need some help with positioning

[SpikeK6]

I was taking some pics of the wife at the weekend and just could not position things right to get some pics like what you guy post on here, I had shadows everywhere etc etc.

These pics where being taken at night in the house so no natural light available(these where sort of glamour shots, so the wife will not let me post any).
Equipement I have is
canon 50D
2 Flash guns (jessops AFD360) with 2 tripods to mount them on
Remote triggers to set them off

I had my wife stood with the vertical blinds giving me the backdrop, Where should I be positioning the flash guns to get the best results, I know to do the job properly I should have soft boxes umbrellers etc etc but money being tight at the minute I am having to make do with what I have. Christmas is coming though.
So with this info can you please give me some pointers on how to get best result with the limiting equipment I have.
any more info needed just ask as I do not know what else you will need at the moment

Any info will be much appreciated

spike

 

[coldpenguin]

It is a bit difficult without seeing the exact problem.
Did you have the flash pointed directly at her? If so, try aiming it for the ceiling/wall, this will help give a larger surface area for bouncing the light off of, and will help to make the edges softer.

 

[SpikeK6]

I did have one boucing off the ceiling and the other pointing at her.
The main problem i am trying to illiminate is the shadows that get cast behind her.
Even bouncing the light I was getting shadows
I know its difficult without seeing the pics but its more than my lifes worth to put one up on here ha ha!!
I think what I am loking for is where should the flashes be, distance away, how far to the side(if at all) one in front one behind etc etc.

Thanks

spike

 

[gman]

(these where sort of glamour shots, so the wife will not let me post any

Back on topic lol, how about having a pure black background instead of the blinds? If so then you could try this:

Have just a tiny amount of light in the room, just enough to see and be able to autofocus.

Set your shutter to say 1/160 and your aperture to F11 or something similar and take a shot without flash, if the room is 100% dark then that's your black background sorted because your settings are not picking up any ambient light. Don't worry about the subject, your flash units will take care of that.

Position your lights slightly forward and to the left and right of your camera and have them facing your wife. Try moving one of them back a little or reduce the power in one so that it's just acting as a fill light.

You may need some flags of some sort to prevent light spilling past the back of your wife and lighting up the background behind. A big piece of card or anything that won't let light through should work placed next to the lights. You can see in the diagram how the light shouldn't spill onto the background that will be visible in the camera.

Then play around with the power of the lights until you get the exposure how you want it.

Here's a diagram to show what I mean. I'm sure there's other ways you can do it but this was the first thing that popped into my head!

This shot here is a little more extreme with the lights places directly to the right and left of the subject but it shows how I can eliminate the background which means I didn't have to worry about getting rid of shadows.

If you do want the background then you'll need to have a light behind your wife facing the background so as to eliminate the shadows. I think

 

[iwap]

That's great advice Gman! Can I ask, would you suggest an off camera flash gun for this or a low capacity studio type light instead?

 

[gman]

It shouldn't really matter so long as you have enough power and also the means to control the spill of the light from hitting the background.

 

[itsdavedotnet]

Get two flashes, 1/4 power, bounce them off the ceiling at 45 degrees, and, uh... get back to what you were doing

 

[lawrie29]

Move your suubject further away from the background if possible.

Could you edit the photos, or just provide headshots to give us an idea of your issues, and still be able to walk?

 

[SpikeK6]

Thanks for all the advice guys.
Going to give all your tips ago and see where it goes hope i get it right next time.

Thanks

spike

 

[The23rdman]

A shoot through umbrella is less than a tenner.