First attempt with some new flash gear... scummy self-portrait time! ;)

Hi all,

First of all, apologies for how I look in these. I'm trying to grow my hair out since I'm getting married in April, and I took these after a long, long day at work. I was tired, I didn't do my hair, I didn't shave... pretty much a triumvirate of photographic terror! But I couldn't wait to tear open the boxes and pop off a few shots.

Anyway, this was all done wired (ugh), although I did meter everything w/ my Sekonic. What a pain. I'm pretty happy with the colors, exposure, and focus, but I would've liked the left side of my face to be defined better. There's a time and place for complete darkness, but that's not what I was going for. Some goodies are coming next week, though, that will help (including some PWs).

Again, this is my first attempt at trying these types of shots. They're only single-source with one reflector (and it's not even a real one ). Apologies in advance for the lack of variety... by the time I set everything up, I just wanted to get to shooting. Hope you like them, and in advance, thanks for looking!

(Oh yeah, all shots were taken w/ the 50 1.4, custom WB, no color/sat adjustments).

-Mike

1.

i have no cc but you look so happy in #3!!!

nice shots. i agree that your left side is a little dark. i don't mind it, but if that's not what you were looking for, try another reflector on the left side.

lighting looks good to me. I did the same thing with my lights. then I thought great shot if I didn't have that grease stain on my shirt & my hair was standing straight up.

they look good

Thanks, everyone... I think it'll just take some experimenting with the strobe power, reflector distances, and angles. I'm going to give it another shot today. My PWs came in, so it should be a lot less painful to do setup.

-Mike

lol @ 1d

I got my PWs, although the most critical component (the transmitter for my light meter) is not here yet, so they didn't really help me all that much today. I tried a different power setting, angle, and reflector position. This one's less "dramatic", but coverage is much more even (perhaps too flat and not enough shadows/contouring), and I was able to get a decent highlight on my face camera left, while reducing the slight blow-outs on the above 3 images.

4.