Sexy Wife + New Studio Strobes = Fun

anonymouscuban

I spent some more time practicing with my new studio strobes. This time I decided to do something a little more exciting than just head shots. We moved into the bedroom and had a little fun on our big round chair.

I'd really love to hear how I did on these. I think they are an improvement over the last set I did like this with just the one hotshoe flash. Hopefully I'm right.

#1


#2


#3


#4


#5


#6


#7


#8

D'Buggs

..... But did she make ya something nice for dinner?

I saw the *other* set. This is MUCH improved and I really like the qualities of #4 and 8.


Power to the exhibitionists!
(I sincerely mean that. )

anonymouscuban

D'Buggs wrote:

..... But did she make ya something nice for dinner?

I saw the *other* set. This is MUCH improved and I really like the qualities of #4 and 8.


Power to the exhibitionists!
(I sincerely mean that. )

Actually, she did make me dinner, which we had just before doing this shoot.

I also like #8 but I think my favorite is #6.

Your exhibitionist comment made me laugh. The funny thing is that my wife is actually pretty reserved. However, she is very comfortable and confident in her own skin. I was surprised when she was opened to doing these. She seems to enjoy them as long as they are done tastefully.

I on the other hand am a complete extrovert and don't have one ounce of shyness. I surf and part of surfing in Southern California, especially in Winter, is changing in and out of a wetsuit in very public places. I estimate that at least 15,000 commuters have seen me in my birthday suit during their drive to work along Pacific Coast Highway. My wife says we're going to cause an accident one day. I remember once a minivan full of nuns drove by while I was standing in the back of my truck bed completely naked while wrestling to get my suit over one of my feet. They saw a full moon out at 9AM that day.

Wineman

I loved number 5, 6 and 8, great series!!! much better this time, you are improving lots and fast! Good on you!

Thanks for sharing

Z.

Nikolai

Lighting is nice (even), posing is good.
I'd change camera angle/vantage point in a few - in a glamour poses like these try to be higher/closer to head/bosom as opposed to be lower/close to tighs/feet.
HTH

anonymouscuban

Wineman wrote:

I loved number 5, 6 and 8, great series!!! much better this time, you are improving lots and fast! Good on you!

Thanks for sharing

Z.

Thanks. I'm really enjoying the learning process. I can see that I have a lot to learn.

anonymouscuban

Nikolai wrote:

Lighting is nice (even), posing is good.
I'd change camera angle/vantage point in a few - in a glamour poses like these try to be higher/closer to head/bosom as opposed to be lower/close to tighs/feet.
HTH

Thanks Nikolai. Lots of chimping without a light meter but I hope this will only make me better at lighting. Should be easier once I do get the meter. We had fun with these. At first, I got a little frustrated with the shadows since she was lying down and not sitting like in the typical portrait. So I just concentrated on the basics from portraiture, tried to think about how I would want the shadows in a portrait and then adjusted the lighting so it would do the same. Sounds like I did a decent job.

One thing that really got annoying was the sync cord. I kept getting tangled in it and it disconnected from the cam several times. Really need to get a wireless system. I think I will pick up the one from Ebay several dgrinners have recommended.

Once I sat down to process these, I realized a few things I can do differently. I will try to incorporate them into my next shoot. I will also try to use the tip you mention about shooting from a higher POV. Once thing I am loving is the control and consistency you have in a studio setup. Aside from adjusting the WB, sharpening and adding some vignetting on a couple shots, I didn't have to do any more PP. Well, I did have to remove a large pimple she has right now on her forehead. But that's it.

BTW, I used both light on these. After looking at them, I can't understand why I didn't think of using the reflector for fill and one of the lights on the hair. Lesson learned.

Nikolai

anonymouscuban wrote:

Thanks Nikolai. Lots of chimping without a light meter but I hope this will only make me better at lighting. Should be easier once I do get the meter. We had fun with these. At first, I got a little frustrated with the shadows since she was lying down and not sitting like in the typical portrait. So I just concentrated on the basics from portraiture, tried to think about how I would want the shadows in a portrait and then adjusted the lighting so it would do the same. Sounds like I did a decent job.

One thing that really got annoying was the sync cord. I kept getting tangled in it and it disconnected from the cam several times. Really need to get a wireless system. I think I will pick up the one from Ebay several dgrinners have recommended.

Once I sat down to process these, I realized a few things I can do differently. I will try to incorporate them into my next shoot. I will also try to use the tip you mention about shooting from a higher POV. Once thing I am loving is the control and consistency you have in a studio setup. Aside from adjusting the WB, sharpening and adding some vignetting on a couple shots, I didn't have to do any more PP. Well, I did have to remove a large pimple she has right now on her forehead. But that's it.

BTW, I used both light on these. After looking at them, I can't understand why I didn't think of using the reflector for fill and one of the lights on the hair. Lesson learned.

Alex,
glad you love the new setup. It's a big step up and it's a lot of fun, even though it takes time to get a full usage of it.
Re: cord. I understand it's annoying but.... While I myself use PWs to trigger my lights, most of the time in the studio I shoot with *two* cords coming out my camera: one being 15ft USB cord for tethered shooting going to my laptop, and another being power adapter cord: I hate wasting batteries while I have tons of readily available AC power:-). Adding a third one wouldn't make too much difference:-)

anonymouscuban

Nikolai wrote:

Alex,
glad you love the new setup. It's a big step up and it's a lot of fun, even though it takes time to get a full usage of it.
Re: cord. I understand it's annoying but.... While I myself use PWs to trigger my lights, most of the time in the studio I shoot with *two* cords coming out my camera: one being 15ft USB cord for tethered shooting going to my laptop, and another being power adapter cord: I hate wasting batteries while I have tons of readily available AC power:-). Adding a third one wouldn't make too much difference:-)

Nikolai,

As far as shooting tethered, do you find that helps? And if so, what benefits does it give you. I've been thinking about shooting tethered since I have the equipment to do so and I thought it may make it easier to determine exposure, lighting, comp than looking on a 3" LCD.

Nikolai

anonymouscuban wrote:

Nikolai,

As far as shooting tethered, do you find that helps? And if so, what benefits does it give you. I've been thinking about shooting tethered since I have the equipment to do so and I thought it may make it easier to determine exposure, lighting, comp than looking on a 3" LCD.

It has *a lot* of benefits.
* instant feedback on LARGE screen (sometimes I hook up my 27")
* images are instantly on HDD, so burning a "drafts CD" at the end of the session takes no time (I shoot RAW + small JPEGS and give those SOOC jpegs away for TF shoots)
* you can put the camera on the shooting stand and use remote live shooting feature (although in your N-world I heard you need to purchase some extra software to do remote live shooting) - can be invaluable sometimes.
* at the end of the shoot (and at the end of each "look") you and your model can quickly go over the results - improves the "togetherness"
* it's much easier to show on the big screen if model is doing something wrong that needs immediate adjustment
* last but not least, beats chimping hands down:-)

Deacon

Important angles
Yes, the lighting etc has improved a lot. I agree with other posts regarding angle of the shoot. The ones from low and up the lets with the lens you are using seem to distort the proportions. BTW, what lens were you using? I wonder the effect of something like a 85mm 1.4 and limiting the DOF and shooting from hight/front. I would appreciate the opportunity to shoot a live model, having one that cooks for me would be a super bonus!!!

Deacon

Cuong

#1, 4, and 8 are my picks from the group. Very nice even lighting.

Cuong