help please with main and fill studio

Hi. Thanks for taking time to read this.
I am working right now with just my main and fill light. (Once I get that right, I have a background and hair light to work with). I have two strobes (Alien Bees) with two medium softboxes. I am using my meter- a sekonic l308, but something seems to be very wrong.

All my photos seem to have a very "passport photo" look. Very bright- too bright- with every blemish obvious and highlighted. NOT too good. And the histograms on my digital camera all show the same thing- one high peak on the left side and barely anything else.

Here's what I'm doing. I'm positioning my main about 45 degrees and 3-4 feet from my subject. I keep varying the height between the subject's height and about a foot higher, trying to get better results. I have a softbox on the light. I use my meter to get a reading of about f5.6.

I place my fill next to the camera, at about camera height. I meter that too, until I get a reading of about f2.8.

Then I meter both to get the camera reading- it seems to be about f5.6 usually.

Then I take the picture and... Nogood! Really unpleasant shots-
I'll try to describe it - the lighting from the main seems to be too harsh, too bright - making every wrinkle and blemish noticeable instead of softening them.
Obviously I'm doing something wrong, but what?
Any assistance would be most greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Post an image.

A linked image will allow the help to be focused.

Enjoy! Lon

How do I do that? Sorry, I'm new to this forum.

Where are you holding the flash meter when measuring the flash units. Also which way are you facing the meter when measur
ing. Do you measure the units individualy and then combined?

A sample would help.

Click here http://www.photography​-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=51022
to get an idea.

vivic01 wrote in post #2691874
Hi. Thanks for taking time to read this.
I am working right now with just my main and fill light. (Once I get that right, I have a background and hair light to work with). I have two strobes (Alien Bees) with two medium softboxes. I am using my meter- a sekonic l308, but something seems to be very wrong.

All my photos seem to have a very "passport photo" look. Very bright- too bright- with every blemish obvious and highlighted. NOT too good. And the histograms on my digital camera all show the same thing- one high peak on the left side and barely anything else.

Here's what I'm doing. I'm positioning my main about 45 degrees and 3-4 feet from my subject. I keep varying the height between the subject's height and about a foot higher, trying to get better results. I have a softbox on the light. I use my meter to get a reading of about f5.6.

I place my fill next to the camera, at about camera height. I meter that too, until I get a reading of about f2.8.

Then I meter both to get the camera reading- it seems to be about f5.6 usually.

Then I take the picture and... Nogood! Really unpleasant shots-
I'll try to describe it - the lighting from the main seems to be too harsh, too bright - making every wrinkle and blemish noticeable instead of softening them.
Obviously I'm doing something wrong, but what?
Any assistance would be most greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Your Fill needs to be set higher. If the Main is f5.6 your fill should be not quite one stop below that, say f4 and a bit. This is a 3:1 lighting ratio and will be what you are typically looking for. With a two stop difference the fill is doing very little and I would expect to see high contrast.

It also explains why the combination of the two flashes has no effect on the overall exposure. With the one stop increase in the Fill, the combination of the two flashes will now be something like f5.6 and a half. Meter the two stobes together and that is your shooting exposure.

The lights placement isn't bad but I'd get them much higher if I could. This will help with eyeglass reflections, and the light just looks better.