Lex
 

I broke down and bought a background and strobes - this is the first shoot with my new equipment. It will take a while before I am very proficient, but a few shots are attached.
I would love to have some input on shooting - I have two strobes, an umbrella on one and a softbox on the other. I used the strobe w/umbrella as the main source and the one with the softbox as the fill. I actually ended up turning off the fill eventually because I was not getting enough shadow. I purchased some jells to put over the softbox to give a little color, but didn't really play with that yet.

These look great to me - although the more knowledgable may come along and say more.

Jane,

Maybe Mike will jump in here, but I feel these have the look of studio photography. They are quite flat and do not have the luminosity of pictures taken in natural light.

The shine on her cheek is very distracting.

They, however are well posed.

Sharon,
I am glad you said that - about the look of studio photography, because that is what I felt, but I am not sure why they are coming out so flat. My fill light was really turned down, and very diffuse.

I don't have any experience with studio lighting.

One thing I would try is to reduce the amount of ambient light as much as possible. Also, you will be moderating the amount and intensity of light by altering the distance between the subject and the light source. Unless you can adjust the power output.

Practice, experiment, practice, experiment.

Using an umbrella for the main light is giving you the flat look. It's too large and too soft. You should use a small softbox 16" x 20" maximum on the main light. Use the umbrella for fill, but it must be moved back to allow for the proper shadow to light ratio. It is very difficult to get a natural looking effect without doing a lot of evaluating of the difference and compensating for it. Forget about gels.

I'd suggest doing what the cinematographers do and use a filter that will show you value differences when you look through it. I'm not sure what they're called, other than a dark filter. I've even asked in photo supply shops catering to industry professionals, and they don't even have a name for it. It's really just a metal ring with the filter in it that you can carry on a cord around your neck. -- John C.

Mike - I will keep practicing - I can and have been playing with the power adjustment on the lights. Thanks for your input.

Marvin - I will do as you suggest - and use the softbox as the main light. I was hoping the gels would give me some of the blue color in the ambient light of daylight, but I guess that is not going to work. Thanks for the advice. I will try it and post again when I get better results.

John - I think that would not work if you are using stobes - or maybe I don't quite know what you are talking about. I do have modeling lights, but they are about half the power of the strobes. Thanks.

You're quite right, Jane, my bad. The filter lens only works when you are adjusting lights for their levels.

John C.

Jane,

Before you change all your variables, put the light in a different place. It's too much in front of the subject, which gives the studio lighting effect. Move it farther to the side, so that your light direction is much more oblique, and have it high enough to be at about 45 degrees to your subject.

I have never used strobes or gel, so can't help you in that regard; you'll get different results when the light shines into the umbrella, reflecting back on to the subject, from the reults you'll get letting the light shine through the (translucent) umbrella.

Once you have solved the light direction and placement, then you can experimant with shadow quality, etc. There are a few ways you can alter the color temp - play with the different white points in your camera - or make the alteration in Photoshop - filters. But ultimately you'll end up relying on your decisions about the colors you choose to paint.