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As mentioned in General discussion forum, here are a few studio images taken of the better half this afternoon, needs PS here and there and a cleaner background etc etc, but any suggestions appreciated from all the portrait pros out there.

F8 @ 1/100 in manual mode using kit lens. I used two lights (no flash) at 45 deg on either side of subject, one with an umbrella and the other without, both at 1/2 power, all wired up to a hot shoe adaptor.

Max

Max, huge, huge improvement over the impromptu shots on the beach. Well done

Nice one Max! Overall I think I prefer the lighting in the first image as it's more even. The subsequent images, I'm presuming you moved the lights(?) as there are harsher shadows.

The second image is really nice and warm however maybe a bit more light on the right side (err our right, her left) to remove the shadows a bit.

Keep 'em coming.

Why f8? it's keeping the background in focus.

Hi Max,

If you get the chance have another go but this time put both flash units on the one side of the camera and fire them through a reasonably large diffusion material of sorts (lightweight semi translucent sheet), try shooting at f4 or f5.6 (this will help compensate for the lose of flash power through the diffusion material) and move the background back a little more (dont worry about keeping that background flat and in focus either). Keep the diffusion material close to the model (within 1.2 metres and place the flashes about a metre behind the diffuser so that they evenly illuminate it.

The trick with all lighting is to consider what the light looks like from the subjects position... if your model can see a large wall of white light when the flash fires (rather than two smaller light sources as have at the moment then the light will be soft, rather than hard. The softer the light the more flattering it becomes and thats when you will really get nice light and your model will be really impressed!

Keep up the good work!
Ants

Thanks Ant, will try those suggestions, my light at the moment is definitely way too harsh and highlights every little spot, pimple, pigment etc etc.

What sort of material do you think could be used as a diffuser?

Max

ozimax wrote:What sort of material do you think could be used as a diffuser?

Did you read through this http://www.ephotozine.com/techniques/viewtechnique.cfm?recid=195 yet?

petal666 wrote:Why f8? it's keeping the background in focus.

Good question, I have no idea except that I believe that F8 is around the sweet spot for many lens.

As Ants has suggested I will try larger aperture with softer light and hopefully shallower depth of field.

Max

petal666 wrote:

ozimax wrote:What sort of material do you think could be used as a diffuser?

Did you read through this http://www.ephotozine.com/techniques/viewtechnique.cfm?recid=195 yet?

Yes thanks Petal, did look at it, thanks again, Max

max,
I was reading an article last night on studio lighting and it talked of having a sparkle in the subjects eyes.
Every time we use a flash or a light we can see it in the subjects eye.
When we use 2 lights though we see 2 catch light reflections in the eyes.
Whereas one adds sparkle 2 looks kind of weird and it recommended cloning one out.

you can see in your first 3 shots that 2 lights have been used.
prior to last night, I wouldnt have noticed but now it stands out like dogs you know what.
Steve

avkomp wrote:max,
I was reading an article last night on studio lighting and it talked of having a sparkle in the subjects eyes.
Every time we use a flash or a light we can see it in the subjects eye.
When we use 2 lights though we see 2 catch light reflections in the eyes.
Whereas one adds sparkle 2 looks kind of weird and it recommended cloning one out.

you can see in your first 3 shots that 2 lights have been used.
prior to last night, I wouldnt have noticed but now it stands out like dogs you know what.
Steve

Hey Steve, that's amazing, never thought of that, will look into it, thanks heaps, Max

Hey Max, Good pics mate but i had a lil Play with a pic, hope u dont mind but here it is.

See what you think. Took me a hole few mins so nothing to drastic to get this affect.
Cheers
John

That's heap better John, I posted an image on image reviews a minute ago, mine was way overdone but at least we're getting somewhere here, now if only I can find some semi translucent material and follow Ants idea I may not have to do as much post processing!

Thanks mate,

Max

Max all i did there was outlined Robs face and neck with the lassoo tool and made the feather 10px , then make a new layer via copy and then Gaussian Blur at around 3.4 and the used them used the erasure tool made the brush a bit bigger and yeh went around her face and eyes to bring up a bit.
But you could spend more time playing with this.

Lighting for the 3rd is about right. 1st one overexposed. 2nd pic underexposed. Always touch up and remove blemishes etc.. - then you post the pictures. Otherwise your model will not be happy.

example:-


regards,

Arthur

Hi Max...

One of the best diffusion materials to use is a polyester drawing paper that can be purchased off the roll from some professional photocopy centres, in particular the ones that work with large plans for architects and draughtsmen. You may have to shop about for it...

This polyester material looks like a wax paper (or a tracing paper) however it is very tough and durable (you can even wipe it clean as you need to). If I remember correct it is about a metre wide by whatever length you want. Make a frame to support it orjust hang it off something. Place your light about a metre behind it and shoot through it. You will loose about a stop of light through the material but this is actually good.. some other materials will cost you more light. Another advantage with this material is that you can tape it over windows to soften direct sunlight.... it is clever stuff

Hope this is a help!

Cheers, Ants

This material is very good till it get a bit close to one of your modeling lights and CATCHES FIRE, I had this happen on 2 seperate times and have since used thin perspex, yes a bit heavy but much safer.......

cheers
...bp

big pix wrote:This material is very good till it get a bit close to one of your modeling lights and CATCHES FIRE, I had this happen on 2 seperate times and have since used thin perspex, yes a bit heavy but much safer.......

cheers
...bp

If you are using the material responsibly you should not have a problem. For the moment I think Max is working with flash and so I doubt there will be much heat from them, particularly at f4. Even then though, my advice to keep one metre between the lights and the material is for more than one reason!

The big advantage of polythene over perspex is that you can roll it up and take it on location or poke it on a corner of a cupboard rather easily, something that you cannot do so easily with perspex. (less chance of getting cut or bumped by it too as you work about it in your studio setup!).

big pix wrote:This material is very good till it get a bit close to one of your modeling lights and CATCHES FIRE, since used thin perspex, yes a bit heavy but much safer.......

Antsl
If you care to re read my post you will find that I did qualify one or two points
I was just pointing out a safty issue if you also use modeling lights also the amount of perspex to be used would not pose a storage issue and if the edges are rounded off you do not get cut. One bit advantage perspex has IT DOES NOT YELLOW WITH AGE AND IS LONG LASTING.

Cheers
...bp

I'm hunching, BP, that the material I have been happily using for the past five years may be different to your material... it has not turned yellow yet, nor has it gone curly. I haven't tried setting them on fire though!

Having been very happy with the material I have been using I actually rang the company I bought it off in NZ to accurately determine what I am using... at the time that I bought my stuff they informed me it was a polycarbonate film.. this may not be the case though, the last time I talked to them they reckoned it was polyester.

My advice is to experiment and test them. I have used perspex in the studio too and I have also seen it melt in front of lights. Use common sense, use the right materials for the right applications.

Antsl wrote:Hi Max...

a polyester drawing paper that can be purchased off the roll from some professional photocopy centres, in particular the ones that work with large plans for architects and draughtsmen

its called 'double matte film'...

I can't give any tips on studio stuff, but I like the 3rd and 4th shots a great deal. The 4th one seems off a little on the skin tones, but it's a great shot that shows her personality.

I can see why she's your better half, maybe better 3/4.

You're dead right Kerrie, I have a head tailor made for radio, why, I even scare myself looking into the mirror when powdering my bald head first thing in the morning (to keep the models from glare-burn in a photo shoot). Robyn is an absolute stunner, yes, even at 41 years of age.

Thanks Ants and others, will look out for some of that meterial and give it a whirl.

Max