One more of Hillary...

One more shot of this fantastic 'non-model' model.
Any suggestions for improvement?
(sorry for the watermark :confused

Looks good to me! The hairlight really shows off her color...I like it!

Great shot, beautiful model. Like this shot a lot. Only two things I would work on if it were my shot. 1, Try to control the hair lighting a bit more so you don't have the spill-over on her left shoulder, and 2, blur or iron the lines out of the background. Also would crop out some the dead space. Nice work though, I would be happy if I were her.

Rascalphoto wrote in post #6745896
Great shot, beautiful model. Like this shot a lot. Only two things I would work on if it were my shot. 1, Try to control the hair lighting a bit more so you don't have the spill-over on her left shoulder, and 2, blur or iron the lines out of the background. Also would crop out some the dead space. Nice work though, I would be happy if I were her.

Thanks, good suggestions. How do I control a hair light more?
I used a homemade 10-inch snoot on my 430. I too noticed some of the spill creating a shadow on her chest from her head. And her left trap and collarbone are a little hot from the hair light spill too...
The background was a tablecloth pinned up on the wall of the salon I was shooting at. i wanted to iron them out, but there was no iron on location. I'll try blurring them or blacking them out.
So a tighter crop?
Yeah, she liked the shots. She's so easy to shoot too. I love working with her.
Thanks again for the tips Rascal...

Overall shot is good..thanks for sharing.

About controlling the hair light, I'm better at the concept than the application. Perhaps if I give this thread a bump somebody with more experience with this will respond.

Rascalphoto wrote in post #6756599
About controlling the hair light, I'm better at the concept than the application.

This is one of the reasons you need the proper flash to do this job. I'm not sure who is suggesting people go out and buy these little d/c powered on camera type of flash units and use them for off camera applications but they should be shot at sunset.

Lets see, a 430 is about $200.00, then we need a bracket to attach it to the lightstand, about $15.00 then there is the hassle of cutting and taping a piece of black construction paper to the unit so it can be used as a hair light. (Plus it really looks professional to have this kindergarten looking contraption hanging over the head of a paying customer.) Then you shoot, look at the image and realize it isn't aimed right so you adjust it, reshoot, readjust again, etc, etc. (We won't mention dead batteries at the exact wrong time!)

A PG 3001 MLB (item # 912797) and a snoot for it (item # 914247) at www.photographerswareh​ouse.com will set you back about $150.00 and get you a small (a lot smaller than a 1 lb coffee can) powerful (100 WS) A/C powered flash unit with a modeling lamp (so you can see where the light is hitting BEFORE you take the shot) and it already has the mounting bracket! A 10 x 10 softbox is about $50.00 and a grid with gel holder is about $60.00. The flash is good for about 10,000 flashes before you throw it away. I love them so much I have about seven of them!

The hair light should be above and behind the subject on the oppoiste side of the main light and aimed so it points down and forward. It should NOT encroach onto the shoulders or face or nose of the subject.

Benji

Thanks for the insight, Benji.
Ideally I would like a couple of AB's, but you know how that works.
(I'm not excusing my folly) But I love the mobility and versatility of using hotshoe flashes off-camera.
In fact, the 430 was, indeed about $200, the bracket was $15, and then you have the light stands, which were about $45 ea. The ST-E2 was $185, and the snoot used about 15 minutes of my time, plus several strips of black duct tape. (It's made out of cardboard covered in black duct tape)
So I guess in the end, I could have bought a 'studio' light for $215 or less, but I like being able to use it at weddings and such. (I am on a budget, after all...)

On another note, to put the hair light above the subject, don't you need a boom-type light stand attatchment?

Thanks so much for the input Benji!

P.S. Perhaps This Site is partly responsible for the d/c lighting craze, and I think their fate is subject to opinion.

One of the issues I see with this photo, is that you have her shoulders square to the camera. In my opinion, it's not very flattering pose because it makes her seem a bit more larger than she really is. I would have turned her shoulders a little bit more in, that way you can get a more flattering silhouette and and still make her look curvy but in a flattering way. Also, there seems to be too much dead space up top, so I'd crop a little bit more closer to her head.

I notice you're in TX, so if you'd like, I'll be glad to come hang out with you sometime to help you with shots like these, and you can use my Normans and my Profoto packs to get a bit more experience in that area. It's night and day difference compared to speedlights, and while I agree they have their use and can be quite incredible, they're limited to what they can do.

She's a lovely model, btw. I like her smile, and she has some really nice eyes that light up.

I am just starting to learn how to use a hair light and where to set it. What do you usually meter your hair light at?

I do alot of shooting on black, Benji, I know you said for it not to be on the shoulders or anwhere but the hair but it is a nice seperation for those wearing dark clothes. How would you recommend to do a hairlight and clothing seperation?

At my last shoot, I had a strip light coming from the back corner on the subject, highlighting the shoulder and side of head as well as the side of the body. would you recommend a snoot maybe coming from the other side as more of a hair light? I really want to figure this out as I hate floating heads.

S-Man, your hairlight accents her hair just perfectly. Shows the color very well.

Kathleen

thanks for the offer, Zansho, I'm in Houston, so it'd be a bit of a drive. Hit me up if you're ever in the area though. I have a buddy with some AB's and we worked with them this past weekend...it was alot different and more effective. Softboxes rock! One day i'll have my own.
Is there a big difference between the AB's (geared toward budget-oriented amatureish semi-pros) and profoto, norman, and so on?

It just occoured to me, I should have pointed the snoot higher so that it misses her shoulder and hits just her head. Live and learn I guess...
I'll be posting some more stuff soon from the same day. I want to hear what I can improve on some more! Thanks peeps!

My profotos are very much what I paid for - they're super robust, tough, and travel VERY well. I can dial down in tenths of a stop, and that's useful for fine control of how I want to illuminate things. Additionally, I can pull a head from the pack without damaging anything or not having to dump the power /turn off the pack first. And their accessories are top notch, I have 2 Softboxes, one Octobox, one Strip light and two beauty dishes. All in all, I've spent about 6k on my lighting system alone.

Believe me, they are worth EVERY penny. My normans are actually the Norman 200B's, that I use for on location stuff that does not require a lot of power, but has decent level of control. I like to think of them as Speedlights +1, and they're also very robust and can take a beating.

Alien bees - in my limited experience with them, they do well in a pinch, although they don't have the luxury of dialing down to a precise tenth of a stop that you want. They're very good, although I do find them slightly inconsistent with their power output at times.

If you want to get a good set of lights, I'd look into getting a Speedotron Black Line or Brown Line products - they were the pro standard about 7-9 years ago, and they still are excellent performers. If you look around in ebay, you can literally get a set for less than $500.00, with umbrellas and whatnot. Getting softboxes shouldn't be too much of a problem, as they work with most speedrings.

Photos By Katie wrote in post #6757196
I am just starting to learn how to use a hair light and where to set it. What do you usually meter your hair light at?

I do alot of shooting on black, Benji, I know you said for it not to be on the shoulders or anwhere but the hair but it is a nice seperation for those wearing dark clothes. How would you recommend to do a hairlight and clothing seperation?

At my last shoot, I had a strip light coming from the back corner on the subject, highlighting the shoulder and side of head as well as the side of the body. would you recommend a snoot maybe coming from the other side as more of a hair light? I really want to figure this out as I hate floating heads.

S-Man, your hairlight accents her hair just perfectly. Shows the color very well.

Kathleen

Kat,

When I want some spill onto the shoulders (like when the subject is dressed in black and I'm using a dark background) I sometimes use a 10 x 10 softbox that I have placed a piece of cardboard that measures 10 x 10 with a hole in the center that is about six inches in diameter. This will allow most of the light to strike the head and the rest will softly spill onto the shoulders. I also will frequently use three lights on the hair, one light above and two kickers one on either side. This is how I did the image below.

I have written free tutorial on the placement of studio lights. Check it out!
http://photocamel.com …ortrait-lighting-how.html

Benji

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I really like the hair light outcome on this. very nice.

Nicely done Benji. Thanks for the link.
So how many total lights did you use in this shot?
It's kind of cool when they're so subtle that you don't notice them at first, and you really have to study the shot to count the sources.
I think most people (non-photogs) do not know how much effort go's into creating a nice portrait.

edit: Please see my other thread for a couple more shots.