Samantha home studio

Mitchell

Tried some shots this weekend with a single softbox to my right. In retrospect, I should have really stopped down to get the blocks in sharp focus along with her eyes. Any other comments about the lighting?

DavidTO

Mitch,

I'm no lighting expert, but I can say that it's hard to judge these when they are so flat and your daughter is so blue.

I did a very rough job of setting the black and white points, and came up with these. There's a "pop" tutorial in the link in my sig, "nice tutes" or in the "How To" link in the navbar above.

Certainly a lot more could be done, but I think that those two quick adjustments make a huge difference.

Andy

Mitchell

David,
Thanks for your efforts. I've just switched over to shooting just in RAW. I'm having a tough time getting my skin tones right with ACR. I get cross-eyed after a while when playing with the temp slider. I actually did better in the past with my strobed shots when I used JPeg files. I know I have to learn how to process my RAW files better.

DavidTO

Mitchell wrote:

I know I have to learn how to process my RAW files better.

That may be, but there's no reason not to do what you've always done with your JPEGs. In fact, I most often will do my best in RAW and then go further with the JPEG. But the particular problem with these images is that you didn't set your shadows or exposure high enough. Also, you could have used strong contrast, I would think.

DavidTO

Anyone who's knowledgeable on the subject want to answer his question about lighting?

Art Scott

Are you metering you shots or by-passing 'cause your shooting digital? A meter can be a HUGE help, they are not perfect...but can save a ton of guesswork. Really need to start with a properly exposed neg(file) and then the work in ACR (or any other raw converter) is much easier, it is very hard to see exactly what you have in that little lcd screen, & thru the protector.

I rarely bother with the temp slider, I clik on what my situation is..flash, cloudy, daylight etc.....and then as David said work with blk / white point in Curves (lab space) and also on the contrast, sat etc....push it till you see it blowing out and then back off.

But starting off with a properly exposed file helps tons also.
You don't need an $800 gossen .....but a decent flash meter ( for about $35 to 65, you might be able to find a box meter by Wein)...I can't remember the model but they were extremely accurate, a suare box with a little incident dome on it....and they automatically measured the ambient light as well as the flash...so it was averaged from the start.

used at adorma for $54 http://www.adorama.com/WN500.html#rec
They are $89 new at both adorama and B/H......they work great....there are otehr brands (JTL) that have entry level Reflected and incident meters ( flash/ ambient) for around $90.....I used a Wein 500 for around 10 yrs....I'd take it to weddings and everywhere....it looked funny a large blk box with white face all analog..but man they work.

I like the pose and setting...just need more pop as David mentioned..
Good luck and let us see your progress.