First go at studio...

[Set_Nights]

So I have always been curious about "studio" shoots and have been hankering to have a go myself. I wasn't really sure where to put this as it didn't seem to fit in any of the specific categories. Be kind because this is my first ever attempt at something like this!

It was a very DIY studio (if you could call it that) in my parent's lounge with a white paper background mounted on the curtain rail, my 450D with 50mm prime lens and a single 430EXII flashlight, mounted on the camera and pointed at the (white) ceiling. I did some editing it PS5 as the room lighting gave a funny hue to the photos!

I encountered quite a few problems (obviously) but have tried to work with what I got. Only having the one flash, mounted on the camera, was limiting and created funky shadows. In future I would like to get another light or even a radio controlled trigger to allow me to be more flexible. I edited out the shadows I did get by blowing the exposure on the background with PS. I suspect this has now made the photos look too harsh but I'm not sure what else could be done about that. Another problem I encountered was the unnatural room lighting and the funny reddish/yellow hues this caused in the photos. I'm not sure how one counters that other than just turning them off and buying more natural lighting! I tried to fix this in PS but I'm not sure how successful I was.

I am not that bothered about my OH's "pose" as I was just using him as a test for lighting so the dogs didn't have to sit for ages . I am far more interested in photographing pets than people.

Any (constructive) comments? I'm very newbie-ish and don't want to be told it is all rubbish :bonk:. This is just a hobby for me as I enjoy taking photos, I don't plan on going professional or trying to sell anything so don't worry! Some constructive criticism would be nice though .

Mia 1:

Mia 2:

Travis 1:

Travis 2:

Geoff 1:

Geoff 2:

 

[mrtoad]

no 1 seems best
they all seem a bit sterile with the no background effect
yes that no 1 is a noble shot
cheers
geof

 

[BOM]

Hey There,

For the basic set up you describe you've done a cracking job. Shadows are going to be inevitable with only 1 flash.

If you want to do multi off camera flash it can be done on a very small budget.
Radio flash triggers can be bought from ebay for as little as a tenner
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wireless-...hy_Slaves_Trigger_Systems&hash=item5ae3575ed3

Then scour your local car boot sales, there is always someone there selling an old flash unit for a few quid. So for a budget of £30 you could probably set yourself up with a 2 or 3 flash gun rig.

 

[Set_Nights]

no 1 seems best
they all seem a bit sterile with the no background effect
yes that no 1 is a noble shot
cheers
geof

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, they are a bit harsh/sterile but I wanted to go for the studio look and figured a plain white background was the best to start with and practice on .

Hey There,

For the basic set up you describe you've done a cracking job. Shadows are going to be inevitable with only 1 flash.

If you want to do multi off camera flash it can be done on a very small budget.
Radio flash triggers can be bought from ebay for as little as a tenner
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wireless-...hy_Slaves_Trigger_Systems&hash=item5ae3575ed3

Then scour your local car boot sales, there is always someone there selling an old flash unit for a few quid. So for a budget of £30 you could probably set yourself up with a 2 or 3 flash gun rig.

Thank you . I want to take it further and get myself a radio trigger and another flash and have a play around with off camera but I thought I would get the basic background first incase I lost interest with the idea or didn't feel I was good enough to go forward! I am happy with the results I got for what it was really but hopefully I will get better with practice . I also bought a black background but I think it would do a lot better with off camera flash.