With apologies and thanks to Stan Lee and John Romita, Sr.

[k9ofkaos]

I haven't shot in a long time so here is my first work in months and months. I did get more lens flair than I was comfortable with (despite having the model 8 feet away from the BG). So if anyone could give some pointers on how to control this, I would be much obliged.

[Seawolf66]

clever and nicely done for me since I am not pro on this subject as a matter of fact on none:

[Sailor Blue]

Use a lens hood.

Flag any lights that could possibly send light directly to your lens.

Meter the background with the flash meter flat against the background and with the dome extended. Don't set the exposure to more than a maximum 1 stop of overexposure and it should be no more than ±0.2 stops over the surface that will show up in the image.

If you still have lens flare then flag the background outside the image area to keep light from it reaching your camera.

[patterfr]

Ahhhhhhhhhhh.....thanks mojo.

[Bobby Deal]

I am viewing on my iPad but I don't see the flare you are concerned with in this image. It actually looks to me like the exposure on the model is an easy half stop low.

To control flare as mentioned use the lenshood but more importantly flag the background lights. 8' should be more then enough separation but placing a 4x8 sheet of black foam core on a 30 degree angle just out of frame between model and each background light will not only flag the BG light but will also allow for some negative fill to help with edge contrasting and hi light control. You will be amazed at what a huge difference this can make. I do it every time I shoot on white and I have a 30' deep cyc wall to shoot on.

[jfklein13]

So Google tells me the men you mention are the Spider Man comic artists, but what in the world do the speech balloons mean here?

[k9ofkaos]

Originally Posted by Seawolf66

clever and nicely done for me since I am not pro on this subject as a matter of fact on none:

Thanks

Originally Posted by Sailor Blue

Use a lens hood.

Flag any lights that could possibly send light directly to your lens.

Meter the background with the flash meter flat against the background and with the dome extended. Don't set the exposure to more than a maximum 1 stop of overexposure and it should be no more than ±0.2 stops over the surface that will show up in the image.

If you still have lens flare then flag the background outside the image area to keep light from it reaching your camera.

Thanks for the advice

Originally Posted by patterfr

Ahhhhhhhhhhh.....thanks mojo.

Thanks Fran. I knew you'd dig it. I have a few more to show in the next day or so.

Originally Posted by Bobby Deal

I am viewing on my iPad but I don't see the flare you are concerned with in this image. It actually looks to me like the exposure on the model is an easy half stop low.

To control flare as mentioned use the lenshood but more importantly flag the background lights. 8' should be more then enough separation but placing a 4x8 sheet of black foam core on a 30 degree angle just out of frame between model and each background light will not only flag the BG light but will also allow for some negative fill to help with edge contrasting and hi light control. You will be amazed at what a huge difference this can make. I do it every time I shoot on white and I have a 30' deep cyc wall to shoot on.

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll try to find some black foamcare for sure.

Originally Posted by jfklein13

So Google tells me the men you mention are the Spider Man comic artists, but what in the world do the speech balloons mean here?

This is my homage to one of the most iconic panels ever to appear in graphic literature. It appeared in the November 1966 (issue #42) of The Amazing Spider-Man.

Wikipedia says:

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Early issues of The Amazing Spider-Man featured a running joke about Peter dodging his Aunt May's attempts to set him up with "that nice Watson girl next door", whom Peter had not yet met and assumed would not be his type, since his aunt liked her (in the Parallel Lives graphic novel an identical scenario is shown between Mary Jane and her Aunt Anna). Mary Jane made her first actual appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 1 #25 (June 1965); however, in that issue, her face was obscured. It is not until The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 1 #42 (November 1966) that her face is actually seen. In that issue, on the last page, Peter finally meets her, and he is stunned by her beauty even as she speaks the now-famous line: "Face it, Tiger... you just hit the jackpot!"

You can see this panel here:

File:Mjface.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I used a later version to base my image on:

File:Mary Jane Watson.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Benji]

Mojo,

Her skin is slightly overexposed and her black top and all the shadows are underexposed. I don't see any ghosting or lens flare. Powering up the fill light about one stop should take care of the underexposed top and those deep dark shadows under her hair and in the folds of her slacks. If you don't use a fill light start now. If you are using a fill light power it up. The fill light should be slightly above and behind the camera.

You need to meter the fill alone and record that aperture. Then meter the main alone and boost its power up to where it is about 2 stops more than the fill alone. Then meter both lights at the same time under the subject's chin, the dome of the meter extended out and level with the planes of her face and pointed slightly toward the main light. This reading will be your shooting aperture. Set that reading into your camera. Now position the dome of the meter pointing backwards toward the background just above and level with her shoulder. Pop the lights and record that reading. It must be about 2/3rds of a stop more than the combined main and fill reading if you want a pure white background. Adding more than about 1 stop of light to the background and you risk flare and ghosting.

Benji

[k9ofkaos]

Originally Posted by Benji

Mojo,

Her skin is slightly overexposed and her black top and all the shadows are underexposed. I don't see any ghosting or lens flare. Powering up the fill light about one stop should take care of the underexposed top and those deep dark shadows under her hair and in the folds of her slacks. If you don't use a fill light start now. If you are using a fill light power it up. The fill light should be slightly above and behind the camera.

You need to meter the fill alone and record that aperture. Then meter the main alone and boost its power up to where it is about 2 stops more than the fill alone. Then meter both lights at the same time under the subject's chin, the dome of the meter extended out and level with the planes of her face and pointed slightly toward the main light. This reading will be your shooting aperture. Set that reading into your camera. Now position the dome of the meter pointing backwards toward the background just above and level with her shoulder. Pop the lights and record that reading. It must be about 2/3rds of a stop more than the combined main and fill reading if you want a pure white background. Adding more than about 1 stop of light to the background and you risk flare and ghosting.

Benji

Thank you so much Benji!!!!! Great words and you explained something about metering that I was never sure how to do. (Of course we know real professionals don't need to use meters. ha ha)

[Benji]

Originally Posted by k9ofkaos

Thank you so much Benji!!!!! Great words and you explained something about metering that I was never sure how to do. (Of course we know real professionals don't need to use meters. ha ha)

Real pros don't use meters? I put a quarter in them EVERY time I park, so there.

Benji