First portrait with new AB lights

chicodawg · February 10, 2007

Last week was like Christmas... each day, something was showing up at the door. AlienBees, B & H, etc. Today, I got a chance to hook it all up.

Equipment: 3 AlienBees 800's. One brolly on camera right (low key), one white umb on left (high key). Background light/flash behind subject and overhead white reflector (42") above subject - tried to highlight the hair. This wasn't accented as much as it was on an earlier shot this morning but earlier I was using the gold shiny side. Maybe my angle was off somewhere.

Also one eye has 2 catchlights.

Metered with the Sekonic L-358. 1/250, f11.

I've never used equipment like this, so please be constructive with the C&C!

Here goes!
IMG_5004 400x490.jpg

saurora · February 10, 2007

Congratulations on all the neat equipment! I envy you! I can't give advice since I don't have lighting (yet). But I notice a green cast outlining her hair and shoulder area...may be a reflection from the background, I'm not sure. Hopefully someone will come along her with more expertise and advise how to avoid that. Looks like you are off to a great start........have fun!

Shay Stephens · February 10, 2007

That is a great start. Don't worry about catch lights. If you have ever seen natural catch lights outside, you will notice there is a riot mob of them on occasion. Don't get distracted by trying to create an artificial ideal of what a catch light should look like.

It looks like you may be using a green screen to use digital backgrounds. Not ideal, but if that is what you want to do, make sure there is enough distance between the subject and the background. If there is too much spill over from the main lights or the background lights are too strong, you can get that overpowering green halo.

A tip that has always helped me is to use the least amount of flash power as is practical. f/11 for a headshot seems overkill. If you have an f/2.8 lens, try metering for that. It will help develop a finesse in lighting instead of the shotgun approach that can burn the retina's of your models hehehe.

Another great exercise when beginning, instead of using every piece of gear you have, try using just one light. Get to know it. Learn to make great photos with just one light. You will quickly learn what, if any, deficiencies are popping up, and you will be in a better position to take care of that with your lighting equipment. Use the equipment to solve problems, not just because you have it in stock.

And lastly, experiment with more dramatic lighting ratios. Find out which ones move you the most. Even illumination is not the goal of lighting, what you want to do with lighting is bring out some details, hide other details, fine tune shadows for effect or printing, simulate depth, etc.

Learn about short lighting, broad lighting, split lighting, cross lighting, butterfly, Rembrandt, and loop lighting. Those can add an additional dimension to your portraits when used appropriately, and it will breath life into them and equip you to use your lighting to solve problems.

Rhuarc · February 10, 2007

Shay Stephens wrote:

Learn about short lighting, broad lighting, split lighting, cross lighting, butterfly, Rembrandt, and loop lighting. Those can add an additional dimension to your portraits when used appropriately, and it will breath life into them and equip you to use your lighting to solve problems.

Uh, hwere would be agood place to learn about this stuff? Any decent lighting 101 books that you can reccommend for us lighting virgins?

chicodawg · February 10, 2007

Rhuarc wrote:

Uh, hwere would be agood place to learn about this stuff? Any decent lighting 101 books that you can reccommend for us lighting virgins?

Rhuarc, I'm finishing up yet another book called "Digital Portrait Photography and Lighting - Take memorable shots every time". Excellent resource covers almost all aspects of photography. It was a little basic for me at first, but then it moved into the slightly more advanced topics. Even covers operating a business. Lighting is covered in fair detail in the beginning then the authors show how it all comes together.

There are a few really good online resources as well such as
Strobist - lighting tutorials
and
Photoflex Lighting School

I can't remember the other one I had bookmarked (can't find it!) about sports shooting or something. They have some really good video tutorials/classes. It was mentioned here in the forums.

Mike

chicodawg · February 10, 2007

Thanks saurora for the kind words and encouragement. I guess my masking technique needs more work...but that was, as Shay (photo guru) also recognized, part of a green chroma key I'm working with. I think it will look good once I simplify the process of removing it.

It's a start! It took a lot of reading on here and various websites to put all this together (as in ordering... I'm still learning how to put-it-all-together). Haha

Mike

Rhuarc · February 10, 2007

chicodawg wrote:

Rhuarc, I'm finishing up yet another book called "Digital Portrait Photography and Lighting - Take memorable shots every time". Excellent resource covers almost all aspects of photography. It was a little basic for me at first, but then it moved into the slightly more advanced topics. Even covers operating a business. Lighting is covered in fair detail in the beginning then the authors show how it all comes together.

There are a few really good online resources as well such as
Strobist - lighting tutorials
and
Photoflex Lighting School

I can't remember the other one I had bookmarked (can't find it!) about sports shooting or something. They have some really good video tutorials/classes. It was mentioned here in the forums.

Mike

Thanks for the links! I'll defenitley be checking these out.

chicodawg · February 10, 2007

Thank you Shay for popping in here and offering your valuable advice. As you have done so many times!

I decided to go the chroma key route for its apparent simplicity and cost. Plus, I can slide through the hundreds of (purchased) digital backdrops and try different things out before going to print. I bet once I nail the masking down, it will look pretty good.

I'm still figuring out the scale (adjustment) on the back of the Alienbees. I need to read the instructions again.

I was thinking more on lighting ratios than strength. Based on threads here and info elsewhere (mostly here, tho), my background light was 2x the main light - to knockout shadows. The main was 2x the fill (2:1). Or so I thought...

I took one meter reading at the subject facing my main light with shutter priority (on the L-358) at 1/250... gave me f11 @ ISO 100. My camera has that, so I took shot. My subject told me if I do that again, she'll need sun screen. Also, my backdrop was in front of our back (sliding glass) doors where sunlight was shining in already.

I know I probably should have taken meter readings of each light, but... I won't get to that page until tomorrow.

I'll tone it down a bit and try again.

Thanks again!
Mike

Owen · February 11, 2007

Shay Stephens wrote:

That is a great start. Don't worry about catch lights. If you have ever seen natural catch lights outside, you will notice there is a riot mob of them on occasion. Don't get distracted by trying to create an artificial ideal of what a catch light should look like.

It looks like you may be using a green screen to use digital backgrounds. Not ideal, but if that is what you want to do, make sure there is enough distance between the subject and the background. If there is too much spill over from the main lights or the background lights are too strong, you can get that overpowering green halo.

A tip that has always helped me is to use the least amount of flash power as is practical. f/11 for a headshot seems overkill. If you have an f/2.8 lens, try metering for that. It will help develop a finesse in lighting instead of the shotgun approach that can burn the retina's of your models hehehe.

Another great exercise when beginning, instead of using every piece of gear you have, try using just one light. Get to know it. Learn to make great photos with just one light. You will quickly learn what, if any, deficiencies are popping up, and you will be in a better position to take care of that with your lighting equipment. Use the equipment to solve problems, not just because you have it in stock.

And lastly, experiment with more dramatic lighting ratios. Find out which ones move you the most. Even illumination is not the goal of lighting, what you want to do with lighting is bring out some details, hide other details, fine tune shadows for effect or printing, simulate depth, etc.

Learn about short lighting, broad lighting, split lighting, cross lighting, butterfly, Rembrandt, and loop lighting. Those can add an additional dimension to your portraits when used appropriately, and it will breath life into them and equip you to use your lighting to solve problems.

EXCELLENT POST!

Sticky this... make it it's own thread... Such useful information!

(not in relation to this post, but as a comment to Shays) Seriously people... ONE LIGHT. PLEASE.

Rhuarc · February 11, 2007

I've been triying to read up on this stuff and I guess I'm a little confused. For portrait shots is it best to use strobes or lights? I was reading this article http://www.photoflexlightingschool.com/Equipment_Lessons/First_Studio/The_First_Studio_Portrait_Kit/index.html and it is talking only about lights with umbrellas. Shoudl you use a flash in addition to this type of a setup? Here is what I am wondering. At some point I want to try to get into doing some portraits here and there for friends, family, and maybe eventually doing it enough to help fund my hobby. My question is, what is the best route to go as far as portrait lighting is concerned? I've even read things where people just learning setup 3 or 4 flash slaves that were all fired using a main on-camera flash that was angled away from the subject. Is this something that is done, or not so much?

Sorry bout all the questions, I'm just confused! Lol.

chicodawg · February 11, 2007

Rhuarc wrote:

Sorry bout all the questions, I'm just confused! Lol.

I'm confused now also. Four portrait books and several posts from forums describing lighting techniques and setups, numerous online tutorials and videos. Months of researching this before making purchases. Each light serves a useful purpose. Or so I thought. Instead of 3, I should have purchased one - or if any?

I'm in the confused line also.

Scott_Quier · February 11, 2007

Rhuarc wrote:

I've been triying to read up on this stuff and I guess I'm a little confused. For portrait shots is it best to use strobes or lights? I was reading this article http://www.photoflexlightingschool.com/Equipment_Lessons/First_Studio/The_First_Studio_Portrait_Kit/index.html and it is talking only about lights with umbrellas. Shoudl you use a flash in addition to this type of a setup? Here is what I am wondering. At some point I want to try to get into doing some portraits here and there for friends, family, and maybe eventually doing it enough to help fund my hobby. My question is, what is the best route to go as far as portrait lighting is concerned? I've even read things where people just learning setup 3 or 4 flash slaves that were all fired using a main on-camera flash that was angled away from the subject. Is this something that is done, or not so much?

Sorry bout all the questions, I'm just confused! Lol.

Lights. Strobes. Flash. In principle, the same thing. They are all sources of light that last only milli-seconds.

What is important is how that light is used in the shot. There are all kinds of modifiers and they will all work - to one degree or another - with all the above listed light sources (and with hot lights as well).

I really doesn't matter what you use for lighting. But, like Shay has recommended, start out small and build up. I've read elsewhere that it's a good idea for all your lights to be the same. I've also read that it's a good idea to use some sort of studio lighting with modeling lights in a studio so you can actually see what you're going to get before you press the shutter release.

wxwax · February 11, 2007

Shay Stephens wrote:

That is a great start. Don't worry about catch lights. If you have ever seen natural catch lights outside, you will notice there is a riot mob of them on occasion. Don't get distracted by trying to create an artificial ideal of what a catch light should look like.

It looks like you may be using a green screen to use digital backgrounds. Not ideal, but if that is what you want to do, make sure there is enough distance between the subject and the background. If there is too much spill over from the main lights or the background lights are too strong, you can get that overpowering green halo.

A tip that has always helped me is to use the least amount of flash power as is practical. f/11 for a headshot seems overkill. If you have an f/2.8 lens, try metering for that. It will help develop a finesse in lighting instead of the shotgun approach that can burn the retina's of your models hehehe.

Another great exercise when beginning, instead of using every piece of gear you have, try using just one light. Get to know it. Learn to make great photos with just one light. You will quickly learn what, if any, deficiencies are popping up, and you will be in a better position to take care of that with your lighting equipment. Use the equipment to solve problems, not just because you have it in stock.

And lastly, experiment with more dramatic lighting ratios. Find out which ones move you the most. Even illumination is not the goal of lighting, what you want to do with lighting is bring out some details, hide other details, fine tune shadows for effect or printing, simulate depth, etc.

Learn about short lighting, broad lighting, split lighting, cross lighting, butterfly, Rembrandt, and loop lighting. Those can add an additional dimension to your portraits when used appropriately, and it will breath life into them and equip you to use your lighting to solve problems.

Great post.

wxwax · February 11, 2007

Chico, the very first thing you could fix is to move your model further away from the green screen.

No amount of masking is going to remove the green in her hair. It's a nightmare to work around (DAMHIK)

Move her further away, and you won't get a green reflection on her hair or face. This will make your life a lot easier, if you choose to continue with the green screen technique.

First portrait with new AB lights

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