Alien Bees Users Check In (2)

Chris, second shot is the winner, well done, first shot as phil said shadows are kinda odd around the eyes as well as hair on the left side of the image, second one is amazing!

PhilF wrote in post #12847050
odd lighting... shadows are all over the place.

I agree, looks kind of like a ring light but with multiple sources that are inconsistent.

I'm also put off by sharp eyes (good) and out of focus lips and nose. For something like this, I would be inclined to use an aperture setting that gets all the face in focus and let's the hair fall out of focus as it goes back.

But that's my approach.

I really like the second image. Lighting doesn't cause confusion and the facial features are sharp.

There appears to be a difference in color balance between the two. In a studio session I'd want that to be consistent.

Thanks for all the help guys. It was my first time using the color checker on a real shoot. I ran it in LR and created the profile and also corrected the WB with the eye dropper on the color checker and used that as a preset to correct WB on all of them. Would I have to take another shot of the color checker and create another profile if I change the light's angle/direction/distan​ce or modifier or even power? I'm still getting comfortable using it.

As for the first shot, I've seen a lot of headshots with the 135L at f/2 and wanted to give it a go. I was skeptical to begin with thinking the DOF was too thin but I've seen some people make it work. Looking back, I think they might have taken it further back and cropped in post. Lighting for that was the same as the second one with the exception of the garage door being open and it being mid day I think the ambient might have creeped in at that point and caused those shadows. She was sitting in a chair and the lights weren't moved. It was metering f/2 ISO50 1/80 with just the ambient and I shot at 1/160. Could that also explain the difference in color balance? Thanks again for all the help guys!

Just a note, cause this is the AB check in place. I was doing an outdoor shoot with an AB800 that I have owned over a year. I had my stand bagged with a 47" octa. A rogue wind gust came up, knocking the stand over. The AB took a direct hit on the ground right on the power receptacle. It still was able to get power and all still worked, but the female end on the AB was hosed. The bezel was cracked off and the cord was crooked as ever. I used it a couple more times and then had to do something about it, because the power cord would not stay in. I called PCB and explained that it was my fault and needed to find out how much it would cost to have it repaired. Their repair department said if I shipped it to them, they would repair it for free, plus ship it back for free. I was actually surprised because this was my fault entirely. It took a week and a half to get it back. I have to say, thats good business.

Chris,
Metering ambient and then increasing exposure only one stop will still let it pollute the setup.
I generally go with, at minimum two stops, and like more.
I have found that changing the modifier can indeed change the light's color temp. Its also well known that changing power will change the color temp.

That's one major advantage of the PassPort. Its so easy to stick it into a shot as a quick reference.

You don't have to create another profile, but having the Color Checker to use for white balance is valuable.

Not sure if you used the Adobe or X-Rite software. Adobe has a means to build a dual laminate profile. That seems to work for me with any light source. I can just make a quick reference shot of the colorchecker and use the second square from white in the gray scale row for color balance.

MyBeginnersMind wrote in post #12849047

The hair line on the left side is throwing me off, I am guessing you cleaned up the colors in post? I also think the DOF is a bit shallow, especially near the ear.

Shot on a gray backdrop. You can see through the hair above the ear. There is no softness or feathering around the left hand side edge considering the DoF.

MyBeginnersMind wrote in post #12849047
The hair line on the left side is throwing me off, I am guessing you cleaned up the colors in post? I also think the DOF is a bit shallow, especially near the ear.

Thanks. That was shot at f/8. I'm used to shooting outdoors where f/8 would be plenty to cover DOF issues but I need to get used to shooting in the studio more. Maybe I should start shooting at f/11..

dmward wrote in post #12849070
Chris,
Metering ambient and then increasing exposure only one stop will still let it pollute the setup.
I generally go with, at minimum two stops, and like more.
I have found that changing the modifier can indeed change the light's color temp. Its also well known that changing power will change the color temp.

That's one major advantage of the PassPort. Its so easy to stick it into a shot as a quick reference.

You don't have to create another profile, but having the Color Checker to use for white balance is valuable.

Not sure if you used the Adobe or X-Rite software. Adobe has a means to build a dual laminate profile. That seems to work for me with any light source. I can just make a quick reference shot of the colorchecker and use the second square from white in the gray scale row for color balance.

Thanks for the info David. Does the software you're talking about come with the color checker? I didn't really have a good look through everything on the CD. I just loaded the program and immediately made a DNG profile from a shot and thought that's all I needed to do. I'll go back and read up on it though. I was using the Einstein on those shots so I didn't second guess color temperature too much but think I'll change that next time and be more careful. I did correct WB from the shot with the color checker to the 2nd grey box in LR though. I should point out that I haven't posted shots using the ABR800 yet and I did create another DNG profile using that and another shot of the color checker since I know the ABR800 is more prone to color ****s than the Einstein and so far they seem a bit warm in comparison but I'm not 100% sure. I'll post one of those shots tonight and see what you guys think.

2DP wrote in post #12849098
Shot on a gray backdrop. You can see through the hair above the ear. There is no softness or feathering around the left hand side edge considering the DoF.

You're exactly right. Used the magic wand and brightened that layer up and used heal/clone to clean up the stray hairs as much as I could. I'm still not 100% comfortable with cutting subjects out with the bg showing through stray openings in between the hair. Thanks!

ni$mo350 wrote in post #12849108
I'm still not 100% comfortable with cutting subjects out with the bg showing through stray openings in between the hair. Thanks!

There is a few ways, but I have gotten used to channel masking in PS3. Usually the green or blue channel, duplicate the channel, and keep sliding your levels, use your paintbrush to darken your foreground and whiten your background. Use the lasso tool to work on selective areas. Keep working levels until you have a silhoutte. Cut, refine edge, presto.

It's obviously not that simple, but I am comfortable with the procedure and I am happy with the results I get.

Someone may be able to link to a tutorial. I got the technique off a tutorial a few years ago and I cannot remember where I found it.

Chris,
There are instructions on the Adobe website for its DNG Profiler software that explains the purpose of a duel luminant profile.

I have found that mixing ABR and Einstein doesn't cause a major problem. Of course I'm shooting flowers not people at the moment with that arrangement.

2DP, channel masking is a great tool. I've used it but do it rarely enough that I always have trouble remembering how to convert the channel to a mask. Somewhere I read about using the burn and dodge tools to help create the silhouette necessary to create the mask. Also, about using calculate to multiple the contrastyist layer.

Chrissy and her cute little dog chole (think thats how you spell it).

BD camera left. Bare bulb at lowest power camera right (hoping to get a strip box one day).

siddr20 wrote in post #12854336
Chrissy and her cute little dog chole (think thats how you spell it).

BD camera left. Bare bulb at lowest power camera right (hoping to get a strip box one day).

Sidd,
I'm not sure about the pose, but I like your lighting arrangement.
The bare bulb for fill worked well.
Strip box, especially with grid will help control spill but may not be as unobtrusive as fill.

Thank you for the feedback david. Indeed the pose could have been better (perhaps her legs crossed). Hmmm something to think about for next time.

Im hoping to get a strip box very soon.

siddr20 wrote in post #12854412
Thank you for the feedback david. Indeed the pose could have been better (perhaps her legs crossed). Hmmm something to think about for next time.

Im hoping to get a strip box very soon.

Sidd,
I was thinking more along the lines that she has weight on both feet, her hips are square to the camera and the action lifting the skirt looks unnatural. Her shoulders are also close to square to the camera. All that adds up to no dynamics in the pose.

dmward wrote in post #12854374
Sidd,
I'm not sure about the pose, but I like your lighting arrangement.
The bare bulb for fill worked well.
Strip box, especially with grid will help control spill but may not be as unobtrusive as fill.

I am with dmward...... technically lighting is good. The pose and the composite BG just doesn't work for me. I think when doing composites, everything should blend in and work..... look and poses.