Indoor lighting

[Nicole123]

I am having terrible issues with lighting. I hate taking indoor pics because I just can’t seem to figure it out. My subject, being a year old, is never at a constant distance from the bg nor the lighting itself. I have 3 lights total, 2 with umbrellas. The umbrella lights I put equal distance on each side of her. I put the 3rd light directly in front of her, but reflecting off of a large piece of white poster board. I have tried putting the lights in all different positions, but I can’t figure out how to keep that harsh shadow from showing behind her. Now, I am using the auto portrait mode for these pics, because when I’m taking them, I want to make sure something turns out decent…I have been playing with manual modes, but not that good yet. I would think that the auto mode would turn out a great pic…but that’s certainly not the case. You can see the color is terrible…the bg is supposed to be white! Obviously I also realize it’s probably not the auto mode making the pics terrible, but the user. I’m sure I’m doing something wrong with the lights to make this happen.
How do I keep this terrible shadow out from behind her? Where should I be placing my lights?

[smc1377]

One option would be to use two lights to light up your background and then use your third light with a large softbox. The two background lights will eliminate or reduce your shadows and then a big softbox up close will reduce harsh shadows.

[Chip]

I'm certainly no expert on lighting, but it seems that your center light is overpowering your 2 side lights. Any way to either move the center light back, bounce it off the ceiling, or power it down? If I'm off with these suggestions, I'm hopeful that someone will correct me.

For the color, the white balance seems to be off. Can you shoot in RAW and adjust the WB in post? If not, just take test shots without a toddler and adjust the WB until the wall is white, or do a custom WB for that particular set up.

[Saralonde]

Moving your subject farther away from the background will help, too.

[JoesPhotos]

If you can't get her to stand still long enough for test shots. Hang her outfit from a hanger and hang it from a chair, or have someone hold it. And shoot away. Still wishing you would post EFIX data so we could investigate future. If you don't have a Flickr account might as well get one. Click on my link below & create your own account.