critique my light

The only comment I have is that you were close to overexposed on tight side of her face.
But there is nothing 'wrong' with your lighting - what is it about it that you don't like?

Would you like the shadows to be deeper? Or the background lighter? Less to the side and more to the front? What were your intentions?

If you can tell us what you were intending then maybe we can help.

Looks good to me. The second catch light on the right eye is a bit distracting, I would clone it out in PP.

Nothing looks overexposed to me. 2nd catchlight is also distracting. Looks great.

i like it, care to explain the set up?

It looks good but the circle of light in on te background looks like it should come down more so the bottom of the spot can't be seen and the top is up around the shoulders rather than surrounding the subject's head.

Looks good, nice subtle Rembrandt shadow...I would of liked to have seen what this shot would have looked like with a bounce to the model's right. There is a patch of her hair that looses definition due to the fall-off (above her right eye, near the crown). It's not quite shadow / not lit, so it falls flat. I think the addition of a bounce would add that definition back with contrast of the shadow intact. I'm just nit-picking though.

I know your question was about lighting, but I would clean up the stray hairs too...

the set up was as follows -

ab800 - 47" octobox, 45 degrees camera right, 8 feet away, 8 feet high
ab800 - 32" shoot through, 135 degrees camera left, 8 feet away, just above subjects head
ab800 - 7" reflector w/30 degree grid, two feet to subject's left, about shoulder height, pointing towards the black seamless

350d, 17-40 @ 36mm, f4.

the main point of this exercise was to properly position the main light. i like it but i would like it a little higher, to give the shadows a more downward angle. i don't know how this would affect the the swoop of light under her right eye, which i really enjoy. looking at it now, i do agree that it's a little hot.

i placed the second light a behind her to add the stripe of light to her hair on her right side and to bring up the shadows on her sweater. i should have turned it up a touch.

you can see the two main lights hitting the collar of the sweater created the V shaped shadows on her neck. in retrospect i should've filled that in. also i would have liked to add a black reflector to her right, to deepen the shadows and prevent the window light from creating that second catchlight.

the window light also overpowered the background modeling light, and i couldn't see where i was putting it. the brightest point is behind her forehead, i would have liked to put it a little lower, around the bottom of the neck.

i set this up using a mannequin head and she just sat in for a minute. had i had more time and a more willing model i would've been able to work this stuff out.

anyway, thanks for your time and comments, i am looking forward to improving.

as a side note, robert i was able to get f4 with no neutral density filtering, by moving the lights furhter away. i am pushing the limits of my current space, i'd like more room to work in. i do like the look of the octobox further back. i am looking ot purchase the lowell barn doors as well as a diffusion panel. more experimentation to follow.

suyenfung wrote in post #2681119
the set up was as follows -

ab800 - 47" octobox, 45 degrees camera right, 8 feet away, 8 feet high
ab800 - 32" shoot through, 135 degrees camera left, 8 feet away, just above subjects head
ab800 - 7" reflector w/30 degree grid, two feet to subject's left, about shoulder height, pointing towards the black seamless

350d, 17-40 @ 36mm, f4.

the main point of this exercise was to properly position the main light. i like it but i would like it a little higher, to give the shadows a more downward angle. i don't know how this would affect the the swoop of light under her right eye, which i really enjoy. looking at it now, i do agree that it's a little hot.

i placed the second light a behind her to add the stripe of light to her hair on her right side and to bring up the shadows on her sweater. i should have turned it up a touch.

you can see the two main lights hitting the collar of the sweater created the V shaped shadows on her neck. in retrospect i should've filled that in. also i would have liked to add a black reflector to her right, to deepen the shadows and prevent the window light from creating that second catchlight.

the window light also overpowered the background modeling light, and i couldn't see where i was putting it. the brightest point is behind her forehead, i would have liked to put it a little lower, around the bottom of the neck.

i set this up using a mannequin head and she just sat in for a minute. had i had more time and a more willing model i would've been able to work this stuff out.

anyway, thanks for your time and comments, i am looking forward to improving.

as a side note, robert i was able to get f4 with no neutral density filtering, by moving the lights furhter away. i am pushing the limits of my current space, i'd like more room to work in. i do like the look of the octobox further back. i am looking ot purchase the lowell barn doors as well as a diffusion panel. more experimentation to follow.

Hello suyenfung,

OK, with my own knowledge of lighting growing and just having done some of these types or exercises this this what I see with regard to the main light. You've created the loop but it's extending directly to the right of the subject's nose and is not pointing down at all towards the corner of the mouth. Obviously you can't always get it to extend as you would like but it's quite noticable that the main light is not only not high enough but it's too far to camera right. Remember that 45° is just a starting point for the position of your main light and there appears to be a dark shadow under your subject's right eye. Scott (lightingman) really impressed upon me that the eyes are most important, so when creating the loop and highlights with your main light you have to be very careful about shadows around the eyes.

What power levels are you at on your strobes? Unless you really want to be shooting at f/4 I would get your main light closer to the subject, shoot at f/8 and soften that hard line between highlight and shadow.
That's what I see.

Dear Suyenfung:
Here are my comments on your image. It is a very nice effort with many positive qualities. Color and sharpness look to be very good as well. My comments are on the image below. Keep up the good work.
Best wishes,
Scott Smith
www.LightingMagic.com

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

thanks scott! i appreciate your time. these are all very good points, i will keep them in mind during my next effort.

Question on one of Scott's notations: If the main light is to high thus creating shadows on her right eye, how do you retain the loop if the light needs to lowered?

I'm feeling confused....

Hi ayotnoms
Note my comment on the right side as well which states to move the light more around to the front of the subject. The combination of this and the very slightly lowering of the main light at the same time will insure better light in the eyes and a more defined triangle. There is no loop in Rembrandt lighting. The loop in loop lighting is moved toward the shadow side and allowed to bridge with it thus creating the charactistic triangle of light under the eye.
Best wishes,