[abisurd]

First, I'll show you the final image I got.



The Setup

This photo was taken in my bedroom. The backdrop is a black piece of cloth about 2.5 m by 3.5m supported by a DIY backdrop stand. The backdrop cost me about EUR 45 and can be assembled in less than 3 minutes. On this backdrop, I put a 2 meters long piece of cloth that had shiny yellow dots on it. I bought it at a local market for about EUR 5.

Lighting setup

I used two flash lights triggered remotely by cheap radio triggers bought off eBay. One flash was placed low, pointing upwards directly in front of the backdrop. The idea was to get some reflection into the camera.

Then I placed the model in front of it so that she hides the flash behind her. I took a couple of shots to adjust the power of the flash behind her.

Next I added the second flash with a shoot-through umbrella (my only light modifier back then). It was placed at 45 degrees to her, camera-left. Luckily, I got that setting right and the first shot itself was a success. I only had to adjust the backdrop to make ti flatter.

Here is a composite that shows these steps. Click it to view in large size.


Whats wrong with the lighting?

The task for you now is to tell me what mistake I did in lighting the model.
Hint: Its the one with the shoot-through umbrella and not the backdrop light.