1st "Studio" Shots. CC welcome

AlbertZeroK · October 4, 2009

I've been playing around this weekend with my new Alienbees (AB400 w/ umbrella and an AB800 with a 2x4 Softbox). I would welcome CC on the photos. I think some of them are a little soft, but I'm happy with them for the most part. No post processing yet. I'm gearing up for taking photos of my family this week, the company I work for, rented a hanger to create a video of our new van and work flow, so I'm gunna set up a studio in the hanger too and get some shooting in.

All of these were taken with my 50D and my 70-200 f/2.8 IS USM, mostly from a tripod. They are in a gallery here if you want to look at the technical info.

Swartzy · October 4, 2009

A couple observations:

Since you have the light power....stop down that aperture. These are all close head shots. Don't worry about the background blurring out when in so tight. You want both eyes in focus. Check your histogram and clearly expose to the right. You'll notice a significant difference in sharpness and clarity @ f/9.0. Up the power of the AB's for good exposure. Rather than writing paragraphs of how to set up (consult lighting books or search on line), I would also suggest using custom white balance. Take a shot of a grey card/white card and set your camera to that image, then dial to the custom white balance in the menu setting.

Also, rather than shooting in so tight, allow a bit of room. Use your spot focusing system and choose just "one" of the focusing squares. The focus of the camera works best when determining contrasting elements. When in tight, the eye is a good choice. If your subject has the head turned a bit, focus on the forward eye and allow the DOF to do it's job. This is why you need to stop down as well as the advantages of sharper images because every lens is much sharper stopped down by at least 1 stop.

Shooting using strobes, you need to shoot in manual and not exceed your shutter speed sync. A couple of these in the gallery were shot at 1/320 sec. I'm surprised at those shuter speeds, the images didn't exhibit partial curtain in the frame. 1/200 is more than enough. I typically shoot studio at 1/160th. I believe the 50D has a sync speed of 1/250th if not mistaken (I have a 40D).

In case you are wondering why stop down......I shoot some headshots with my 400mm f/5.6 prime on a tripod. Stopping down provides detail sharp images and the bokeh is phenominal...it's the old thing of focal length to distance math.

AlbertZeroK · October 5, 2009

First, thanks for the CC! I really appriciate the help.

Swartzy wrote:

A couple observations:

Since you have the light power....stop down that aperture. These are all close head shots. Don't worry about the background blurring out when in so tight. You want both eyes in focus. Check your histogram and clearly expose to the right. You'll notice a significant difference in sharpness and clarity @ f/9.0. Up the power of the AB's for good exposure. Rather than writing paragraphs of how to set up (consult lighting books or search on line), I would also suggest using custom white balance. Take a shot of a grey card/white card and set your camera to that image, then dial to the custom white balance in the menu setting.

Yeah, I keep wanting to shoot wide open for the best brocke, I need to stop that!

Also, rather than shooting in so tight, allow a bit of room. Use your spot focusing system and choose just "one" of the focusing squares. The focus of the camera works best when determining contrasting elements. When in tight, the eye is a good choice. If your subject has the head turned a bit, focus on the forward eye and allow the DOF to do it's job. This is why you need to stop down as well as the advantages of sharper images because every lens is much sharper stopped down by at least 1 stop.

I do use spot focus and I do try to focus on the eye. I just realized something though, is it focusing on the eye or where the eye and the eye lid meet? Wouldn't the meeting place provide the best contrast? I"ll admit though, trying to focus on the eye while a child is on the move is hard for me.

Shooting using strobes, you need to shoot in manual and not exceed your shutter speed sync. A couple of these in the gallery were shot at 1/320 sec. I'm surprised at those shuter speeds, the images didn't exhibit partial curtain in the frame. 1/200 is more than enough. I typically shoot studio at 1/160th. I believe the 50D has a sync speed of 1/250th if not mistaken (I have a 40D).

True. I actually am not liking my Alienbees right now, too much power. That would be different if I had a larger space. I just couldn't seem to get the power down low enough - although it's my first time shooting with them so...

In case you are wondering why stop down......I shoot some headshots with my 400mm f/5.6 prime on a tripod. Stopping down provides detail sharp images and the bokeh is phenominal...it's the old thing of focal length to distance math.

Interesting, but very true and I see your point. 200mm is he longest focal length I have, although, I have a canon 2x converter, but I think I might loose something if I shoot with that as well.

THanks for the feedback, I feel much better about this week comming up.

Hackbone · October 5, 2009

If you feel you have to much power in the Bees try shooting thru the umbrella instead of bouncing the light from it. You can also "feather"the light. Meaning turn the light so more of it is going in front of the subject and the light from the back side of the umbrella it hitting the subject.

ivar · October 9, 2009

I also think that Swartzy has made some good points. Be careful about your whitebalance, also, it seems a bit warm. But in general I think they are nice shots and I think you got some great expressions here!

1st "Studio" Shots. CC welcome

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