I tried to put a very crude studio together in my basement. Two speedlights (430EX) and a can light from my DJ rig for the background light. Please let me know how I did
I love the DIY approach and its almost there I think. The only thing that bothers me in the photos is the upward lighting and I'm not sure it thats what you were going for...
Looking at the dual catchlights in the eyes the lights need to get up a couple of feet higher in order to give a more pleasing effect. With the lights so low you have some awkward upward shadows and very directional lighting which is the opposite of off camera lighting. This is just a suggestion as I'm not sure what effect you are going for. Other than that you're on the way to better lighting and keep experimenting!
I have so much respect for DIY photographers, like my approval really means anything to anyone.
Disclaimer: My comments are made with the assumption that you are attempting a variant of the more "classic" lighting and portrait techniques.
Beautiful model - OK, that has nothing to do with the lighting - just had to stick that in there!:D
I'm not a big fan of the 90 degrees to the camera pose. Seeing the shoulder fill that much of the frame just doesn't do it for me. My suggestion would be to open her stance the camera just a bit more.
The softly filled shadows leads me to believe you got your lighting ratio pretty close to 1:2 - this is a good thing in my book. With ladies, I usually attempt a similar ratio
As Chris mentioned, it appears your key light is shoot up at your model. It would look better (warning: another opinion:D) were the key light to be coming from somewhere above the level of her eyes. This better mimics what we see from sun-lit objects - it's what we are used to seeing.
The lighting of the background is just about dead one. You have a slight vignetting in the lower right corner and, if it were my shot, I would attempt to get a similar effect in the other corners - this will better pull viewer focus to those beautiful eyes!
You exposure may be a little hot on her shoulder and just below her cheekbones - but that is likely to be my monitor (looking at this on my POS monitor at my 9-5 ).
DIY or other-wise, this is a nice shot. I think you've done well, leaving only very little room for improvement.
This looks good to me (and your model has the most gorgeous eyes which you've brought out really well). One thing - perhaps the light is a little hard? I don't know if you were using any modifiers on your flashes, but if you're looking for a near-free softbox, have a look at one I made out of a 12-pack soda carton in this thread (make sure you read to the end - in particular from post #23 onwards, because I made some modifications and posted some more pictures of the final version). With that on my 420ex (a less capable flash than your 430ex because I have no manual mode) and some foamboard reflectors, I've been able to get some decent results. Free is good
Here's a couple of recent shots taken with that one flash, the DIY softbox and dollar-store reflectors (I'd love to see what happened with two flashes similarly modified!)
Thanks for all your help. Just for a little info; I had a small umbrella on one light camera left and a gary fong difuser on the light on camera right. The lights may have been to close both together and to the model--very tight space. The celings at the tallest point are only 6 feet (dealing with support in between so the light cannot be bounced off the celing effectively). We will try other configurations and post later today.
This looks good to me (and your model has the most gorgeous eyes which you've brought out really well). One thing - perhaps the light is a little hard? I don't know if you were using any modifiers on your flashes, but if you're looking for a near-free softbox, have a look at one I made out of a 12-pack soda carton in this thread (make sure you read to the end - in particular from post #23 onwards, because I made some modifications and posted some more pictures of the final version). With that on my 420ex (a less capable flash than your 430ex because I have no manual mode) and some foamboard reflectors, I've been able to get some decent results. Free is good
Here's a couple of recent shots taken with that one flash, the DIY softbox and dollar-store reflectors (I'd love to see what happened with two flashes similarly modified!)
I tried to put a very crude studio together in my basement. Two speedlights (430EX) and a can light from my DJ rig for the background light. Please let me know how I did
Thanks
just by the way, bh has a kit with a couple of stands and umbrellas for 99. I am pretty pleased with them. the 430s fit right on there. sure simplifies things.
just by the way, bh has a kit with a couple of stands and umbrellas for 99. I am pretty pleased with them. the 430s fit right on there. sure simplifies things.
Thanks! I neglected to mention that I do have stands. I have the bracket thing that lets me attach the flash with an Umbrella. I have since changed my approach. Intsead of tryin to have two lights on my subject, I have since moved to one. Because the backdrop light lacked in power, it caused me to slow the shutter considerably. I have since went to one main light 45 degress on either side of my subject with a reflector for fill and the other speedlight, gelled on the backdrop. I still need to adjust for ratio, but it seems to work well.
Comments
I love the DIY approach and its almost there I think. The only thing that bothers me in the photos is the upward lighting and I'm not sure it thats what you were going for...
Looking at the dual catchlights in the eyes the lights need to get up a couple of feet higher in order to give a more pleasing effect. With the lights so low you have some awkward upward shadows and very directional lighting which is the opposite of off camera lighting. This is just a suggestion as I'm not sure what effect you are going for. Other than that you're on the way to better lighting and keep experimenting!
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http://simplyphotostudio.com
http://decayedbeauty.com
Disclaimer: My comments are made with the assumption that you are attempting a variant of the more "classic" lighting and portrait techniques.
- Beautiful model - OK, that has nothing to do with the lighting - just had to stick that in there!:D
- I'm not a big fan of the 90 degrees to the camera pose. Seeing the shoulder fill that much of the frame just doesn't do it for me. My suggestion would be to open her stance the camera just a bit more.
- The softly filled shadows leads me to believe you got your lighting ratio pretty close to 1:2 - this is a good thing in my book. With ladies, I usually attempt a similar ratio
- As Chris mentioned, it appears your key light is shoot up at your model. It would look better (warning: another opinion:D) were the key light to be coming from somewhere above the level of her eyes. This better mimics what we see from sun-lit objects - it's what we are used to seeing.
- The lighting of the background is just about dead one. You have a slight vignetting in the lower right corner and, if it were my shot, I would attempt to get a similar effect in the other corners - this will better pull viewer focus to those beautiful eyes!
- You exposure may be a little hot on her shoulder and just below her cheekbones - but that is likely to be my monitor (looking at this on my POS monitor at my 9-5
).
DIY or other-wise, this is a nice shot. I think you've done well, leaving only very little room for improvement.My Photos
Thoughts on photographing a wedding, How to post a picture, AF Microadjustments?, Light Scoop
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This looks good to me (and your model has the most gorgeous eyes which you've brought out really well). One thing - perhaps the light is a little hard? I don't know if you were using any modifiers on your flashes, but if you're looking for a near-free softbox, have a look at one I made out of a 12-pack soda carton in this thread (make sure you read to the end - in particular from post #23 onwards, because I made some modifications and posted some more pictures of the final version). With that on my 420ex (a less capable flash than your 430ex because I have no manual mode) and some foamboard reflectors, I've been able to get some decent results. Free is good
Here's a couple of recent shots taken with that one flash, the DIY softbox and dollar-store reflectors (I'd love to see what happened with two flashes similarly modified!)
just by the way, bh has a kit with a couple of stands and umbrellas for 99. I am pretty pleased with them. the 430s fit right on there. sure simplifies things.
Las Cruces Photographer / Las Cruces Wedding Photographer
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Thanks! I neglected to mention that I do have stands. I have the bracket thing that lets me attach the flash with an Umbrella. I have since changed my approach. Intsead of tryin to have two lights on my subject, I have since moved to one. Because the backdrop light lacked in power, it caused me to slow the shutter considerably. I have since went to one main light 45 degress on either side of my subject with a reflector for fill and the other speedlight, gelled on the backdrop. I still need to adjust for ratio, but it seems to work well.
Thanks all!