Hi Key - first attempt

Dave Clee · November 30, 2008

Well I finally got the home studio up and running after a few months of work and a few $$ of lighting gear..One of the first things I wanted to play around with was the high key portrait.

I bought the reflective tile board for the floor which really allows a nice transition between background and floor.

Overall I am happy with the look of this attempt, but looking to you studio gurus to give me a few tips on things to do better.

eL eSs Vee · November 30, 2008

Nice and sharp, good color. Lighting looks good to me: The light somewhat fade her legs into the background, thus keeping our attention on her face. But . . . move the camera to one side or the other so that her legs are connected to her through her body rather than growing out of her head.

And in my opinion, the tilt more than compensates for her face being dead center in the shot. I like that, for some reason. Then again, I've always liked breaking the rules.

A great first try!

Dave Clee · November 30, 2008

Thanks for the feedback, I'll work a bit on the composition. Was probably more caught up in the lighting..

Thanks again

Dave

eL eSs Vee wrote:

Nice and sharp, good color. Lighting looks good to me: The light somewhat fade her legs into the background, thus keeping our attention on her face. But . . . move the camera to one side or the other so that her legs are connected to her through her body rather than growing out of her head.

And in my opinion, the tilt more than compensates for her face being dead center in the shot. I like that, for some reason. Then again, I've always liked breaking the rules.

A great first try!

sweet caroline · November 30, 2008

The lighting looks really good. Cute girl! I have not yet mastered high key, partly because I lack enough lighting equipment. Mind sharing what you used?

Caroline

Dave Clee · November 30, 2008

Thanks, that is my girl Jaiden.

As far as setup, I have a relatively small studio here at home. Approx 16ft X 12ft.
The lighting on this shot was the following.

1 Elinchrom strobe 600W dialed way down, firing thru a Chimera 3'X4' softbox.

36" reflector on the other side for a bit of fill.

1 Opus 150W with barndoors to light the background. Full power

1 roll of 107" white paper background

2 sheets of 4X8 white tile board for the floor which the paper background slides under. The tile board was a great tip from this thread which really explained how to do the hi key setup.

http://www.zarias.com/?p=71 - this is really a great link.

Thanks again

Dave

sweet caroline wrote:

The lighting looks really good. Cute girl! I have not yet mastered high key, partly because I lack enough lighting equipment. Mind sharing what you used?

Caroline

Nikolai · November 30, 2008

Very nice! I must confess high-key still eludes me. Thanks for the description and for the link, those tile boards must be a key to the hiigh key:-) I'm gonna pick up some asap!

Dave Clee · November 30, 2008

Thanks Nikolai, I am hoping to tap into your expertise (and others) in the next little while...:D

The tile boards are definitely the key, but up here in Canada they werent $10, like the article said more like $56 each..Oh well.

Still working out a few things and looking forward to getting better in the studio.

Yesterday I picked up the elinchrom wireless pack for the 2 Elinchrom strobes I bought and wow is that ever nice not to be tied to a cable anymore.

All in all I now have a pretty decent setup to play and experiment.

Cheers

Dave

Nikolai wrote:

Very nice! I must confess high-key still eludes me. Thanks for the description and for the link, those tile boards must be a key to the hiigh key:-) I'm gonna pick up some asap!

anwmn1 · December 1, 2008

For a first attempt this is fantastic.

For me personally I think the lighting is a tad hot on her right side (our left).

Thanks for the tip on the tile board. I have carpet where I have been shooting and it is driving me nuts with using paper. I plan to purchase canvas or heavy muslin next as the paper is a bit of a pain to work with after awhile.

You might want to pick up some sheets of plexi glass next to get reflections.

My sheet is much too small but you can get an idea

Dave Clee · December 1, 2008

Thanks for having a look. As far as the reflections the tile board itself is reflective, although it didnt show it on this shot..I might of killed it setting the white point. I luv the one you posted..

I definitely have some tuning to do with regards to exposure control.

Cheers

Dave

anwmn1 wrote:

For a first attempt this is fantastic.

For me personally I think the lighting is a tad hot on her right side (our left).

Thanks for the tip on the tile board. I have carpet where I have been shooting and it is driving me nuts with using paper. I plan to purchase canvas or heavy muslin next as the paper is a bit of a pain to work with after awhile.

You might want to pick up some sheets of plexi glass next to get reflections.

My sheet is much too small but you can get an idea

Hi Key - first attempt

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