Jessica (co-worker)

ShepsMom

I continue to practice my studio lighting with one light source i just aquired, and my co-worker volunteered to let me do some headshots of her.
Nothing special as we were at work (while nothing else to do )


I'm looking to purchase second light next month.
How did i do so far? :scratch




1






2






3






4






5






6:rofl

gregneil

Tell us what you did to set everything up! How did you meter the light, and where did you put the light?

Overall, I think they're a little flat looking. I'm guessing you had the light really close to the camera. Try moving it a bit to one side so you get a little more depth to the face. It also looks like you're mixing in some ambient light as well... fluorescents? They seem to have a little bit of a green tint... If you boost the power on your strobe you can overpower the ambient light, or just turn off any lights in the room that are too bright.

I think number 5 has the most depth to it... the light seems to be on the left side of her face more, and then falls off slightly on the right.

Keep playing with different light positions and exposures and see what works best! To see if the ambient light is interfering or not, you can set your exposure for the flash, and then do a test shot with the flash off - look at the LCD and see if it's totally dark. If it is, then you know your flash is doing all the lighting and you don't have to deal with the ambient.

If you are going to mix the ambient with the flash, mixing with window light can work well - if you're going to mix with tungsten or fluorescent lights, you should probably put a gel on your flash to match the color cast.

Spend some time over at http://strobist.com and you'll learn a ton about off-camera lighting! You're off to a fine start.

ShepsMom

Thanks Greg!!

Let see, i had an umbrella, using my SB800 to shoot through. It's triggerd by camera, but in order to do so, i have to use my pop-up flash. So i had 2 flashes. Room had about 8 fluerecent light blocks up on the ceiling, quiet bright.
I had umbrellas positioned to the left of me for all the shots.
I'll keep on practicing at home.

evoryware

Looks like you need an alternative for firing the SB800 so that the pop-up flash doesn't contribute to the exposure. She has the catchlight from the pop-up almost dead center in her pupil. I don't know the Nikon flash system though so I can't really be of any educational benefit towards helping you fix that.

gregneil

OK, that makes sense. I'd try shooting on ISO100 at your fastest sync speed (probably 250...) and see if that wipes out the ambient light. (For best results, set your exposure manually on your camera - if you don't, the camera will set the exposure based on the available light!) I usually get my external flash exposure settings by putting the flash on manual, guessing at the right exposure settings, and then looking at the LCD to see how close I am. I then adjust the flash power, test again, and keep repeating until I get the right settings dialed in. Remember, your aperture value has absolutely no affect on your flash exposure!

It might be easier for you to learn if you can first get a handle on just getting the flash exposure you want before you get into balancing the flash with the ambient light.

As far as the triggering goes, I'm not familiar with the Nikon system either... Does the pop-up flash trigger the SB800 with the burst of light? Or is it a wireless system built into the Nikon cameras?

If it's a wireless Nikon system, you can try blocking the built-in flash when you fire so it doesn't contribute to the exposure. If it's a system triggered by the light of the flash, you can try setting your SB800 to manual, and then your on-camera flash exposure compensation (FEC) to -3 so the built-in flash doesn't really do that much... and then clone out the straight-on catchlights in the eyes after the fact.

Well, those are my thoughts. Have fun! I think playing with off-camera flash is really exciting.

ShepsMom

evoryware wrote:

Looks like you need an alternative for firing the SB800 so that the pop-up flash doesn't contribute to the exposure. She has the catchlight from the pop-up almost dead center in her pupil. I don't know the Nikon flash system though so I can't really be of any educational benefit towards helping you fix that.

I know, it's really annoying, i can't figure out how to do it without pop-up flash firing.

ShepsMom

gregneil wrote:

OK, that makes sense. I'd try shooting on ISO100 at your fastest sync speed (probably 250...) and see if that wipes out the ambient light. (For best results, set your exposure manually on your camera - if you don't, the camera will set the exposure based on the available light!) I usually get my external flash exposure settings by putting the flash on manual, guessing at the right exposure settings, and then looking at the LCD to see how close I am. I then adjust the flash power, test again, and keep repeating until I get the right settings dialed in. Remember, your aperture value has absolutely no affect on your flash exposure!

It might be easier for you to learn if you can first get a handle on just getting the flash exposure you want before you get into balancing the flash with the ambient light.

As far as the triggering goes, I'm not familiar with the Nikon system either... Does the pop-up flash trigger the SB800 with the burst of light? Or is it a wireless system built into the Nikon cameras?

If it's a wireless Nikon system, you can try blocking the built-in flash when you fire so it doesn't contribute to the exposure. If it's a system triggered by the light of the flash, you can try setting your SB800 to manual, and then your on-camera flash exposure compensation (FEC) to -3 so the built-in flash doesn't really do that much... and then clone out the straight-on catchlights in the eyes after the fact.

Well, those are my thoughts. Have fun! I think playing with off-camera flash is really exciting.

\


Thanks Greg, yes, it's a wireless Nikon system and it only triggers SB800 when pop-flash is fired.

All of the shots were done at ISO100, i tried blocking pop-up flash w/o any success, so i put difuser on it, really didn't make any difference. My exposure was set anywhere between -1 to -7

I don't know what else to do with it.

pyry

ShepsMom wrote:

\


Thanks Greg, yes, it's a wireless Nikon system and it only triggers SB800 when pop-flash is fired.

All of the shots were done at ISO100, i tried blocking pop-up flash w/o any success, so i put difuser on it, really didn't make any difference. My exposure was set anywhere between -1 to -7

I don't know what else to do with it.

You could try a ir-pass filter on it, I've heard those work in exactly this scenario. Or use any reflecting bit of surface to turn the light from the pop-flash away from your subject - a bouncer.

Nice images, btw. I was gonna say you could deepen the shadows, but a straight firing flash on the camera kind of explains it.

The change from #5 to #6 is funny

Art Scott

I know this sounds weird but aluminum foil could be your friend....but looks.........welll.....somewhat.........unprofessional.......
Take a piece of Al. foil and make a shield and reflector to shield the light from going to the subjec and reflect it oevr to the SB800 only.....or spend >30.00 for a wireless RF flash trigger from Ebay......Here is a page showing what the seller I purchased from has to offer.....I purchased the 16 channel RF Wireless.....but please read them carefully as some flashes need a shoe with pc connections to work (which this seller does sell)....I purchased mine for use with my sunpak 622 and also my studio lights on location......I did make 1 mistake and did not order an extra reciever and so I will ahve to order an extra reciever shortly to ahve enuff for both sunpak622 and 2 studio strobes on location or at weddings.........so I suggest the 16 channel with at least 2 recievers and if you ask they will sell extra recievers at the same time with no added shipping cost or at least they would have 2 months ago when I got mine..............

BTW with what you have to work with I think you did a fantastic job.

ShepsMom

Thank you Art, i went on Ebay to check that link. Are these triggers all universal, or do i need to specifically look for one that works for Nikon?

Thanks again!!

Icebear

Before you do that, make certain that there's not a setting under the Commander mode on your D80 to set the output of the pop-up to "--." That way it does not contribute to the exposure at all.
Also, Nikon makes a cool little gizmo that comes with the macro flash kit. I think it's an SG-3ir. It's the IR thingy mentioned above. It's just made of ABS plastic, and I doubt it costs much of anything. It will allow the pop-up to fire your remotes, but eliminate the catchlight from the pop-up. Or you can do as Art says and rig an ugly half-assed tin-foil thing .

Art Scott

ShepsMom wrote:

Thank you Art, i went on Ebay to check that link. Are these triggers all universal, or do i need to specifically look for one that works for Nikon?

Thanks again!!

some stated that they did not work with certain flash units that did not have a pc connection or that for some weird reason they did not work with certain pc connections and needed a shoe connector to make them work.....I know it sounds complicated but if you read the ads they are all spelled out even for someone like me......some one that would suggest an ugly half assed al.foil make shift thingy like I did.....and tha is why I purchased from this company the hotshoe adapter is only another 4 or 5 dollars or maybe it was 10....no less than 10......anyway it is cheap.....and not IR which IR can be messed with outdoors in bright sunlight and with 16 channels it can be made to work around all those guys with their $200-500 2 channel PW's or radio popper.....the only draw back is.....they will not talk to flash or camera so ttl is out and MANUAL is IN......but you only truly learn lighting in manual anyway.....all studio strobes are manual......so these will also work with studio strobs......so when you move up to the bif lights these will fit right in...........

Good nite

ShepsMom

Ok, thank you guys. I will go and dig out manual for my cam, and start reading. Agrrr!