Another go with the lighting

Dman

Dman

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Dave
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Ok, so I had another crack at the weekend, these are a couple of shots. Do they look ok? Too bright on the background? I only have two lights at the moment so I haven't got a lot to play with.

s25cw9.jpg


25qf8fr.jpg
 
I don't know if it's just my monitor but do they seem to lack a little contrast in the shadows? Other than that they look like some good family shots.
 
You're getting there but yes, too much light on the background.
1st picture - look at the damage to the womans' hair, caused by too much light.
2nd picture - look at the unwanted light on the mans face and clothing edge, again caused by too much light and by having light spill onto the subject. It's more obvious on the woman because of her different hair, but the same problem. If you had photographed a West Indian subject with coarse black hair it would have looked OK.

The excessive light from the background has also reduced the overall contrast and caused a bit of flare.

But, as I say, a big improvement
 
I really need to buy that third head, but until then the only way to expose the whole background is to have it two stops brighter than the subject. So at the moment it's f/22 on the background and f/11 on the subject.

It is a vast improvement though compared to other recent shots.
 
Dman said:
I really need to buy that third head, but until then the only way to expose the whole background is to have it two stops brighter than the subject. So at the moment it's f/22 on the background and f/11 on the subject.
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Well, there you go then - 2 stops is far too much and problems like this are inevitable.

Until you have that 3rd head, consider far less light on the subject and use PS Image>adjustments>selective color>white to get around the problem - a time consuming way of doing it, but the results will be worth it
 
Daryl said:
I always use 4 heads on this stuff.... 3 will pass but four 2x2 will get you good contrast and even light to the back.

1 light on the back you will over compensate by putting up the power to spread across the whole bg. 2 lights on the rear you can drop them down to 1/2 or one stop over the subject.
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I agree with that, and as said in the other thread, you may be better off using 2 lights on the BG and 1 on subject with reflector. Still, current setup may be vastly improved if you flag off the BG light from the subject to avoid the lightspill.
 
Apart from the over-cooked background, just some comments really.

Very dark clothes are difficult at the best of times. I like pastels with white backgrounds - yellow, pink, light blue, light green, orange, especially with kids. Suits the bright look. But something lighter anyway.

Try to get subjects to face the light. You've lost the highlights in mum's eyes. Add a reflector on the opposite side.

I would move the main light closer. If there's movement involved you'll get a higher hit rate with the main light closer to the camera - more options on head angles and less fall-off side to side. Shadows will be less directional though, which I think is a good thing with this style, but that's just an opinion.
 
chrisgeary said:
Hmm, isn't a bit of spill desirable? In that it provides a shape and definition to edges?
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No.
If you want to define the edges with light do it deliberately - place a light where you want it to be, or use a reflector such as the 5-in-1 reflector supplied with your Lencarta kit, a piece of cooking foil or even a piece of white card.

And bear in mind that the opposite of light spill can do a much better job of defining shape - use the black absorber supplied, as close as possible to the subject, to create a dark edge against a white background.
 
Maybe someone could explain exactly how they would of done this with just 2 heads?
 
CTR_Chris said:
Maybe someone could explain exactly how they would of done this with just 2 heads?
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Basically, you can do head and shoulders with just two heads, but for anything more you need three.

Problem is the background, which needs to be evenly lit all over, at an exposure just fractionally above that of the main front light. You can't get it even, over a large enough area for full length or group shots, without two lights.

Lots of threads on this style of lighting.

Edit: Of course you can give it a try, and if you're careful to minimise hot-spots and grey patches it can work. You can often mop up a little bit of grey around the edges in post processing. If you move the background light as far back as possible it will minimise fall-off across the background (inverse square law).
 
HoppyUK said:
Basically, you can do head and shoulders with just two heads, but for anything more you need three.

Problem is the background, which needs to be evenly lit all over, at an exposure just fractionally above that of the main front light. You can't get it even, over a large enough area for full length or group shots, without two lights.

Lots of threads on this style of lighting.

Edit: Of course you can give it a try, and if you're careful to minimise hot-spots and grey patches it can work. You can often mop up a little bit of grey around the edges in post processing. If you move the background light as far back as possible it will minimise fall-off across the background (inverse square law).
Click to expand...

I was about to say that silly you need one on the person and 2 on the bg not three at all :coat: might be best i go to bed i aint gonna help anyone tonight
 
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