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My first Studio Customers
Bend The Light
Registered Users Posts: 1,887 Major grins
I have just started a small studio with a couple of friends. We are not taking paying customers just yet, but I managed to get a fella and his lad to come and pose for us to practice on. He promises he will come back for a "proper" shoot once we are charging for them, so he must've liked the experience and the photos...
So, here are a few for you to look at. Please critique where you can. I know it a white background (which some of you will find boring/so yesterday, and we are looking to work with other backgrounds (indeed, we have a young lady coming to pose for us tonight where we can do some non-white backgrounds), but i think in some cases it looks good...
Barrie and Kieran v1 by http://bendthelight.me.uk, on Flickr
Kieran v2 by http://bendthelight.me.uk, on Flickr
Barrie and Kieran v3 by http://bendthelight.me.uk, on Flickr
Kieran v13 by http://bendthelight.me.uk, on Flickr
Kieran v14 by http://bendthelight.me.uk, on Flickr
Both chaps normally wear glasses, and both took them off for the shoot (not at my request, i hasten to add). it seems though that the lad tens to screw up his eyes a little when he doesn't have his glasses on (I do the same, to be fair).
So, here are a few for you to look at. Please critique where you can. I know it a white background (which some of you will find boring/so yesterday, and we are looking to work with other backgrounds (indeed, we have a young lady coming to pose for us tonight where we can do some non-white backgrounds), but i think in some cases it looks good...
Barrie and Kieran v1 by http://bendthelight.me.uk, on Flickr
Kieran v2 by http://bendthelight.me.uk, on Flickr
Barrie and Kieran v3 by http://bendthelight.me.uk, on Flickr
Kieran v13 by http://bendthelight.me.uk, on Flickr
Kieran v14 by http://bendthelight.me.uk, on Flickr
Both chaps normally wear glasses, and both took them off for the shoot (not at my request, i hasten to add). it seems though that the lad tens to screw up his eyes a little when he doesn't have his glasses on (I do the same, to be fair).
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2. The skin tone is off compared to the rest of your photos here.
3 and 4. I like the pose
5. If it were me I'd bring down the brighness a bit and add some contrast.
Just my $.02
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Nikon D200, D80, SB600, nikon 50mm 1.8, nikon 18-135 3.5-4.6, nikon 70-200
Thank you. Appreciate the input.
Comments and constructive criticism always welcome.
www.mikejulianaphotography.com
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I agree that skin-tones are rather hot and especially on the first one with the fourth being the least blown out. Also I think skin tones are a tad of WB. I also concur the spillage from the backdrop lights onto your subjects. Do you have a light meter in your arsenal? This tool has helped me to nail down lighting without fussing like I used to do by cinching the camera settings...
Keep it up
Thanks. Yes, lit separately. We have two speedlights on the BG and two studio strobes for the subject.
Could someone quickly run through a metering method for such a set up? I must be doing it wrong. The speedlights are power adjustable, of course...the strobes are full or 1/2 and have to be moved or diffused to reduce power. What exactly do i meter, and when?
I thought I knew, but I have it all muddled in my head now.
1. Not to beat a dead horse, but the skin tones are off and blown. Also to me the lights is very flat. Watch when you have two subject that one isnt casting a shadow across the others face
2. WB seems off, its blown/over exposed, and the lighting again looks flat. What angle are you shooting your main lights at? If you can only adjust power from half or full I would honestly switch the strobes to the background and the speedlights to the front. You are obviously having to move the lights far back cause small catch lights and very harsh lighting. What is your distance from subject to light?
3. I like this one. The lighting still looks a little flat and maybe a 1/3 stop over, but it looks good. One thing you have to watch with the backgrounds are the ripples. You can fix those in post if need be, but try to keep an eye out when shooting. What is the surface like underneath? If its carpet thats your problem.
4. I like this one as well, but have the same issues as #3.
5. This one is almost a full stop if not more over and you are getting a ton of spill from the background lights. One thing to note is the distance between the subject and the backdrop. Often a lot of people have them two close and you get the spill.
All in all I would say this is a good start. I am by no means a lighting guru, so take my words for what they are. I cant really do much practice with lighting right now since I am floating out in the middle of the ocean, but I try and practice at least a few times a week. Just get a friend out there and see what works and what doesnt work. Do you have any light modifiers? If you dont I highly recommend soft boxes. The bigger the better. Umbrellas are good and cheap, but soft boxes are the way to go! Thanks for posting these!
Thanks for that, and I wouldn't hate anyone giving good constructive feedback.
I understand many of those issues and plan to work out the best way to go next time. We have softboxes, in fact they were used for the light. The BG are not actually blown enough in some of these and PP was done to blow them further. We did have a light camera right wgich was causing too much light on that side. We will correct that next shoot. As for skin tones, that's another thing I am working on with my series that I shot with a lady called Hannah. (posted here somewhere).
Cheers
What brand and model of studio flash are you using??
What is the guide number of your studio flashes?
First of all ditch the speedlights that will help a lot...you need to master 1 light then move up to 2 or 4....really.. get a grasp on the basics then move on up.... even thos I have 8 studio lights and a total of 5 camera mount flashes, I still shoot with only 1 or 2 flashes a lot especially for portraits....... Also get a black or dark grey background and a swatch book of rosco gels for your speedlights... the swatch book gels normally for the speedlight quite well... these will be used to color that black background
What is the guide number of your studio flashes?
Here is an example of the tape measure metering method ... My Flashes (studio) have a guide number of 180 ... so shooting at ISO 100 with 1 Light at 10 feet set to full power my starting aperture would be F18 ... shutter speed not a real import thing here.... take one shot and see if you need to open up or close down ... as you move the light closer that aperture starts going up fast ... now if a SHOOT thru umbrella is being used that will cut the light down so you need to know the light loss of the umbrella - mine are 2 or 3 stops ... so from f18 that would drop me real close to f11 or 9 ...
to meter with a flash meter...you would want an Incident meter (like a Sekonic L358 ) and you would place the light dome near the face of the subject pointing toward your light source and trigger the flash ... depending on the flash meter some have the ability to trigger the flash using a pc sync cable or wireless triggger device.... or if you were to get a Wein WP 500 or WP 1000 (old box style still being made) you would just have the client hold the meter near nose and when your fire the flash...The Wein's are the simplest Flash meter going and are extremely reliable...simple to use set iso turn on and hit with flash...analog swing needle will show the aperture needed...it also meters in ambient light when metering flash....
HTH....
almost forgot... a very useful tool is a styrofoam wig head... mine is white and I have real cheap wig on it ... I put a hole in the base so i can stick it on a small light stand and now I have a model that won't cry about being over worked and no breaks.... found mine at a 2nd hand store ...
The flash meter we have will do those measurements. Not sure of the GN of the strobes...will check that next time I am in the studio. Is that GN of 180 the aperture x distance in feet? Or was that a coincidence?
Thanks
no coincidence ... that is my Paul Buff White Lightning 5000's.... over 25 yrs old and still flashing strong...like new ...look well used.
It is the guide number (180) / feet (10) at iso 100 = f18 ... ... before getting a lightmeter (back in 1980 or so) I carried a 25 foot tape measure,
to meter my flash...even my camera mount flashes ...
Thanks. I'll work on that...less guess work for the placing of lights. The strobes only have 1/2 power and full power, so movement is the key to increasing or decreasing the lights. Or using some diffuser material...
Cheers
Are you not using umbrellas or softboxes? That will help out a lot....also the above link for Rosco Gels...they have really good Neutral Density gels to cut down on light and not change the volor temp of the flash.......here a piece of ge (approx 2x3 feet) is around $5 or 8 ... I have not bought any in so long I don't have current pricing...
We have a softbox, and shoot through brollies. I have another softbox coming too. As for gels, as long as I know what i need, I can get them...my brother is a film/TV Lighting man...he has a fair bit of that stuff. I have some cooling gels (1/4 blue, 1/2 blue and full) and some warming gels. A couple of large reflector pieces (like they make lastolite reflectors from in gold and silver. I just need to ask for what I want.
I think he has some diffusion stuff, too...
I'll ask him.
Cheers