Not sure if my question is clear... let me know and I will rephrase.

Yes... now I remember your demo of the honeycomb grids and how they can very effectively create a beam of light. I see that the set of 4 is only $99. Not bad. I will pick those up next.

Thanks for your last comment. It is very encouraging. I am really enjoying this. I can already see the endless possibilities that one can create using light. First let me get these basics down and then I will begin to experiment.

BTW, I have decided to convert my garage into a studio instead of one our extra bedrooms. I will have much more room and a bit more freedom when it comes to modifying it. I will have many questions regarding this but first I need to do some organizing in there. Its a mess... left over from our last remodeling job on the house.

I meant it more like 12 o'clock position, being slighting behind the model and shining mostly down and a bit frontward (i.e. towards the camera). Since it's an umbrella, you gotta be careful of the too much frontal spill ("beware of the flare!":-), but a piece of opaque paper/fabric attachted to the front side of umbreall with a few patches of gaffer tape can do wonders in that respect. And as soon as you get grids - you'll be golden.

Congrats of having the wifey agreed on letting you to use the garage!
Once you have it cleaned and ready for remodeling, gimme a holler, I may have some tips for you that would help you to avoid costly mistakes:-)

anonymouscuban

Nikolai wrote:

I meant it more like 12 o'clock position, being slighting behind the model and shining mostly down and a bit frontward (i.e. towards the camera). Since it's an umbrella, you gotta be careful of the too much frontal spill ("beware of the flare!":-), but a piece of opaque paper/fabric attachted to the front side of umbreall with a few patches of gaffer tape can do wonders in that respect. And as soon as you get grids - you'll be golden.

Congrats of having the wifey agreed on letting you to use the garage!
Once you have it cleaned and ready for remodeling, gimme a holler, I may have some tips for you that would help you to avoid costly mistakes:-)

Thanks again Nikolai. But I need to point out that I did not use the umbrella on the hair light. The way I understood you was to use the 7" reflector sans umbrella. That's what I did. I think place a cardboard box over the front of the reflector as a make-shift snoot/barn door.

Do you think I will get better result with the umbrella and using opaque fabric/paper like you describe? Should I use the umbrella in a shoot through or reflective configuration?

Sorry for all the questions.

Nikolai

anonymouscuban wrote:

Thanks again Nikolai. But I need to point out that I did not use the umbrella on the hair light. The way I understood you was to use the 7" reflector sans umbrella. That's what I did. I think place a cardboard box over the front of the reflector as a make-shift snoot/barn door.

Do you think I will get better result with the umbrella and using opaque fabric/paper like you describe? Should I use the umbrella in a shoot through or reflective configuration?

Sorry for all the questions.

It would have been ok, but apparently it was very close and IIRC, the total height of the the room as you described it prevents you from raising it higher. An umbrella (in a reflective position - shoot through will just flood everything) will increase the size of your light source and thus will allow you to keep it relatively close, while providing the light for both hair and shoulders and thus creating a better separation from the bg. You'd still have to keep it slightly off center (you don't have the C-stand/boom and you don't want the stand itself being in the frame right behind the model), in which case I suggest favoring a diagonal pattern.

Qarik

these are quite good. Much better then previosu stuff you have posted imo.

anonymouscuban

Qarik wrote:

these are quite good. Much better then previosu stuff you have posted imo.

Thanks Qarik. I finally have some proper lighting. I purchased a set of two AB400 strobes, stands and umbrellas from Nikolai. My wife and I just went home for lunch and I took a few more shots of her incorporating some of the tips Nikolai gave me in his last post. I didn't have time to upload them but will do once I get home.

Alex

Gary752

Nikolai wrote:

Once you have it cleaned and ready for remodeling, gimme a holler, I may have some tips for you that would help you to avoid costly mistakes:-)

I may have to contact you when the day comes when I get the building/store front that I'm waiting on for my studio. What info will you need to help me setup my studio to be efficient? I've already purchased some lighting equipment, and some backgrounds to get started. Just waiting on the building to become available.

GaryB

Nikolai

BroPhoto wrote:

I may have to contact you when the day comes when I get the building/store front that I'm waiting on for my studio. What info will you need to help me setup my studio to be efficient? I've already purchased some lighting equipment, and some backgrounds to get started. Just waiting on the building to become available.

GaryB

floor plan, ceiling height, all the measurements.

Gary752

Nikolai wrote:

floor plan, ceiling height, all the measurements.

Thanks Nickoli! As soon as I find out the building is available, and can get inside to check it out, I'll get all the info to you. If I get to talk to the owners before then, I might be able to get some rough estimates on the dimensions, and a basic layout. If that one falls through, they have another one close by that I'm sure is a bit larger, with very high ceilings. Only thing is it's just one big area, and will need to be divided off. I definately would like a small customer waiting area in the front that is separate from the shooting area, and of course a dressing/changing area to the rear.

GaryB