first time lighting

[varuj]

hi everyone,i just took some quick head shots of my bro,i am very very new at lighting,and i was using 2 500w work lights and a scoop on top of his head,i would really appreciate it if you guys could give me some criticism,thank you

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s205/varuj/DSC_2638_W00000.jpg

[TSEE]

Oh I'm horrible at this kind of lighting nit pick...anyways I'll try my best.
What i see is you did a great job on the lighting up the hair, you can clearly see where his head ends and the background begins, I do a horrible job with that myself - in fact next order I do will include a hairlight for portraits.
Anyways...I do see that his left eye (camera right) is still dark and that bugs me, and his forehead is retty dark compared to the sides of his face. Where did you have the lights positioned???
Overall the image is a tad dark but that's easily fixed in PP...With the mood you've got going with the light I think it would look pretty good as a B&W.

[BBoi]

Hi, i'm about to do similar with a 500w lamp, a mirror and a reflector made of tin foil. Just wondered what your settings are for this shot since I cant get at the exif data from your image, I assume this is because of resizing in photoshop.

[varuj]

ya i cant upload big files to photobucket so i had to resize it,i deleted the pix from my camera,but if you tell me how to do it ill post them for you

[berrylish]

Nice work. Wish the inner corner of the eyes and the forehead had more light though. Maybe your lighting positions were too far apart and low?

[varuj]

thanks,ya they werent possitioned very high,it was pretty low

[suecassidy]

Look at that photo and picture yourself directing his nose towards the light (which I assume is on YOUR left). Keep everything else where it is, shoulders etc., just direct his nose to move slowly to his right, towards the light. I imagine that once it has moved about an inch there should be some light that spills into that dark eye. Add added benefit would be that the existing catchlight you already see now will move to a more prominent and better place. If you moved his nose TOO FAR towards the light, you would have a flat light, the same on both sides, and you don't want that. Just move his nose until a little bit more spills onto his dark eye. OR, take a white piece of cardboard and add a bit of fill to that side and see what happens.

You did a good job of separating his dark hair from the background, that is not always easy without a backlight or hairlight. Dark hair and skin absorbs a surprising amount of light. I often use a mirror to add more light to darker skin.

the work lights are why the color is so warm, but that is easy to fix.

Good work. Keep shooting.

[varuj]

thanks,thats very helpfull advice.ill keep that in mind next time,the eyes are probly the most important part of head shots

[varuj]

one more thing,do you guys know where i could get a basic studio light kit thats cheap

[varuj]

hi everyone,i just took some more headshot of my brother,this time i add more light to the ees and 4head,the lighting setup is a little diffrent,if you guys could critisize these photos for my i would be so thankfull,here they are

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s205/varuj/DSC_3721e.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s205/varuj/DSC_3729.jpg