Messed up a photoshoot grrr!!!

[ajax_andy]

I have a home studio that i've only used a few times but seem to have got some really great results.

My wife's friend and her daughter, coupled with her friends sister, husband and her daughter all came over for a shoot at the weekend and so I set up the studio and got on with the shoot.

I've been spending hours editing the backdrop due to not having enough space to move them a couple of meters from the white sheet and also not having any extra flashes to blast the background to remove creases etc.

Anyway I positioned the strobes a bit higher then normal to reduce shadow on the backdrop but as a result ended up with lots of shadows on the lower half of faces and in creases of their faces,

I have managed to rescue the pics to a degree in photoshop, but looking at them I just feel so disappointed in them as they are well below my usual standards.

It's all a learning experience but sooo demoralising when you make a mistake that affects the shoot!

[graciousness]

Yeah, I had an informal practice shoot this weekend, too, and fell a little bit short on my objective. It's a little disappointing, but at least I didn't have expectations that it would be brilliant due to me trying to practice new techniques I hadn't used before.

We do learn best from our mistakes, so don't fret too much. You know you do good work and have set a pretty good high standard that you are aiming to reach. Just don't aim for perfection all the time, otherwise, I don't think we'll ever get there.

Now that you know the limitations of your little studio and gears, you can work with that. Now you know what you can and can't do with your limited space. I guess you can make it up to the family by shooting outdoors and having the help of ambient light to get proper exposure plus your flashes and umbrellas?

Despite the frustrating result, you know that's not always going to be the case. When you learn to recognise your mistakes, then you know you're on the road to being better!

Chin up, Andy You want some vodka? I have a few bottles...

[Bruce A]

One thing that may help in these situations is to tether your camera to Lightroom (or another tether program) on your laptop as you shoot. That way you can make lighting & pose adjustments on the fly.

[ajax_andy]

Originally Posted by graciousness

Yeah, I had an informal practice shoot this weekend, too, and fell a little bit short on my objective. It's a little disappointing, but at least I didn't have expectations that it would be brilliant due to me trying to practice new techniques I hadn't used before.

We do learn best from our mistakes, so don't fret too much. You know you do good work and have set a pretty good high standard that you are aiming to reach. Just don't aim for perfection all the time, otherwise, I don't think we'll ever get there.

Now that you know the limitations of your little studio and gears, you can work with that. Now you know what you can and can't do with your limited space. I guess you can make it up to the family by shooting outdoors and having the help of ambient light to get proper exposure plus your flashes and umbrellas?

Despite the frustrating result, you know that's not always going to be the case. When you learn to recognise your mistakes, then you know you're on the road to being better!

Chin up, Andy You want some vodka? I have a few bottles...

Haha thanks for the comments... I'll pass on the Vodka thanks mainly due to the fact I'm more a JD man myself

I think the results will look "good" to the people involved and tbh I got maybe 3 really great shots along with a dozen decent ones so I dont think it's a total disaster... however like you said I set myself high standards and if I fail to reach them it's disappointing.

I will definately learn from this experience and maybe not try to be too clever with the lighting set up for the home studio in future... it has it's limitations and I now fully understand what they are... next time I'll lower the strobes, get a good even exposure and worry about the backdrop later. After all its far easier to remove a backdrop than sort out bad lighting!

[ajax_andy]

Originally Posted by Bruce A

One thing that may help in these situations is to tether your camera to Lightroom (or another tether program) on your laptop as you shoot. That way you can make lighting & pose adjustments on the fly.

Its a great suggestion but I only have a desktop pc that's upstairs so it's not possible unfortunately.

However I will work something out as like you said it's a great way to view the lighting on the fly which would have saved me in this situation!

[SwissJon]

Maybe it's time to invest in a laptop, or move the desktop. And buy another flash.

If you want good results you need to invest in your gear.

[ajax_andy]

Originally Posted by SwissJon

Maybe it's time to invest in a laptop, or move the desktop. And buy another flash.

If you want good results you need to invest in your gear.

As much as i'd like to invest in more equipment I have bought the following things over the last 14 months:

Camera
Zoom Lens
Yongnou Flash Gun
Tripod
Softbox
2nd Yongnou Flash Gun - died and awaiting return
2 x Studio Light Stands
Flash Umbrella
Wireless Flash Triggers
16gb Flash Memory Card
Studio Backdrop Support Stand
White Muslin Studio Backdrop
Eneloop Rechargable Batteries x 16 + charger
Dell 2209WA LCD Monitor
f/1.4 5mm Prime lens
Tamron A16 SP AF17-50mm zoom lens
Nissin D1866 Mark ii speedlight
Canon LP-E5 Battery
High Speed 16gb SD Memory Card
Canon Laserjet Printer

I just dont think a laptop or another flash is an option at the moment.

[sk66]

I haven't done it myself, but I believe most current DSLR's can be connected directly to a monitor while shooting via HDMI cable. While this won't give you simultaneous transfer/edit capability like "tethered" does it would allow you to see the image much larger for critical evaluation....

I *think* you have to be in "live view" to see it before taking a picture, otherwise you will only see the image when "played back". Basically, attaching a monitor via HDMI tells the camera to use the external screen instead of the camera's built in screen.

As I said, I haven't done it myself but it might be worth a try. Of course, the specific HDMI cable required doesn't come with the camera....

[ajax_andy]

Originally Posted by sk66

I haven't done it myself, but I believe most current DSLR's can be connected directly to a monitor while shooting via HDMI cable. While this won't give you simultaneous transfer/edit capability like "tethered" does it would allow you to see the image much larger for critical evaluation....

I *think* you have to be in "live view" to see it before taking a picture, otherwise you will only see the image when "played back". Basically, attaching a monitor via HDMI tells the camera to use the external screen instead of the camera's built in screen.

As I said, I haven't done it myself but it might be worth a try. Of course, the specific HDMI cable required doesn't come with the camera....

That's a pretty good suggestion! I'll look in to it

[Liz Caldwell]

I'd be happy to try and see what I can do with them... I've encountered similar problems before when I was trying out green screen backdrops... It takes some time, but they might be save-able.