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DPChallenge Forums >> Individual Photograph Discussion >> how's my lighting??
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Showing posts 1 - 7 of 7, (reverse)
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 01/08/2008 11:08:41 PM · #1
I am playing around with my strobes, boy is it hard to get lighting right!

Tonight my kids werent going to bed and were hyper so as their punishment I made them sit in the 'studio' so I could play with my lights.

So critiquing only my lighting, how do they look?

[thumb]630731[/thumb]
[thumb]630730[/thumb]
[thumb]630729[/thumb]

and thanks to timfythetoo and TCGuru for their help!!
 01/08/2008 11:15:23 PM · #2
gwe21, honestly its a very good start. my first and immediate thought though is that your lighting isnt directional enough. Its to "straight on" Move it around. Try different angles with the strobes, etc. Keep it up and have fun!
01/08/2008 11:23:53 PM · #3
It looks like you are using a one light setup which results in heavy shadows. This is useful in some cases, but I don't think it's what you are going for. (My profile pic was done with hard narrow lighting using a snoot for example)

You can reduce the heavy shadows by simply putting a something to reflect the extra light back at the subjects on the opposite side from the light.

Read Strobist for ideas on how to modify the light from your flash/strobe.
 01/08/2008 11:27:06 PM · #4
Its not hard to get lighting right. In fact its dead simple and very predictable..... as long as you use a light meter. Trying to figure it out by eye is hit or miss and often disappointing. A light meter will take the guessing out of the process.

I do like your portraits, I think you did well with single directional light, though a bit brighter would be more child-friendly and less shadowed.

If you have 2 strobes, try this: put one strobe high behind you and set it 1/2 as bright as the 2nd light which you place in front of you and off to one side. Do this with a wall on the opposite side and you have an automatic reflector. The result should be 3 different strenghts of light, the main, the fill (behind you) and the reflector; resulting in a soft light that wraps around the face and accents the contours and curves.

01/08/2008 11:33:37 PM · #5
Originally posted by idnic:
Its not hard to get lighting right. In fact its dead simple and very predictable..... as long as you use a light meter. Trying to figure it out by eye is hit or miss and often disappointing. A light meter will take the guessing out of the process.

I do like your portraits, I think you did well with single directional light, though a bit brighter would be more child-friendly and less shadowed.

If you have 2 strobes, try this: put one strobe high behind you and set it 1/2 as bright as the 2nd light which you place in front of you and off to one side. Do this with a wall on the opposite side and you have an automatic reflector. The result should be 3 different strenghts of light, the main, the fill (behind you) and the reflector; resulting in a soft light that wraps around the face and accents the contours and curves.


thanks

I have tried a few different ways. 1 issue I have with my kids is they wont sit still and move up and back..etc.. I used 1 softbox to the front side, and 1 barndoor strobe directed more behind them.

I either get them too bright, or not bright enough..

01/08/2008 11:40:51 PM · #6
If you think its hard to get your kids to sit still, the kids who you have the right to punish at any moment and they know it.... wait till you try to get other people's kids still. Your own kids are the best to learn with. When you can get YOUR kids to cooperate, you can do it with anyone! :)

Edit: That's another reason to meter your lights - when you have very fidgity children around you don't have time to think about lighting & exposure.

Message edited by author 2008-01-08 23:41:56.
 01/08/2008 11:43:21 PM · #7
There is nothing wrong with what you have here. The question is, what was your intent, and did you achieve it?
Catchlights in the eyes look good (a bit more light in the eyes would be nice to show the eyes, but that's nitpicking). Not terrible shadows, look fine.

My one suggestion that I think would improve these would a seperation light / hair light. Seperate the subject from the background a bit. You could make it subtle, even use a reflector, to keep the dark mood of the images but add just a bit of light on their heads (top, back) to give a more 3D look to the images.
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