DPChallenge: A Digital Photography Contest You are not logged in. (log in or register
 

DPChallenge Forums >> Individual Photograph Discussion >> Rookie Studio Stuff
Pages:  
Showing posts 1 - 22 of 22, (reverse)
AuthorThread
04/22/2006 10:21:52 PM · #1
So in March, I was able to finally do my first studio shoot with a good friend of mine who is also an amazing photog. His wife and one other friend came as a model. We spent three and a half hours having a great shoot.

I am fortunate enough to be heading back into the studio in a week. My finals will be done by then! whoohoo!!

Anyways, I'm looking for comments and critiques, and suggestions on how to improve. My main concern is the vignetting that is appearing on some. Is it the distance of the lights? The intensity?

Here was the setup more or less on some of the shots

We have three strobe lights, a soft box, two umbrellas, a reflector (gold and silver), and barn doors and one of those little tube things that narrows the light.

I'm very new to this, so feel free to thrash and bash if you feel so inclined. I have tough skin and will not start another thread to whine about critiques. I may start one to talk about how awesome people are around here to help me improve! I'm enjoying a nice wine right now :)







Thanks in advance!!

Message edited by author 2006-04-22 23:14:53.
04/22/2006 10:37:36 PM · #2
Wonderful shots. i like the first and last one.
04/22/2006 10:46:04 PM · #3
They look so ... familiar. And Canadian. :)

I wish I could be negatively helpful but I can't so I'll be positively ... positive: These are wonderfully done ma'am!!! Yousa talented.
04/22/2006 11:31:12 PM · #4
Originally posted by alfresco:

They look so ... familiar.


I forgot to add that these have been posted on my PAD :)
04/23/2006 02:00:12 AM · #5
The "little tube things that narrows the light" is called a snoot. I just bought a couple of those myself.

The vignetting looks to me like it was just light falloff on the background. IOW, just shadows.

Anyway, it looks to me (the rookie) like you're headed in the right direction. I really like the one with the girl yelling. Watch those highlights and shadows and use them to your advantage.

Good luck!

04/23/2006 02:13:36 AM · #6
Hello, Great shots! About the vignetting... Do you think that your light is not being diffused enough? For instance, the strobe going into the umbrella... Perhaps if you either moved it in, or perhaps even lower, then maybe the light would fill the frame. The vignetting you have here doesn't appear to be from the lens; since if it were from the lens I think it would be at all four corners of the photo, in every photo.

I would also try to point the strobe at the subject more in hopes of filling the frame, but honestly, I don't think your umbrella is being a decent diffuser; the strobe appears to have a focused and sharp light characteristic so as to shoot right through the umbrella.

I think you created a nice effect on the "edit.jpg" pic. I would assume that you used the focused strobe for this shot since the edges in the picture are so sharp and the photo has a lot of contrast. This is nice, but I prefer a more diffused light for my studio shooting; it provides more natural skin tone and illuminates the frame completely. That's not to say that there is anything really wrong with the photo in question here; this is just my preference. I would, however, suggest that you backlight your background a bit so that you don't have the shadows, nor the vignetting. Look at catalogs where it's obvious the shots were composed in a studio environment and you will see how the background is usually all one tone, all one color, with almost no shading at all; the shading takes focus away from the subject. You are on the right track here. I would show some examples, but unfortunately, the examples I have would be outtakes from the current studio competition. I hope this helps.
04/23/2006 07:35:13 AM · #7
A pidge bump for the morningistas.
04/23/2006 07:51:03 AM · #8
Great shots, and really nice to see the background of the studio setup. First one is my favourite, great expression and very well captured.

Out of curiousity, what sort of money are we talking about for this sort of setup with 3 strobes, and also for the background material?

Cheers

Jamie
04/23/2006 12:28:42 PM · #9
Ifordhere: Cool! Thanks for the info. I think the other thing we forgot to fiddle around with more was the intensity of the lights. You mentioned the strobe going straight through the umbrella, so I wonder if lowering the intensity wouldn't help? THanks for all the suggestions, and I'm sure we'll be fiddling with positioning of strobes and stuff more this time

MickNewton: Thanks for the vocabulary lesson. I couldn't remember the name for it. I could remember Gobo (spelling?), but not snoot

Jamester: I honestly don't know. There are various threads floating around on here about studio set-ups and how much it costs. This particular background was a roll of heavy-duty paper. I'm very fortunate in that I get access to this studio through my school's photographic society, of which I am a member.

Thank you everyone for the comments and feedback! I really appreciate it and can't wait to get back in the studio
04/23/2006 12:35:45 PM · #10
Originally posted by pidge:

Ifordhere: Cool! Thanks for the info. I think the other thing we forgot to fiddle around with more was the intensity of the lights. You mentioned the strobe going straight through the umbrella, so I wonder if lowering the intensity wouldn't help? THanks for all the suggestions, and I'm sure we'll be fiddling with positioning of strobes and stuff more this time

MickNewton: Thanks for the vocabulary lesson. I couldn't remember the name for it. I could remember Gobo (spelling?), but not snoot

Jamester: I honestly don't know. There are various threads floating around on here about studio set-ups and how much it costs. This particular background was a roll of heavy-duty paper. I'm very fortunate in that I get access to this studio through my school's photographic society, of which I am a member.

Thank you everyone for the comments and feedback! I really appreciate it and can't wait to get back in the studio


I would bet that much of the light was shooting right through the umbrella as you mention. You still get some diffused light, but the majority of it is likely overpowering this diffused light. So, yes, power down a little and see what happens then power down more in graduations so that you can understand how the light reacts. Don't move the light around when you try this because we only want to change the power variable for this test; try moving the light around in another test once you get an idea for the amount of light you need.
04/23/2006 04:10:28 PM · #11
Originally posted by lfordhere:

Originally posted by pidge:

Ifordhere: Cool! Thanks for the info. I think the other thing we forgot to fiddle around with more was the intensity of the lights. You mentioned the strobe going straight through the umbrella, so I wonder if lowering the intensity wouldn't help? THanks for all the suggestions, and I'm sure we'll be fiddling with positioning of strobes and stuff more this time

MickNewton: Thanks for the vocabulary lesson. I couldn't remember the name for it. I could remember Gobo (spelling?), but not snoot

Jamester: I honestly don't know. There are various threads floating around on here about studio set-ups and how much it costs. This particular background was a roll of heavy-duty paper. I'm very fortunate in that I get access to this studio through my school's photographic society, of which I am a member.

Thank you everyone for the comments and feedback! I really appreciate it and can't wait to get back in the studio


I would bet that much of the light was shooting right through the umbrella as you mention. You still get some diffused light, but the majority of it is likely overpowering this diffused light. So, yes, power down a little and see what happens then power down more in graduations so that you can understand how the light reacts. Don't move the light around when you try this because we only want to change the power variable for this test; try moving the light around in another test once you get an idea for the amount of light you need.


What about turning the light around so the umbrella ends up being a reflector instead of a diffuser? WOuld that help?
04/23/2006 04:36:56 PM · #12
Well, I think that if you use the same power output as you used for the above photos, then you will likely be creating a more diffused light by bouncing the light off of the ceiling--keeping in mind that much of the light is going straight through the umbrella. I would like to see how you fare by turning the umbrella around, I think you may just get the light you are looking for, but try it and see. I'm a big "try it and see" fan. ;-)
04/23/2006 09:55:30 PM · #13
Originally posted by lfordhere:

Well, I think that if you use the same power output as you used for the above photos, then you will likely be creating a more diffused light by bouncing the light off of the ceiling--keeping in mind that much of the light is going straight through the umbrella. I would like to see how you fare by turning the umbrella around, I think you may just get the light you are looking for, but try it and see. I'm a big "try it and see" fan. ;-)


Will definitely try and see :)
04/28/2006 05:14:43 PM · #14
Any last minutes suggestions or ideas? Tutorials? My next shoot is tomorrow evening.
04/28/2006 05:30:53 PM · #15
Originally posted by pidge:

Any last minutes suggestions or ideas? Tutorials? My next shoot is tomorrow evening.

try to light the deep whit an umbrella.. if you want no shadows..
04/28/2006 05:42:51 PM · #16
Originally posted by renefunk:


try to light the deep whit an umbrella.. if you want no shadows..


What do you mean by the deep?
04/28/2006 05:46:56 PM · #17
Originally posted by pidge:

Originally posted by renefunk:


try to light the deep whit an umbrella.. if you want no shadows..


What do you mean by the deep?


the white thing behind your subjet, try to fill that whit and umbrella one stop higher
04/28/2006 05:49:51 PM · #18
Originally posted by renefunk:

Originally posted by pidge:

Originally posted by renefunk:


try to light the deep whit an umbrella.. if you want no shadows..


What do you mean by the deep?


the white thing behind your subjet, try to fill that whit and umbrella one stop higher


Cool, thanks!
04/28/2006 06:21:55 PM · #19
YOur doing fine. Keep up the good work.
04/30/2006 07:39:46 PM · #20
OK.

First, if you are looking for some last minute photos to comment on to be eligable for the free study, feel free to use these pictures (or any others in my portfolio) as I am not enetering it, so I'm not worried about my ratio

Second, what I learned during this shoot. The reflector, while an awesome wind machine, makes an even better light accessory!

This time around, we tried to go for more classic lighting, inspired by Graphikfunks most excellent picutre.

We (my friend (website under construction) and I) went for the classic, one light, reflector as a fill, and got what we were looking for (we think). 'Rembrandt' lighting I have heard it referred to in the forums.



We fiddled alot with soft boxes and using umbrellas as reflectors instead of diffusers and learnt a lot about the different setups and the results they produce



And then we experimented with snoots :)



Thank you in advance for comments, and if you see any technical aspects, PLEASE point them out. I've got tough skin, so dish it out!
04/30/2006 09:53:27 PM · #21
bump?
05/01/2006 11:19:07 AM · #22
Thanks for the comments everyone!
Last time bump! :D
Pages:  
Current Server Time: 03/29/2024 05:15:30 AM

Please log in or register to post to the forums.


Home - Challenges - Community - League - Photos - Cameras - Lenses - Learn - Prints! - Help - Terms of Use - Privacy - Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2024 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 03/29/2024 05:15:30 AM EDT.