Trial & error strobes,Crit welcome

jockwav

jockwav

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James (Retired)
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Some crit on the lighting would be great to see if i am heading in the right direction,i had a Lastolite 400s left of camera & a reflector camera right.
A friend of ours.



 
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How do you think you did, James?
 
The23rdman said:
How do you think you did, James?
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Well i think a bit better than the last time i tried a while ago,where as before i was told i had the lighting very flat which i agreed with because i had cross lighted.
So this time i went with one light & a reflector to add some dimension to it,so i am hoping there is an improvement here.:)
 
Personally, I would start with one light source only. Play around with different positions - one axis but higher, slightly off the axis, more off the axis like you've done here, and then various distances away from the subject. From there you'll learn to get a feel for how different positions affect mood. Learn about broad and short lighting and how it affects the model and when you might like to use it.

A couple of rules of thumb: the light is better higher than the eyes in most situations because that it how we see light from the sun; try to keep the catchlights out of the sclera of the eye (white bit); try to avoid specular highlights - tough on shiny skin.
 
Thanks Dean for taking the time to explain all that,i will try to bear all that in mind the next time we mess around with the lights.:):banana:
 
Thinking more about it all i am a little confused about off axis when i was using studio lights.:)
 
Well off axis usually means on camera flash,but i was not using speedlights,maybe i have got it mixed up.:)
 
On axis simply means in line with the camera. It can be above or below, but on the same axis. Anything that moves the light off of that line is off axis.
 
Thanks for clearing that up Dean.:)
 
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