First time with alien bees, took them out of the box and went to shooting...

[aznsoccerstar11]

How did i do?

the first was indoors

shooting at

iso 200
shutter 125-160
aperture 7.1
lense 17-85mm is

2ab800 one to left and one to right at about 1/32 power maybe 2 feet away from subject and a white wall

ill tell ya this hard as hell using lights
1
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2529/3969764025_ce9c745509.jpg
2
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2617/3969763717_d54f12aae7_o.jpg


and this next one is outdoors, not sure how i feel about this double shadow thing. any tips from people with lighting?

also i know there is no background how would i get a background although it was really pitch black and only street lights.

iso 100
f/9 or 7.1
shutter 200
lense 17-85

3
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3487/3975394000_544ec7b417.jpg
4
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2562/3974663027_5022d9ae48.jpg
5
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3433/3975395023_1d3db89541.jpg
6
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2601/3976155956_cda6fe654f.jpg

[aroundlsu]

You need to throw one of the ABs on the background outdoors. It just goes into blackness and looks like you obviously used a strobe. You don't have to get fancy with the background light. Just flood it with no softbox, umbrella, etc.

If you only have two lights sacrifice one for the background and soften the other for the subject. You may even want to point the background light directly into the camera. It will look like a streetlight or something and can sometimes give cool effects.

Edit: Robert said it better than me. :)

[Robert_Lay]

I think #.s 1 and 2 are very good. I think you accomplished your objectives.

However, with the night shots, you already have deduced that something is not quite right with the twin shadows. The result of this lighting is that you have eliminated all shadows, which may sound good but is not. It is only through shadows as well as light that we can create the impression or illusion of 3-dimensionality. Two lights are certainly an advantage over one, but not if you use them as you would when copying documents. There you want flat lighting, but in order to create facial contours you need a mixture of lights and shadows (chiaroscuro).

*************Studio Portrait Lighting***************
Tutorial on Studio Portrait Lighting Using Two Lights, with Emphasis on Rembrandt Lighting:
http://www.zaffora.com/W9DMK/PortraitLighting.htm
or the downloadable PDF version at:
http://www.zaffora.com/W9DMK/PortraitLighting.pdf

Also see this helpful reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rembrandt_lighting

[aznsoccerstar11]

awesome thoughts opinions and help, always helping out a lot Robert I appreciate it. Condstructive, informative and helpful.