four light set up with eldest daughter

[steveathome]

My eldest Victoria aged almost 26

Four lights used
Elinchrom 135cm octa main
Small portalite softbox fill
snoot on hair from rear camera right
small reflector with grid on black background

Hope you like.

[steveathome]

Hello Mod, might be best to move this post to
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=432316
if thats ok

Many thanks

[jgrussell]

(a) she's gorgeous.

(b) love the lighting.

[steveathome]

(c) Love your comments lol.

Many thanks, much appreciated.

[steveathome]

One more from the shoot

[Svetlana]

Lovely! She's gorgeous!

[steveathome]

Thank you Svetlana

[TeeJay]

Lovely photo's - and beautiful daughter.

My only initial comment would be her head angle in pics two and three - she appears to be looking out the very corner of her eyes - maybe bring her head back towards you - but only a tad.

It's probably more noticable in #2, whereas #3 is better, just needs a little more IMHO

TJ

[steveathome]

Lovely photo's - and beautiful daughter.

My only initial comment would be her head angle in pics two and three - she appears to be looking out the very corner of her eyes - maybe bring her head back towards you - but only a tad.

It's probably more noticable in #2, whereas #3 is better, just needs a little more IMHO

TJ

Many thanks for your honest CC, it is very much appreciated.

[TMR Design]

Hi Steve,

Wonderful shots of a beautiful lady!

I'm really enjoying the process of seeing your lighting skills grow and I'm digging the portraiture you've been doing.

Instead of little nitpicks I'd rather just say that I like the photographs a lot. Good compositions, good choice of depth of field, pleasing and natural looking poses, a beautiful model, and of course, the 53" Octa with translucent deflector.

I'd love to see comparison shots with no deflector, and then with the silver deflector.

Have you done any tests to actually look at the difference in coverage, size of hot spot, falloff, and quality of light. I love what I'm seeing. It looks like a very nice quality of light that is soft but not too soft, and it's very appealing.

:rolleyes: ok, one nitpick.... I would tighten up the hair light so it doesn't hit her ear. To my eye (not trying to speak for anyone else) I find the highlight at the top of the ear a little distracting. :rolleyes:

[steveathome]

Thank you Robert.

I haven't done any real world shots involving my tests with different deflectors, as soon as I get the chance I'll give it a go and let you know.
Yep my original placement of the snoot was out by mid shoot due to subject movement, but thats my look-out/fault not the models. I think I am finding the hair light the most difficult to master. I was very careful not to hit the shoulder/ear when setting up, but something went wrong somewhere :(.

I was experiencing blur/softness on some of my past shoots, I couldn't understand why I couldn't get the eyes razor sharp. However, on this shoot I removed the protective filter from the front of my lens, and hopefully this was the problem. No more filters - just hoods from now on.

Thanks again for your honest and informed crit. I know its not perfect, but I'm getting there, and I know I am when even my daughter likes a pic of herself lol.

I'm still working on the first image, as I rushed it a little last night, a bit of a tighter crop etc. Maybe, (after some days consideration when my opinion normally changes) I may put that one onto canvas.

Thank again Robert.

[briarlow]

Really like the first two. She isn't an actress is she? Trying to think who she reminds me of!

[steveathome]

She isn't an actress is she? Trying to think who she reminds me of!

LOL.
No, she's a hair stylist.
When you remember who you're thinking of, let me know. ;)

Many thanks

ps. pity she didn't sort her own split ends lol, but then to me that makes it more natural.

[queenbee288]

Steve, these are very nice. The lighting is beautiful. I agree about the head angle but still lovely shots.

[Phil.hearing]

she looks like she likes to have her picture taken

[digidiva]

Really like the first two. She isn't an actress is she? Trying to think who she reminds me of!

Replace her blonde hair with brunette and she's Davina McCall!!

Great pics dad!

[steveathome]

Steve, these are very nice. The lighting is beautiful. I agree about the head angle but still lovely shots.

Hi Char, how are you?

Many thanks for your kind comments.

[steveathome]

she looks like she likes to have her picture taken

Yep, she's the only one, but its getting the chance to do it lol.

[steveathome]

Replace her blonde hair with brunette and she's Davina McCall!!

Great pics dad!

Many thanks.

[steveathome]

Final edit
Slightly different crop with minute skin softening.

http://photo-4-u.co.uk/potn/IMG_6027FinalEditWebhost.jpg

[StroupePhotography]

Steve, nice shots but that last edit...wow she jumps right out of the screen. Nice PP. Great job on these.

[steveathome]

Steve, nice shots but that last edit...wow she jumps right out of the screen. Nice PP. Great job on these.


Thank you.

Just looked at your link. You have some great images and a lovely family.

[Hermes]

Hey Steve. You asked for some cc so here it is:

Shadow & highlight placement suggest that your key is a bit too far round to the camera's left and perhaps a touch too high. The fact that the key is on the same side as the model's fringe is also putting her right eye into shadow - when you're working with models with bangs or a fringe, try to keep the key light central or on the opposite side so their hair doesn't cast a shadow over their face.

There's a hint of a cross-lighting shadow on the right of her nose - a slightly larger or more central fill source would have eliminated that. Try swapping the two modifiers round so you have the small softbox modelling the face and the octabox (I'm guessing that's what it is) providing the fill. I would have used less fill but that's purely a matter of taste.

The accent light is nice and subtle in power & placement but the shadows by her left temple and the stray hairs show that it was quite a small, hard light source. Moving the light as close to the subject as possible would help with this. For an even softer accent light for portraits, consider a small gridded softbox. You mentioned that you were using Interfit lights - if they are the ones with the Bowens mount then Karlu are selling one that would fit your heads for a ridiculously low price - http://www.karlu.com/product_info.php?products_id=10508

BG light is good, nice separation without being overpowering. Skin treatment isn't obvious or OTT which is a big plus - maybe just dodge the shadows under her eyes a tiny bit more with a soft, low-opacity dodge tool set to midtones. Overall very nice & natural with just a few little nitpicks.

[steveathome]

Hermes, many thanks for taking the time to look and post, I very much appreciate it.

The lights were actually Elinchrom's, I replaced my old interfit's a while ago.
400BX in the octa, BX250Ri with snoot, and two D-Lite 200's for background and fill.

It was my first real trial of the 135cm Octa, and this was pretty close to the subject.
The fill - the small portalite, I tried to keep as close to the camera as possible, but it was on the opposite side of the camera to the Octa.
I realise that I maybe should have a little less output from the fill. It was set 1 stop below key.

I used a snoot for the hair, as it was my intention just to light the hair and not her shoulder or ear as I have done and failed lol. This is what I don't understand about using a softbox for hair lighting, how does that not give unwanted light elsewhere, or even overexposure when combined with Key or fill? I'm not arguing there, just inquisitive.

I take in what you say about the placement of the key and her fringe, this I didn't give a thought. I thought I was being clever asking her what she thought her best side was, and she also believes her face is a little wider than she would like, so my initial set-up was to use short lighting, with her so called best side facing me (shadow side), in an attempt to try and narrow the face a little. So much for my idea's and planning lol.
However, with the different moves/poses, and almost head on position in #1, short lighting went out the window with this pose, but strangely both my Daughter and I liked #1 the best.

Anyway, I'm not making excuses, I asked for cc and got just what I wanted, something I can think about on my next attempt.
I really do appreciate the time and advice people like yourself, Robert and others lend to us learners.

Once again, many thanks.

[Hermes]

Hermes, many thanks for taking the time to look and post, I very much appreciate it.

The lights were actually Elinchrom's, I replaced my old interfit's a while ago.
400BX in the octa, BX250Ri with snoot, and two D-Lite 200's for background and fill.

It was my first real trial of the 135cm Octa, and this was pretty close to the subject.
The fill - the small portalite, I tried to keep as close to the camera as possible, but it was on the opposite side of the camera to the Octa.
I realise that I maybe should have a little less output from the fill. It was set 1 stop below key.

I used a snoot for the hair, as it was my intention just to light the hair and not her shoulder or ear as I have done and failed lol. This is what I don't understand about using a softbox for hair lighting, how does that not give unwanted light elsewhere, or even overexposure when combined with Key or fill? I'm not arguing there, just inquisitive.

I take in what you say about the placement of the key and her fringe, this I didn't give a thought. I thought I was being clever asking her what she thought her best side was, and she also believes her face is a little wider than she would like, so my initial set-up was to use short lighting, with her so called best side facing me (shadow side), in an attempt to try and narrow the face a little. So much for my idea's and planning lol.
However, with the different moves/poses, and almost head on position in #1, short lighting went out the window with this pose, but strangely both my Daughter and I liked #1 the best.

Anyway, I'm not making excuses, I asked for cc and got just what I wanted, something I can think about on my next attempt.
I really do appreciate the time and advice people like yourself, Robert and others lend to us learners.

Once again, many thanks.

RE the softbox for accent lighting - using it as close as possible (typically just outside the frame) and also using the grid helps a lot in stopping it spilling light and contaminating the key & fill. It is difficult to aim it precisely enough to do things like lighting a model's hair without lighting their shoulder. When I need that level of precision from an accent light I usually use Interfit beauty dishes with their honeycomb grids close in. They're very useful all-around modifiers and also fairly cheap:- http://www.fotosense.co.uk/interfit-rf4999-beauty-dish-40cm-for-ex-exd-heads.html

Working around someone's favourite side can be tricky. The first thing I do when I'm working with a new model is check what side of their face lights and photographs best so I can tell the MUA or hair stylist what side to favour when doing an asymmetrical look...one of the little things that can save you a lot of time over the course of a shoot if you remember to do it before you start work.

I don't think there's really a whole lot that needs improving for this sort of style. Just a larger fill source to get rid of the cross-lighting and soften the catchlights (the portalites' hotspots and small square shape mean they're not great for fill) and a larger accent light to help smooth the highlights out a bit.

[steveathome]

Once again many thanks.