got me some lights and umbrellas for christmas....

[kntrygurl]

my husband suprised me with two light stands with umbrellas and a backdrop.
here are the first pics i have taken with it.
i know they are not the best in the world as i am learnin, but any help with what i done wrong would be greatly appreciated.

here is the first with the black background.


and here is the first with the white background

[DMan]

I like them both, cute kid

In the first picture, I feel like the kid and background kind of blend in, your subject should "pop" a little more from the background IMO. I'm not an off-camera lighting expert so I can't recall the way to do this, but I'm sure someone will mention it soon.

The colors in the second picture look a bit washed out to me, but what I really notice is that the backdrop has wrinkles in it; that kind of draws my attention away from the subject, which isn't good. Try moving your subject farther away from the backdrop, but keep the lights close to him so that the light will fall off quicker and the backdrop won't be as well-lit. Or, you could fire a strobe directly at the backdrop and blow it out. Either way, try to make those wrinkles and creases disappear.

Other than that, good job! Before too long, you'll be a pro at off-camera lighting.

[kntrygurl]

Originally Posted by DMan

I like them both, cute kid

In the first picture, I feel like the kid and background kind of blend in, your subject should "pop" a little more from the background IMO. I'm not an off-camera lighting expert so I can't recall the way to do this, but I'm sure someone will mention it soon.

The colors in the second picture look a bit washed out to me, but what I really notice is that the backdrop has wrinkles in it; that kind of draws my attention away from the subject, which isn't good. Try moving your subject farther away from the backdrop, but keep the lights close to him so that the light will fall off quicker and the backdrop won't be as well-lit. Or, you could fire a strobe directly at the backdrop and blow it out. Either way, try to make those wrinkles and creases disappear.

Other than that, good job! Before too long, you'll be a pro at off-camera lighting.

thank you so much, for the advice and the comment on my son.

in the light set up that i got it came with a background light, but it was backodered. when i get that in i might be able to make the subject stand out a lil more.

if i move him from the backdrop, then i won't be able to get the full body like i did. lol the muslin that came with the package is short. and i got lucky to get those lights so i don't dare ask for more, at least for a few weeks anyways. lol

[lissykeeper]

First of all, I really like the fact that your son is wearing his camo cap underneath the santa hat. That is too cute!

I really like the expsure on the black background. but because of the bill of the cap, he has some shadows on his face. Try using something to reflect light back up to his face. I use a card windshield thing that is silver as a reflector, or you could use white matboard.

With the one on white, it is a little tougher. The exposure on your son looks pretty good, but I think the ballons caused some odd shadows on your background. Between those and the wrinkles in the background, it is really distracting to me. I really like the high key look on white backgrounds, so my suggestion would be to pull him away from the background and light it seperatly to intentionally blow it out. You could use the reflecter idea again here on the off side of the other light to light your son. OldWolf posted this link in another thread about backgounds.
http://www.zarias.com/?p=71 He has a lot of really geat stuff in there. And some awesome images too! I look forward to seeing more of your lighting efforts!

[kntrygurl]

Originally Posted by lissykeeper

First of all, I really like the fact that your son is wearing his camo cap underneath the santa hat. That is too cute!

I really like the expsure on the black background. but because of the bill of the cap, he has some shadows on his face. Try using something to reflect light back up to his face. I use a card windshield thing that is silver as a reflector, or you could use white matboard.

With the one on white, it is a little tougher. The exposure on your son looks pretty good, but I think the ballons caused some odd shadows on your background. Between those and the wrinkles in the background, it is really distracting to me. I really like the high key look on white backgrounds, so my suggestion would be to pull him away from the background and light it seperatly to intentionally blow it out. You could use the reflecter idea again here on the off side of the other light to light your son. OldWolf posted this link in another thread about backgounds.
http://www.zarias.com/?p=71 He has a lot of really geat stuff in there. And some awesome images too! I look forward to seeing more of your lighting efforts!

thank you. the only way i could get him to wear the santa hat was to wear his hat underneath. BOYS!!! LOL!!!!

maybe because its late and i can't think of anything at the moment - but in the black background; how would i reflect light back to his face. i don't have a table/stand for him to sit on. he was on the floor with the present in front. do i just lay it on the floor? but if i did that then how would the light bounce back up to him? yeah you can tell i am new to this.

as for the white - i knew better to even try. but i did anyway. i read on here that it is very hard to shoot on white. and i know exactly what you mean about the shadows and wrinkles. they catch my eye everytime, then his smile gets me and i keep the photo everytime. i guess thats the mom in me.

i'm not givin up on the white backgrounds. i just have to spend more time readin up on do's and don'ts

[DMan]

Do you have a program like Photoshop Elements or even GIMP (which is free)? I wonder if you could use the clone tool to fix the wrinkles a bit. I certainly understand the problem about not having a large enough backdrop to have him farther away from it. I think you might be able to do a few things in post-production to fix the shot.

Good deal about getting the background light. I think that's the key to fixing the second picture--you need some lighting on that background to take away some of the shadows and possibly help with the wrinkle issue.

[kntrygurl]

Originally Posted by DMan

Do you have a program like Photoshop Elements or even GIMP (which is free)? I wonder if you could use the clone tool to fix the wrinkles a bit. I certainly understand the problem about not having a large enough backdrop to have him farther away from it. I think you might be able to do a few things in post-production to fix the shot.

Good deal about getting the background light. I think that's the key to fixing the second picture--you need some lighting on that background to take away some of the shadows and possibly help with the wrinkle issue.

i downloaded the free trial to photoshop to see if i could figure it out before i bought it; and well now it seems like i am goin to have to get me a job to keep up with my wants for my photography obsession. lol

as soon as i get the money i am goin to buy photoshop - i have been using for about a week now and I LOVE IT!!! thats what i used to add the lil pic in the first pic and put the lil border around it to give a lil something.

[DMan]

You might look at GIMP and see if it'll do what you want for now, it's free and works pretty well. I personally use Photoshop Elements (it's about $70) and it does many of the same things Photoshop does too. PS is of course the gold standard, but if you're just starting out, don't feel like you have to go out and buy it right away.

[JoesPhotos]

OT, if you love Photoshop, try Gimp www.gimp.org before you buy PS. Gimp is free and does 90% of what PS does. and www.gimpguru.org for tutorials.

[kntrygurl]

Originally Posted by JoesPhotos

OT, if you love Photoshop, try Gimp www.gimp.org before you buy PS. Gimp is free and does 90% of what PS does. and www.gimpguru.org for tutorials.

i tried gimp before the photoshop download, and i could figure anything out on it. i looked for tutorials in gimp and found a few, but i still could get the hang of it.

i have been playin with the photoshop and after about a day i understood it way better than gimp. i still have alot to learn - but i can make it do what i want for now.

so i will be buyin it in about a month when my free trial runs out.