Smoother lighting

Hi POTN,

I notice in some of my photos, I'll get a bit of a harsh transition of light--although the light is soft, when it starts going into the darks, it gets grainy looking and awkward.

How do you combat that? I've tried different positions, but I only have one light and a reflecting umbrella.

Wat do?

Example:

Sounds like you're saying you want more wrap-around with your light. Try:
1. Put the umbrella closer. This will make the light source bigger.
2. Try shoot through instead of bounce if possible.
3. Zoom out your flash if possible.

BrickR wrote in post #16417069
Sounds like you're saying you want more wrap-around with your light. Try:
1. Put the umbrella closer. This will make the light source bigger.
2. Try shoot through instead of bounce if possible.
3. Zoom out your flash if possible.

Exactly, but I'm mainly looking to minimize that botchy and grainy look that comes with the shadow transition.

1. I can do that!
2. Definitely can do as well.
3. What does zoom even do? /google

quadwing wrote in post #16417145
Exactly, but I'm mainly looking to minimize that botchy and grainy look that comes with the shadow transition.

When you are "pixel peeping" at that close of a magnification, several things will come into play, one of them being the quality of your camera.....

Large Medium Format -vs- 35mm DSLR Format
Full Frame DSLR -vs- Cropped
High Quality Lenses -vs- Regular or Low Quality Lenses
Newer type camera -vs- Older type Camera (EXAMPLE: Canon 20D -vs- Canon 7D :: Both are cropped frame cameras, but the quality of image that each produces at the same given situations, are like night and day...)
**Sometimes a Lower ISO (if possible) can combat this problem if the original was shot at a higher ISO

Although some of what you show can probably be adjusted in PhotoShop, the true quality comes down to the Camera and Lens.....

Well, I shot it with a 7D and 24-70. I mean, I don't think quality should be bad. ISO was 100 I think.

Hm. Any photoshop techniques in mind for photoshopping this issue out?

The example you provided is B&W. What blotchiness I could see, and its subtle is likely skin undertones and the way they translate to B&W tonality which will depend on how you do your B&W conversion.

Generally these situations are dealt with in post processing.

Bounce Cards and powder based makeup.

I had a similar issue shooting an older woman circa 44 years old.
I discovered by using a big Octa softbox ( 1.4m diam), positioned as close as possible made a huge difference. It softened the skin - bleached out wrinkles, blotchy skin, and cellulite!
I then bought 2x YN 560 II ( very cheap £41 each manual flashes ) and used them with 2x £5 ebay shoot through brollies )
The more lights and the bigger and closer the light soirce, the smoother the skin!

All you need then is a light meter to balance the 430ex II

I was thinking about buying a couple of monolights, stands and soft boxes exactly for this purpose.

quadwing wrote in post #16444478
I was thinking about buying a couple of monolights, stands and soft boxes exactly for this purpose.

Well it certainly works but be very careful !
You will get addicted and its an expensive addiction!

Or You could cheat.
Stay as you are, and use "portraiture" editing s/w - it solves 98 % of your problems!

Learn about feathering, wrap, and other techniques that help you apply light from a source onto a subject.

There have been some outstanding portraits shot with a single umbrella and speedlite. It just take time to learn how to control your light to get the result you are after.

If you change light source and modifier, you'll restart the learning curve.