Need C&C on the studio lighting

[lviperz]

This is my first attempt at studio lighting. While my daughter is not to happy to be my test subject, I'm looking for C&C on the lighting. What did I do wrong and what could I do to make things better.

This is a cheap 3 light kit I got off ebay. The main and fill light are 160 w/s strobe softbox and the hair light is a 45 w/s strobe bouncing off the wall to dim it a bit. Otherwise it is too bright and it does not have any adjustments.

Also, these are straight out of the camera.

[ncmedix]

I can't give you any great advice as I am learning myself. I think these are great first attempts. I think your hairlight is great as it separates her hair / head from the background. I think you have a nice shadow under the nose and the left side of the face. I can't tell for sure, but I think there is a slight shadow over the left eye. I'm not sure I like that, but it is very subtle. I think you have definately achieved a more 3D look. I think the fill could be a little less to give more shadow, but that is just me. Try playing with the light to subject difference or placing some diffusion between the fill light. Also play with the height of the key light.

Best advice I can give you is to take notes as you take shots. That way when you are reviewing them on the CPU later your notes will help guide you through any changes you made in lighting (ie. distance, height, etc). Have fun. Thanks for sharing.

Jeremy

[Benji]

Wow, for a first timer these are great. Critique: The hair light should be above and behind her aimed down and forward so it skims her hair only. In your images it is also illuminating her left cheek. The main light should be positioned so it will be on the same side of the face as the part of the hair. By positioning the main light here it will prevent shadows under the hair like in the above images. (Note the shadows on her forehead.) Long sleeves look best. The white upper arm draws the eye away from the face.

Benji

[cgallo]

I have noticed that feathering the light works wonders for me. There is a very short description of feathering here:

Shutterbug: Lighting Workshop

Scroll down until you find "light feathering".

I hope you find that useful!

[lviperz]

Thank you everyone. I'll take what everyone has suggested and apply it to my next attempt. I especially like the idea of feathering the light. That sounds like it just might help with the strobe I used for the hair light as it does not have any power adjustments.

And Benji, thanks for the tips and kind words. Coming from you I consider that a compliment. I really enjoy your work and have read your tutorials. It's kind of what I'm basing my work on. Thank you.

I'll post my next round when I get them done.

[RexChun]

OK, I know nothing about lighting, so I did not say anything.
After all the Pros, I guess I can play with picture now, right?
PICT2066_resize.JPG

[hotrod4x5]

What is your goal with the last image? No offense, but for my taste it is over done, she looks like a plastic doll.

[RexChun]

Hmmm... too much?? ok, tone it down!
I don't have a goal. Just play around with the picture.

Edit: Wait, let me answer the question again. The goal is of course to make the pictures look beautiful. If we want "real" then we don't need studio lighting and we don't need touch up. I remember the first time I use the patch tool to smooth out one of my female friend's picture. I thought I did a good job, because I get rid of all the imperfection on her face. But, she is not impressed at all, she pointed at one of the magazine's picture and asked "Can you make me look like her?" I started to use photoshop because I want the person in the photos have even skin tone and beautiful. I guess this is the goal of most people.
I am sorry that the picture looks over done. I in fact did not do much to the picture, just in case you did not notice her skin is already very good. I just take out some shadow and sharpen eyes. Then I use lab color to make the color richer.
When I see a picture I always just wondering what can I do to make the picture better? I guess this is my goal.

[hotrod4x5]

I would suggest you be careful whitening eyes that much. No one's eyes are that white, it looks unnatural to me.

[clarebear]

all i have to say is, for a first time studio lighting these are awesome. they arent flat! there is ratio and depth! that is so huge. way to go, you are gonna go places fast with this...can't wait to see more!

clare

[gaopa2]

Nice job for the first try at your lighting. Listen to Benji as he is "the man" on lighting!

She is such a pretty young lady, bet she has a great smile... get her to show it! Cheers, Bill P.

[Jason Hermann]

I think they look excellent for right off the camera!! Nice dimension and catch lights

Best,
Jay

[lviperz]

Rexchun, thanks for the edit. I really do like it. Your edit does give it more color. The only problem is the hair is a little too reddish. Cassy has light blone hair more like the original. Other then that, the skin tone looks great. What plugin did you use? I'd like to give it a try.

Clare, Bill and Jay, thank you for the compliments. I really appreciate them. But to be fair, even though those shots are straight out of the camera, not all the shots looked that good. An example is attached below. In them you can see how the hair light was too bright and caused a lens flare.

As I said, I just received the light kit on Friday and tested things out Saturday morning. I've never taken portraits before and had no idea how to set my camera for external flashes. So I had a lot of trial and error till I found the right exposure setting. Which I'm new at also.

Oh yeah, and Cassy os mad at me for posting these pictures. She just woke up shortly before I had her pose for me.

[Rain Lily]

teehee! She's a cutie.

I love what you did with the lighting, you seem to be a natural!
Sis

[hotrod4x5]

Originally Posted by lviperz

Rexchun, thanks for the edit. I really do like it. Your edit does give it more color. The only problem is the hair is a little too reddish. Cassy has light blone hair more like the original. Other then that, the skin tone looks great. What plugin did you use? I'd like to give it a try.

I'm also interested in the technique. I like the skin smoothening, just the eyes were too white for my taste.

[lviperz]

Thanks Sis. Everyone is so encouraging. Thank you.

Here are some more shots. I was trying to apply the suggestions from here and what I've learned from reading other posts. So now I'm looking for more C&C. This time for the whole picture and not just the lighting.

Again, these are straight out of the camera because I want C&C on what I did in the studio, not based on my post work.

[lviperz]

Looking back at these shots I took, am I correct in thinking they are a bit dark, underexposed? They seem that way to me. And my histograms show things on the dark side as well.

But here is a shot that seems bright to me but the histogram shows a nice middle wave.

[joshman]

sorry to dig up an old post, but i've noticed a few things, that kinda stand out to me, i'm an absolute newb in all things lighting, and have just recently recieved my first strobe.

anyway, the catch lights are the first thing i noticed in your pics...they are a little distracting to me, because they are level or something. i'm not too sure what it is. is it possible to raise the light to camera right up to 45deg from the model's face? and the one at camera left down to 45deg, that might make the catch light look more natural.

i like you last pic, nice even lighting on the model, but i agree with your assessment, it does seem a little light, is there anyway to reduce the amount of light hitting your back drop? somewhere between you last two experiemnts? you could also try throwing some subtle colour onto the back drop maybe?

like i said, i'm a newb.

[lviperz]

Originally Posted by joshman

... anyway, the catch lights are the first thing i noticed in your pics...they are a little distracting to me, because they are level or something. i'm not too sure what it is. is it possible to raise the light to camera right up to 45deg from the model's face? and the one at camera left down to 45deg, that might make the catch light look more natural.

Thanks for the tip. I'll try to remember that the next round.

Originally Posted by joshman

i like you last pic, nice even lighting on the model, but i agree with your assessment, it does seem a little light, is there anyway to reduce the amount of light hitting your back drop? somewhere between you last two experiemnts? you could also try throwing some subtle colour onto the back drop maybe?

I actually tried playing with the gels I have this past weekend. None of my kids wanted to play so I had to practice on a tiger statue. I have another thread out there showing the color gels. And funny you should suggest the background gel, my wife didn't like these shots because of the grey background. So as soon as Cassy decides I can try again, I'll post some more.

[patterfr]

The light on the backdrop looks bright, but her face is definitely not too bright, and probably is still 1/2 stop underexposed. Looks good so far with your work.