Beginner Help with light placement

[sep9001]

Hi

Trying out my new Lencarta smart flash with a 95cm soft box and when taking the picture below the lower part is way under exposed, does this mean that I have my light to high up or am I too close to the wall:



The picture is straight out of the camera.

Thank you

Kev

 

[mike weeks]

2 things other than just placement

1. Light Fall off, things further away get less light
2. Shutter Sync, your camera may be capable of 1/250 or 1/200 flash sync bt cheapo triggers rarely are so try at 1/125 or lower and eliminate that first

Mike

 

[sep9001]

Mike,

Thank you, will try 1/125 first.

Kev

 

[Phil V]

To add to what Mike said, that shot does look slightly under, by the time the brighter bits are lifted the darker bits aren't quite so far under.

You are too close to the wall too though.

Quick question though: what angle was the softbox? Because that could be feathering , as you suspect we might be looking at the edge of the softboxes illumination, which didn't ought to happen at a reasonable height (the catch lights suggest it's not too high) . But make sure it's not shutter speed as Mike said.

 

[sep9001]

Thanks Phil,

The softbox was angled downwards at a slightly angle. I will try the a slow shutter speed at the weekend and report back.

Thanks

 

[Garry Edwards]

Your shot may be slightly underexposed, and the indicator of that is that the whites of his eyes aren't very white.
And he may be too close to the background, but the background is a separate subject anyway, so let's just talk about the lighting on the face, which is the real subject.
Light placement isn't too high, in fact looking at the catchlights in his eyes I'd say that you'd got it about right.
What I think we're talking about here is the fall off of light from the top of his head, which is closer to the light, to the bottom. And I'm guessing that you're also concerned about the shadows - not that shadows are in any way a bad thing - but there are shadows there that are caused by the fact that he is grinning, which has contorted his face. If he had
1. Not been grinning
2. Had been smiling (lips apart) then those shadows would not have been as strong.

Or in other words, don't worry about it

 

[sep9001]

Garry,

Thank you, I agree it is under exposed, the bit I am not happy with is the fall off/shadow at the bottom of the picture.

I did take some with the umbrella and had a similar issue which is why I think I am doing something wrong. I will try a slower shutter speed as suggested next weekend.

Thank you all for the help.

 

[Phil V]

Garry,

Thank you, I agree it is under exposed, the bit I am not happy with is the fall off/shadow at the bottom of the picture.

I did take some with the umbrella and had a similar issue which is why I think I am doing something wrong. I will try a slower shutter speed as suggested next weekend.

Thank you all for the help.

I just need to add, don't consider this a failure, it's part of the learning process.

For those of us with slightly more experience, when we just place a light 'as a start point' there's close to what we want, that's no more luck than a good guess, it's the result of getting it wrong hundreds of times.