four light set up with eldest daughter

briarlow wrote in post #7679563
Really like the first two. She isn't an actress is she? Trying to think who she reminds me of!

Replace her blonde hair with brunette and she's Davina McCall!!

Great pics dad!

queenbee288 wrote in post #7681796
Steve, these are very nice. The lighting is beautiful. I agree about the head angle but still lovely shots.

Hi Char, how are you?

Many thanks for your kind comments.

Phil.hearing wrote in post #7683600
she looks like she likes to have her picture taken

Yep, she's the only one, but its getting the chance to do it lol.

digidiva wrote in post #7684248
Replace her blonde hair with brunette and she's Davina McCall!!

Great pics dad!

Many thanks.

Final edit
Slightly different crop with minute skin softening.

Byte size: ZERO | Content warning: NOT AN IMAGE

Steve, nice shots but that last edit...wow she jumps right out of the screen. Nice PP. Great job on these.

sc_radar wrote in post #7697008
Steve, nice shots but that last edit...wow she jumps right out of the screen. Nice PP. Great job on these.

Thank you.

Just looked at your link. You have some great images and a lovely family.

Hey Steve. You asked for some cc so here it is:

Shadow & highlight placement suggest that your key is a bit too far round to the camera's left and perhaps a touch too high. The fact that the key is on the same side as the model's fringe is also putting her right eye into shadow - when you're working with models with bangs or a fringe, try to keep the key light central or on the opposite side so their hair doesn't cast a shadow over their face.

There's a hint of a cross-lighting shadow on the right of her nose - a slightly larger or more central fill source would have eliminated that. Try swapping the two modifiers round so you have the small softbox modelling the face and the octabox (I'm guessing that's what it is) providing the fill. I would have used less fill but that's purely a matter of taste.

The accent light is nice and subtle in power & placement but the shadows by her left temple and the stray hairs show that it was quite a small, hard light source. Moving the light as close to the subject as possible would help with this. For an even softer accent light for portraits, consider a small gridded softbox. You mentioned that you were using Interfit lights - if they are the ones with the Bowens mount then Karlu are selling one that would fit your heads for a ridiculously low price - http://www.karlu.com …nfo.php?product​s_id=10508

BG light is good, nice separation without being overpowering. Skin treatment isn't obvious or OTT which is a big plus - maybe just dodge the shadows under her eyes a tiny bit more with a soft, low-opacity dodge tool set to midtones. Overall very nice & natural with just a few little nitpicks.

Hermes, many thanks for taking the time to look and post, I very much appreciate it.

The lights were actually Elinchrom's, I replaced my old interfit's a while ago.
400BX in the octa, BX250Ri with snoot, and two D-Lite 200's for background and fill.

It was my first real trial of the 135cm Octa, and this was pretty close to the subject.
The fill - the small portalite, I tried to keep as close to the camera as possible, but it was on the opposite side of the camera to the Octa.
I realise that I maybe should have a little less output from the fill. It was set 1 stop below key.

I used a snoot for the hair, as it was my intention just to light the hair and not her shoulder or ear as I have done and failed lol. This is what I don't understand about using a softbox for hair lighting, how does that not give unwanted light elsewhere, or even overexposure when combined with Key or fill? I'm not arguing there, just inquisitive.

I take in what you say about the placement of the key and her fringe, this I didn't give a thought. I thought I was being clever asking her what she thought her best side was, and she also believes her face is a little wider than she would like, so my initial set-up was to use short lighting, with her so called best side facing me (shadow side), in an attempt to try and narrow the face a little. So much for my idea's and planning lol.
However, with the different moves/poses, and almost head on position in #1, short lighting went out the window with this pose, but strangely both my Daughter and I liked #1 the best.

Anyway, I'm not making excuses, I asked for cc and got just what I wanted, something I can think about on my next attempt.
I really do appreciate the time and advice people like yourself, Robert and others lend to us learners.

Once again, many thanks.

steveathome wrote in post #7706088
Hermes, many thanks for taking the time to look and post, I very much appreciate it.

The lights were actually Elinchrom's, I replaced my old interfit's a while ago.
400BX in the octa, BX250Ri with snoot, and two D-Lite 200's for background and fill.

It was my first real trial of the 135cm Octa, and this was pretty close to the subject.
The fill - the small portalite, I tried to keep as close to the camera as possible, but it was on the opposite side of the camera to the Octa.
I realise that I maybe should have a little less output from the fill. It was set 1 stop below key.

I used a snoot for the hair, as it was my intention just to light the hair and not her shoulder or ear as I have done and failed lol. This is what I don't understand about using a softbox for hair lighting, how does that not give unwanted light elsewhere, or even overexposure when combined with Key or fill? I'm not arguing there, just inquisitive.

I take in what you say about the placement of the key and her fringe, this I didn't give a thought. I thought I was being clever asking her what she thought her best side was, and she also believes her face is a little wider than she would like, so my initial set-up was to use short lighting, with her so called best side facing me (shadow side), in an attempt to try and narrow the face a little. So much for my idea's and planning lol.
However, with the different moves/poses, and almost head on position in #1, short lighting went out the window with this pose, but strangely both my Daughter and I liked #1 the best.

Anyway, I'm not making excuses, I asked for cc and got just what I wanted, something I can think about on my next attempt.
I really do appreciate the time and advice people like yourself, Robert and others lend to us learners.

Once again, many thanks.

RE the softbox for accent lighting - using it as close as possible (typically just outside the frame) and also using the grid helps a lot in stopping it spilling light and contaminating the key & fill. It is difficult to aim it precisely enough to do things like lighting a model's hair without lighting their shoulder. When I need that level of precision from an accent light I usually use Interfit beauty dishes with their honeycomb grids close in. They're very useful all-around modifiers and also fairly cheap:- http://www.fotosense.c​o.uk …0cm-for-ex-exd-heads.html

Working around someone's favourite side can be tricky. The first thing I do when I'm working with a new model is check what side of their face lights and photographs best so I can tell the MUA or hair stylist what side to favour when doing an asymmetrical look...one of the little things that can save you a lot of time over the course of a shoot if you remember to do it before you start work.

I don't think there's really a whole lot that needs improving for this sort of style. Just a larger fill source to get rid of the cross-lighting and soften the catchlights (the portalites' hotspots and small square shape mean they're not great for fill) and a larger accent light to help smooth the highlights out a bit.

Once again many thanks.