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Home made studio shot
Posted By: Taff, 02-03-2009, 05:24 AM

High Key tonight at home


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02-03-2009, 05:25 AM   #2
Syb
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Nice shot! Would have liked to see her ear, too...
02-03-2009, 05:27 AM   #3
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QuoteOriginally posted by Syb Quote
Nice shot! Would have liked to see her ear, too...
Thanks, but why the ear?
02-03-2009, 07:33 AM   #4
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he's got a thing about ears?

02-03-2009, 08:33 AM   #5
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The ears are the window to the soul, dontcha know?

Not a bad shot... the lighting is a bit too on-axis for my taste.
02-03-2009, 09:24 AM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by hamidlmt Quote
The ears are the window to the soul, dontcha know?

Not a bad shot... the lighting is a bit too on-axis for my taste.
A novice question here......what do you mean by "too on-axis" thanks
02-03-2009, 09:46 AM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by Nels Quote
A novice question here......what do you mean by "too on-axis" thanks
On-axis refers to a flash directly on the camera, pointing the same direction as the lens.

It looks like you used 2 light sources on your subject (not taking the background into account)... one off-camera with some type of larger diffusion, like an umbrella (at camera right).. and, just a guess from the catchlights... the other was the built-in flash of the camera? It tends to put those tiny, pin-point catch lights in the eyes.

I think you're direct flash fill could have been dialed down some to get more directional, softer light from your off-camera flash.

If I'm off-base here, do share your lighting setup!

02-03-2009, 09:48 AM   #8
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I found the fill light is too strong which make the whole photo kinda flat. ( I am seeing you have two lights, one in front and one at right side) Try lower down the power output for the right hand side.
02-03-2009, 09:54 AM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by vizjerei Quote
I found the fill light is too strong which make the whole photo kinda flat. ( I am seeing you have two lights, one in front and one at right side) Try lower down the power output for the right hand side.
Agree about the 2 lights cause the image to look a little flat, but I would keep the right side light as the key and drop the other a couple of stops to get a better ratio.
02-04-2009, 10:05 PM   #10
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hey all, and thanks for the comments.
This set up was made at home, not really even a home made studio, and was a first effort at some high key photography.
I had a white sheet hung up with one flash balanced on my desk to light the background
One flash with broken umbrella attached to my tripod to light my model(daughter), no sync lead so had to use an old manual flash attached to my camera to set of other flashes which had no modeling lights. Flashes (very old crappy studio flashes) only had three power settings and didnt seem to make much of a difference.
I think if i had a sync lead i could experiment a little more with positioning of lighting but hey.....I have seen a lot worse.
I look at the picture and see on camera flash on the left side of her face lighting the skin
would have been much nicer not to have that, I think even lowering the flash output on my K20d would have been an idea in hindsight. After about 12 shots my daughter had had enough.
One day I may be able to buy some decent gear, but practice with the crap i have right now will only make for improvement in the future
02-04-2009, 10:36 PM   #11
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Well, I do appreciate the do it yourself approach. You certainly don't need a fancy backdrop and expensive lights to pull off results. It's best to become adept with the gear you have, before spending hard earned dollars on something new. btw... the backdrop lighting worked very well.... can't tell it's a sheet at all.

One suggestions... if your lights have limited power settings, the distance you position your lights can be used to create more/less power.

So, you used the on-camera flash to trip the optical slave of the off-camera lights? Does your on-camera flash tilt up or swivel? Bouncing this flash should still trip your off-camera lights and help avoid the on-camera flash look. If the flash head doesn't move, set it to it's lowest power setting and try and diffuse it with something.

QuoteOriginally posted by Taff Quote
hey all, and thanks for the comments.
This set up was made at home, not really even a home made studio, and was a first effort at some high key photography.
I had a white sheet hung up with one flash balanced on my desk to light the background
One flash with broken umbrella attached to my tripod to light my model(daughter), no sync lead so had to use an old manual flash attached to my camera to set of other flashes which had no modeling lights. Flashes (very old crappy studio flashes) only had three power settings and didnt seem to make much of a difference.
I think if i had a sync lead i could experiment a little more with positioning of lighting but hey.....I have seen a lot worse.
I look at the picture and see on camera flash on the left side of her face lighting the skin
would have been much nicer not to have that, I think even lowering the flash output on my K20d would have been an idea in hindsight. After about 12 shots my daughter had had enough.
One day I may be able to buy some decent gear, but practice with the crap i have right now will only make for improvement in the future
02-04-2009, 10:45 PM   #12
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thanks hamid, great tips, i think until i get a sync lead i will put some greaseproof paper over my on camera, old old flash
i shall play around when i get my camera back from the shop
02-04-2009, 11:24 PM   #13
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A great set of eyes always a clear sign of a good photo


cheers
02-05-2009, 05:58 AM   #14
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Simple background - nice sharp photo I like it without the ear
02-05-2009, 06:58 AM   #15
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I shoot macro most of the time. The Portrait shot is not bad considering there is no shadow. I don't need to see the ear but a little PP to remove some slight dark spots would be nice.

Now I will show this portrait to my son, Huh..What a pretty young lady....

marcus
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