Lighting assistance please

what colour cast are you not sure about?

light s about 6 foot
 
keep replying to this and its not showing up,

what colour cast do you mean stevie?

the light is about 5 foot
 
Stevie- said:
Number 2 seems warmer to me? Yellower.
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possibly colour be, I am aiming to get more natural colours, but wife prefers the more exaggerated colours like in photo 3, I'm not sure but now just asking a few clients and they prefer that look so not sure whats best or what angle to go down.

From research the top photographers seem to go for the more natural colour, how ever looking at the first photo which would be my natural look i feel it lacks something
 
Stevie- said:
3 (1 of 1) seems to be yellower to me.
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yeah that is the one that i think is over processed.

its a case of what would a client buy compared to what i want to achieve as a photographer
 
that looks terrible, let me link from flickr,
14104336401_067c44ea4f_s.jpg



cleancolour by Carlo Mullen, on Flickr
 
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donkeymusic said:
okay had a few tests shot today to try and achieve what i was after, thanks to every support and to David for chipping in with his methods, although not trying to copy its a style i like and want to aim towards.

So setup was large sot box up high and just to left of camera and had a smaller soft box to the right feathering across the subject to just add a bit of fill.

Looking for feedback, I have added three shots, the first is with minimal editing, second is a preset i have been applying but not sure how much i like it, and the third is just a mono version. so was looking for feedback on the lighting of the first, which looks better 1 or 2 and which is the preferred image of the three.

Thank you
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We've been here before, many times. You ask for lighting advice and then ignore that advice.
You say that you want to avoid the shadows that everyone tells you are an important part of the shot - fair enough, you're entitled to want to get rid of shadows if you want to, but you have been told, many times, how to avoid those shadows by having the light large, close and directly above the subject - so, you put the light off centre, where it created a shadow on the background, and 6' away, where it made the shadow fairly harsh.
donkeymusic said:
and had a smaller soft box to the right feathering across the subject to just add a bit of fill.
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donkeymusic said:
Looking for feedback, I have added three shots, the first is with minimal editing, second is a preset i have been applying but not sure how much i like it, and the third is just a mono version. so was looking for feedback on the lighting of the first, which looks better 1 or 2 and which is the preferred image of the three.
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Frankly, you would do better to get the photography right before you start worrying about the post processing.
And yes, there does seem to me to be a strong colour cast. I'd add the caveat though that I'm on my home computer and the monitor isn't calibrated, but it does seem to be obvious. With the light as far away as it is, the colour cast is probably caused by colour reflected from the floor, but of course might be some other reflected colour
 
Garry Edwards said:
We've been here before, many times. You ask for lighting advice and then ignore that advice.
You say that you want to avoid the shadows that everyone tells you are an important part of the shot - fair enough, you're entitled to want to get rid of shadows if you want to, but you have been told, many times, how to avoid those shadows by having the light large, close and directly above the subject - so, you put the light off centre, where it created a shadow on the background, and 6' away, where it made the shadow fairly harsh.
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I listen to every bit of advice and try to put it all into practice, sometimes easier said than done.

I have a large 150cm soft box which is up high and as I don't have a boom arm it is off to to the left so that the stand inst in my way, I am happy to go with minimal shadow because I know I cant position the light centrally enough to reduce the shadow created.

The distance between softbox and the boy was further than I would normally have it, it was lighting a family of four and this was just a shot I took whilst they were changing the baby's nappy. I guessed the distance was fine for a family of four, or would you suggest that it needs to be closer for a family as well?
 
Garry Edwards said:
Frankly, you would do better to get the photography right before you start worrying about the post processing.
And yes, there does seem to me to be a strong colour cast. I'd add the caveat though that I'm on my home computer and the monitor isn't calibrated, but it does seem to be obvious. With the light as far away as it is, the colour cast is probably caused by colour reflected from the floor, but of course might be some other reflected colour
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I am trying to get the photography right.

I think there probably is a colour cast from the floor, how would I reduce this? Thanks
 
In response to the op's original question (as there are other posts and I havent read those), I would light it from above and the sides :)
 
You can get the light on axis without a boom arm. You just need to decide what is more important - the correct light or your shooting comfort. You could always invest in a ring flash, but shooting around a stand isn't that big a deal.
 
donkeymusic said:
I listen to every bit of advice and try to put it all into practice, sometimes easier said than done.

I have a large 150cm soft box which is up high and as I don't have a boom arm it is off to to the left so that the stand inst in my way, I am happy to go with minimal shadow because I know I cant position the light centrally enough to reduce the shadow created.

The distance between softbox and the boy was further than I would normally have it, it was lighting a family of four and this was just a shot I took whilst they were changing the baby's nappy. I guessed the distance was fine for a family of four, or would you suggest that it needs to be closer for a family as well?
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As Dean says, you can light on-axis without a boom arm. A boom arm just makes it easier.
But, the thing to point out here is that a 150cm octa softbox is massive when used in anything other than a large pro studio with a high ceiling. You managed here because you were photographing a child sat on the floor, but I very much doubt whether you would have had anywhere near enough ceiling height to photograph adults standing up - the light needs to come from above, and if the ceiling isn't high enough, not only will much of the light be coming from straight in front and even below, the softbox will be physically in your way too.
donkeymusic said:
I am trying to get the photography right.

I think there probably is a colour cast from the floor, how would I reduce this? Thanks
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Don't have a coloured floor.
If you really want your coloured floor, use the inverse square law to help to reduce the strength of the light reflected from it - if the light is as close as it usually needs to be to the subject, it loses a lot of power before it even hits the floor, and then loses even more on its way back. But, with the light as far away as it is, it is losing far less light in its travels.
 
The23rdman said:
You can get the light on axis without a boom arm. You just need to decide what is more important - the correct light or your shooting comfort. You could always invest in a ring flash, but shooting around a stand isn't that big a deal.
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I have been testing this again this morning, and i can get the stand close to central with my shooting pretty much beneath the softbox.
 
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