1st Time With Studio Lights--Feedback??

slpollett

Finally saved enough money to buy some Alien Bees. I felt like a kid at Christmas when those boxes were delivered! Anyhoo...I finally had some time to actually set them up and give them a whirl today. My "guinea pig" was one of my daughter's friends since my daughter flat-out refused to be my 'victim' (lol). The friend was a little stiff in front of the camera so I didn't get a variety of poses, but I didn't care because I was playing with my lights.

I know I did a dozen things wrong, but overall I am fairly pleased with my first attempts at this. I would appreciate some feedback of what I did right and what I need to do different.

My set-up: AB800 w/64" umbrella/diffuser to my right; AB800 w/softbox to my left & closer to the model; & AB400 w/honeycomb grid as a hairlight (that I'm not sure I ever got the way I wanted it). Photo gray seamless paper background (& a large wrinkled black reflector as a background for the last couple).

Here's the results:

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


6.


7.


So, any suggestions or feedback for me??

Thanks so much!
Sherry P.

Dooginfif20

Not really seeing the hair light in these. Also I would turn one of your lights down a little bit to get more rounded lighting rather than flat lighting. Its a good start as I can tell your work is better than when I first started with my AB1600!

slpollett

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I agree that I had the lights a bit "hot". I also had trouble positioning the hairlight. I know I have lots of room for improvement, but thought the efforts not bad for a first attempt. Thanks for taking time to respond.

Sherry

Hackbone

For a first attempt not bad at all.

Problems I would work on:

1. More of a difference between the highlight and shadow side of the face. If you have a meter try to get a stop difference between the two lights (main and fill) with the main being the stronger.

2. Your main catch light seems to be about 9 o'clock and that means the main should generally be a tad higher.

3. Main light in relationship to the body.....you have broad, unflattering light, in a few and I think this will carry on in other portraits if you don't watch out for it.

4. Main is always on the same side and this results in stagnant lighting. Move it to the other side sometimes.

4. Not sure of "photo grey" color, I would prefer a slightly darker grey but possibly you had too much light hitting the bkg.

5. On the dark bkg I think it is too dark. You need some separation on your subject.

Over all a great first try.

slpollett

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Hackbone! This is exactly what I need to hear and your comments are very helpful to me. I hope to be able to play again next weekend, so I will try to properly implement your suggestions. The photo gray is a very light gray. I think I would also prefer a white or a darker gray myself, but I needed that color for a different project and that is all I have right now to work with. Plan to get a couple of different backgrounds next time I have photography money to spend.

Thanks for taking time to help me out. I appreciate you.

Sherry

divamum

Great start!

My only nit is the black background - creases very obvious.... If I don't want to have to clone creases out on black, sometimes I'll just make a black fill layer and then mask out what doesn't need to be covered. Works pretty well

slpollett

Thank you, Diva. I don't like the creases in the black either. I told my friend that I would fix that on any they want to print. Otherwise I wouldn't spend time doing it. (You can get away with that with your friends! )

Sherry

Gaby617

Better then my first time w/ strobes. If possible pick up a meter and adjust lights accordingly to ratios key/fill as some mentioned prior.

Bilsen

I think you did well for a first time. Let me help out a bit from the newb side of things.

I started working with my first studio strobes this past winter. My first setup was a beauty setup I learned from a pro friend of mine. One light (with a 60" Softlighter) about 5 degrees off camera axis and about 45 degrees above the model. This setup is limited to 1/2 body and headshots but it doesn't worry about shadows. Here's an example of what happens:



The, just playing around I went to what I call "Meet the Beatles" lighting. One light at 90 degrees and a hairlight on the opposite side. (I still have a helluva time aiming the hairlight). Here's what happened:


The I went to a three light setup. Main was 45 deg to the side and 45 deg high on the model. Fill light was just off camera axis on the opposite side (metered 1 stop or 1.5 stops below the main) and tended to be eye level or lower to the model. Aiming the damn hairlight was still a pain. Here's one result:


I got beat up a ton by my friends on here all winter BUT I had a great time experimenting and learned a lot. Just keep shooting and learn from what happens here.

Enjoy yourself.

slpollett

Thank you Gaby and Thank You Bilsen for taking time to explain different set-ups AND provide examples of the results!! That really helps to see the different approaches. Very, very helpful!!

Can't wait until I can try again...

Thanks again to all who provided me with some feedback and direction. I appreciate you all.

Sherry

bobcool

Sherry, great start so far!

I attending a Scott Kelby workshop last year and he showed us how he checks lighting when no metering is available.

Basically what he did was take a photo with only one light at a time, starting with the hair light first, then took another with the fill light added, and then finally took another with all three lights on for the final effect. Basically he built the scene with lighting one at a time. If something needed adjusting, he started over and rebuilt it. You might try this and see if this helps you "see" the lighting ratios better.

Qarik

these are in general decently lit, exposed well, in focus and all that..the light is just too even though. You mentioned all these different light sources but it might have well just been a well lit room because there is little variation or drama in the light. one thing to help might be to kill your ambient light and/or speed up your shutter.

slpollett

Thank you Bob and Qarik. I appreciate the tips & feedback very much.

I am going to set up the lights again this weekend and try again. A (pro photographer) friend of mine is going to come over and help me out so I'm looking forward to a day of learning. I feel like I have enough information from my first attempt and everyone's feedback & advice that this second shoot should show some improvements.

Also, there "shouldn't" be any ambient light issues from the first shoot. A shot taken without the flashes set gave me a solid black frame. I think I shot these at f10 1/250. I will play with different camera settings this next time around to see what that gives me.

I really do appreciate everyone's feedback. I'll share the results of my next attempts when I have them.

Sherry

FlyNavy

Gaby617 wrote: »

Better then my first time w/ strobes.

That is exactly what I thought. Well done for the first attempt! Nice job! I love my Alien Bees.

Gary752

slpollett wrote: »

Thank you Bob and Qarik. I appreciate the tips & feedback very much.

I am going to set up the lights again this weekend and try again. A (pro photographer) friend of mine is going to come over and help me out so I'm looking forward to a day of learning. I feel like I have enough information from my first attempt and everyone's feedback & advice that this second shoot should show some improvements.

Also, there "shouldn't" be any ambient light issues from the first shoot. A shot taken without the flashes set gave me a solid black frame. I think I shot these at f10 1/250. I will play with different camera settings this next time around to see what that gives me.

I really do appreciate everyone's feedback. I'll share the results of my next attempts when I have them.

Sherry

Sherry:
This past Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday there was a course on Creative Live by Scott Robert Lim on using flash(s) called "Crazy Stupid Light". I'd recommend anyone that is just starting out with flash(s) to purchase this course. If you use his theory and suggestions you'll be able to get your flash(s) settings perfect to almost perfect on the first try. If you purchase this course you will also get a jpg of his flash calculator card that gives you the flash power setting based on ISO and Aperture. I was always shooting using available light because I didn't fully understand flash, but after watching this course live, I am now ready to buy some flash(s) and give it a try.

GaryB