More portrait images

[caradoc]

I took a lighting class yesterday (Saturday) and we got two really nice models to work with to set up lighting and take turns at posing and shooting.

Briana:

Christina:

Clicking on either picture will get you to that image’s Flickr page, and from there you can find the rest of the uploaded images for each of the ladies.

I’m still doing some sorting and post-processing – I filled two 2GB cards in the course of the day.

[GoldenAppleofDiscord]

Like the first ones of each very much (especially Briana), but the second shots, not so much.

[Analogy]

Just curious, how do you fill 2 GB cards in a day? I can see doing it with event photography where you’re clicking away madly, but but for posed and lit photography it just doesn’t make sense to me. I tend to go for getting the right shot in just a couple takes than shooting a lot and sorting it out in post. My keeper:shot count ratio tends to be pretty high as a result, typically on the order of 1:3 or 1:4.

I can see what you were going for with the second pic of Christina, but I think the perspective should be higher (as a rule I don’t like the horizon to go below the subject’s waist level) and the hard shadows on her leg and the lower right portion of the frame are distracting. I think you could have had the on-camera SB-800 contribute some light to the scene to fill them in a little, as well as moving the other two flashes around to get those shadows out of the way. A hot shoe extension cord works well for getting the on-camera flash a little further away from the lens so it’s not so direct.

When you’re working with fill flash in daylight you’ll either want an ND filter to get more aperture or choose a background that will look very good when it’s all in focus.

Personally for outdoor shots I swear by using large studio strobes and a generator, that way you have enough power to use a softbox or other light modifier to avoid hard shadows. Yes it’s a lot to haul around, but if I’m just going for one really great image in one location rather than moving around to a bunch of locations, or if I have a lot of time it is 100% worth it.

[caradoc]

Just curious, how do you fill 2 GB cards in a day?

I shot multiple images of each of the lighting setups, and a crapload of images of each of the models during their particular setups.

It adds up pretty quick, shooting RAW. I didn’t want to mess with changing back and forth during the day, so I just left them RAW.

One of the issues we were having was that the cloud cover was changing minute-by-minute at the time. When I composed the shot, I had some really nice hard-edged dark clouds moving in, then spent about 30 seconds with the strobes to get them where I wanted them. In that period of time, the cloud cover had completely changed again.

The drawbacks of doing these during a class is that people want to get their own shots, too, and aren’t paying attention to what’s going on.

The hard shadow you see on her leg isn’t coming from one of my flashes. There were five other guys there, and one of them was being kind of a jerk and shooting when it wasn’t his turn to shoot.

Thanks for the critique – I know where I want to go with my shots, but I’m not quite able to get my hardware to take me there.

Shooting with studio strobes is out of the question for me just yet.

[Curious]

The hard shadow you see on her leg isn’t coming from one of my flashes. There were five other guys there, and one of them was being kind of a jerk and shooting when it wasn’t his turn to shoot.

why am i not surprised?

i get 162 images per 1 gig CF at super fine jpeg with a 6MP camera so not at all surprised you filled two cards.

while i like what you are doing in general i think Analogy has a point about the soft boxes. perhaps there is a cheap way to diffuse the light a little.

[caradoc]

while i like what you are doing in general i think Analogy has a point about the soft boxes. perhaps there is a cheap way to diffuse the light a little.

Yes. I’ve since (as of yesterday, actually) invested in a couple of umbrellas that will help me a LOT on the hard light. Now I need sandbags. Or something else that will keep the stands from heading off to Oz.

Shooting outdoors with umbrellas (or softboxes or anything else on the stand) is going to require me to stabilize them a LOT more than I’ve been doing with the bare strobes.

Monsoon season in Arizona is a little unpredictable as far as the wind goes.

[Analogy]

If it’s expense keeping you from shooting with strobes, AlienBees B800 strobes with radio triggers are about the same price as SB800s, just with a lot more power. I can rent a generator to power three of them for about $30 for 4 hours, or $45 for the day.

[caradoc]

If it’s expense keeping you from shooting with strobes, AlienBees B800 strobes with radio triggers are about the same price as SB800s, just with a lot more power. I can rent a generator to power three of them for about $30 for 4 hours, or $45 for the day.

Not exactly. I ended up with three SB-800s because I’d bought one, then found a pair still in their shrink-wrap for $220 for both, giving me a total of three SB-800s for a little over $500.

The guy selling them had no idea what he had.

[Analogy]

Nice find!

[RcMacStudent]

Shooting outdoors with umbrellas (or softboxes or anything else on the stand) is going to require me to stabilize them a LOT more than I’ve been doing with the bare strobes.

Monsoon season in Arizona is a little unpredictable as far as the wind goes.

I know that heavy sandbags are a staple in portable stage lighting, they weigh anywhere from 10 to 35lbs each and have heavy duty straps so you can put them anywhere.

A quick check of B&H shows a large variety: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/shop/1373/Sandbags_Weight_Bags.html

[Klahanie]

Briana looks totally baked but I like the photographs. 😛

[caradoc]

Genevieve looks less baked, I think.

[Klahanie]

Genevieve looks less baked, I think.

You might even say perky! 😆

Nice work.

[caradoc]

You might even say perky! 😆

Nice work.

Yes, “perky” applies.

Thanks!

[Author]

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