Home studio shots - lighting advice required

ShawWellPete

ShawWellPete

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Pete
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Hi Guys,

I have set up a background at home with a couple of speedlights. I currently have an SB-600 and an Sb-900 with lightstands and umbrellas.

I had the SB-600 set at -1 EV TTL exposure to camera left (with umbrella) pointing sideways into the frame. The SB-900 I had set to TTL high and to camera right (pointing down with umbrela) with the camera set to +3 EV. Most of the exposures still had to adjusted up by a stop or so in Lightroom.

Here is the set up

1.



And here are a few of the shots

2.



3.



4.



5.



6.




7.



8



The background is a bit grey still in some of them so I guess ideally I need to improve my lighting somewhat. Do I need another couple of speedlights just for the background?

Any advice very welcome.
 
Can't help you much with the lighting, but can say I love #2, #4, #6 and #8. Really great shots all of them, but those stand out for me. :)
 
Nice work!

I dont know a lot about flash photography, but to me it seems maybe your flashes are too harsh, particularly in shot 4 where the jeans on the left lad seem over-exposed.

Shot 6 is cool! Very creative :)
 
Flash looks a little harsh - I wonder if a shoot through umbrella might help. I have recently acquired SB-600 + SB-900 + a pair of shoot throughs, so am interested in what others achieve with that setup. Not used mine yet (hope to next week if I can get my daughter to pose for some portraits!).
 
after several hours of striping my videos/dvd ive got a section of it that might be of interest, please wait whilst setting up link
 
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Hi Pete.

Perhaps try with the one light first, get used to the light it produces by moving it about in relation to the subjects. Once you're happy with that, add the second, as I'm not sure what it's purpose is in the set-up (it seems to be producing some underlighting which is OK on kids, but will be harsh on adults).

If you're looking for a kicker, remove the brolly from the side light (DIY grid spot, or zoom to 200mm if you use SB-900), and position it more opposite to the key light (drawing line with subjects in the middle).

A shoot through umbrella is a great choice for the key light, it's softer and can create nicer shadows. Subjective of course, but I've found bouncing light to be a bit flat/harsh (without a strong fill).
 
Thanks for the advice and comments guys and for the link melevo.

rdh said:
Hi Pete.

Perhaps try with the one light first, get used to the light it produces by moving it about in relation to the subjects. Once you're happy with that, add the second, as I'm not sure what it's purpose is in the set-up (it seems to be producing some underlighting which is OK on kids, but will be harsh on adults).
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comment, there wasn't much purpose, as such, just playing around. What do you mean by underlighting?

If you're looking for a kicker, remove the brolly from the side light (DIY grid spot, or zoom to 200mm if you use SB-900), and position it more opposite to the key light (drawing line with subjects in the middle).
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, why is the kicker zoomed in so far and not diffused?

A shoot through umbrella is a great choice for the key light, it's softer and can create nicer shadows. Subjective of course, but I've found bouncing light to be a bit flat/harsh (without a strong fill).
Click to expand...

Is a shoot through umbrella better than a softbox?
 
Underlighting is lighting the model from underneath - AKA "Monster Lighting" :)

It can be used to great effect of course, but if you're not careful it can produce highlights and shadows in the face that people aren't used to seeing. Underlighting is usually used as a fill to lessen shadows (common in beauty photography).

A grid (or zoom) will concentrate the kicker, and stops it spilling all over the place. A grid is preferable, I made one for my SB-900 out of black straws and card, works flawlessly! If you diffuse a kicker, you'll lose the edge emphasis. This pic illustrates it:

205.jpg


The kicker was a zoomed SB-900, 4' from subject.

Shoot through brolly vs. softbox is a common discussion, essentially the only difference is control of the light spill. The brolly will push out light and it will bounce around and act as a fill (especially if your home studio has light walls). A softbox stops that, and emits light from a more controlled front panel (which can also be used for feathering effects). I would personally recommend a softbox, I have an Ezybox 60x60 and it's fantastic for portraits, used it for this shot:

125.jpg


Used an underlight fill for that too, a shoot through brolly (love the double eye catch lights).

Hope that helps!
 
rdh said:
Underlighting is lighting the model from underneath - AKA "Monster Lighting" :)

It can be used to great effect of course, but if you're not careful it can produce highlights and shadows in the face that people aren't used to seeing. Underlighting is usually used as a fill to lessen shadows (common in beauty photography).

A grid (or zoom) will concentrate the kicker, and stops it spilling all over the place. A grid is preferable, I made one for my SB-900 out of black straws and card, works flawlessly! If you diffuse a kicker, you'll lose the edge emphasis. This pic illustrates it:

205.jpg


The kicker was a zoomed SB-900, 4' from subject.

Shoot through brolly vs. softbox is a common discussion, essentially the only difference is control of the light spill. The brolly will push out light and it will bounce around and act as a fill (especially if your home studio has light walls). A softbox stops that, and emits light from a more controlled front panel (which can also be used for feathering effects). I would personally recommend a softbox, I have an Ezybox 60x60 and it's fantastic for portraits, used it for this shot:

125.jpg


Used an underlight fill for that too, a shoot through brolly (love the double eye catch lights).

Hope that helps!
Click to expand...

That's very helpful Ross, thanks very much for taking the time, they're fantastic photos, superbly lit. I'll pick up a softbox and keep practicing. The problem with kids, is that the little beggars never stand still so the distance from the model to the light source is constantly changing!
 
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