My First Studio portrait Shoot With 7D

I was quite keen to get into the studio and shoot some portraits after getting my 7D, especially to see if it can do anything besides the butch-speedy stuff! Anyway It turned out I was pulled away to help someone else with their shoot so I literally had about 5 min's for my shoot.
Didn't have time to set up the any softboxes so just used one of the barn-door's.

Just 7D and 28-135mm, I was going to borrow one of the 50mm1.4's but time was short.
Simple set up, black backdrop and a single Bowens Gemini flash unit with barn-door.

Hope you like them, any comment would be appreciated!

Ben.S

Great work, I like the tight crops but I feel as though they're uneven sometimes, maybe take a little of the black from the bottom of #1 and #4 and they will be superb

SkipK wrote in post #9045165
Did you up the contrast or something in post. The transition from dark to light seems abrupt and not smooth?

Skip

Not really, Hardly did any PP. The flash I used was quite harsh, and with a fast shutter speed you get a more contrasty light quality.
I was after quite a contrasty and shadowy look, I'm going to do it again with a softbox to get a more even spread though.

SkipK wrote in post #9045358
Have to admit I am at work and this monitor is slightly less than optimal so the contrast may be exaggerated a bit.

Since you brought up a faster shutter speed does anybody know how to achieve faster than a 250 sync speed using strobes?


Skip

Edit: I do know that I can up my shutter speed as much as I want but will catch the shutter only half open if I go too fast.
I just can't quite figure out why the max sync speed is 250 when the strobe is generally at 1/1000th of a sec. Can't they
figure out how to get the timing down better than that?

Don't mean to hijack your post just made me think about that.

I'm not sure to be honest, but I managed to get well past 1/250th with the Gemini's.
Those shots ^ are between 250 and 800.

SkipK wrote in post #9045439
Yea it's kind of funny I have a 40D and my partner has a 5D but I can't get his past 200 without having part of the frame cut off and on mine I can get almost up to 1/1000th before same thing happens.

Skip

What flash's are you using?

Would the solid black on the 1st (wrist down) and 4th (knuckles down) be from the shutter, or was the light cast that tight?

Ash

Like these, but as someone suggested, I'd like to see some of the black bg disappear in 1 and 4. As they stand, 3 is my fave.

ash.m wrote in post #9046531
Would the solid black on the 1st (wrist down) and 4th (knuckles down) be from the shutter, or was the light cast that tight?

Ash

The light from the barn-doors is very directional, that would explain it.

Do you find the 7D gives better results (eg sharpness) than, say, the 40D or 50D?

Roy Mathers wrote in post #9050177
Do you find the 7D gives better results (eg sharpness) than, say, the 40D or 50D?

I'd say yes, I used to use a 40D for studio shots, and I couldn't get as much detail as the 7D even with a sharp lens.

Thanks.

SkipK wrote in post #9045358
Have to admit I am at work and this monitor is slightly less than optimal so the contrast may be exaggerated a bit.

Since you brought up a faster shutter speed does anybody know how to achieve faster than a 250 sync speed using strobes?

Skip

Edit: I do know that I can up my shutter speed as much as I want but will catch the shutter only half open if I go too fast.
I just can't quite figure out why the max sync speed is 250 when the strobe is generally at 1/1000th of a sec. Can't they
figure out how to get the timing down better than that?

Don't mean to hijack your post just made me think about that.

Turn your camera and flash to hi-speed sync mode. I think you only need to change the camera, but I always just do both. Also, some weird flash things, make sure the wide angle flash piece (that little piece of plastic that pops out of the top of the speedlight and folds down) is pushed all the way back into the speedlight. Some flash functions don't work properly if it isn't all the way back in.

SkipK wrote in post #9045358
Have to admit I am at work and this monitor is slightly less than optimal so the contrast may be exaggerated a bit.

After looking on a less than high Q monitor I think I'm seeing what you might be, not very gradual change in tone.

Have a look on a better monitor some time, results might be more pleasing

I really like these shots. Very moody!

sctbiggs wrote in post #9050783
Turn your camera and flash to hi-speed sync mode. I think you only need to change the camera, but I always just do both. Also, some weird flash things, make sure the wide angle flash piece (that little piece of plastic that pops out of the top of the speedlight and folds down) is pushed all the way back into the speedlight. Some flash functions don't work properly if it isn't all the way back in.

Surely this only applies to the on-camera flashguns (430, 580 etc)? I think the original question related to external strobes.