Studio Lighting Set-up

[MindyRaeL]

I've been a "natural light" photographer for far too long now. I've had the gear, just not the courage or knowledge for off camera flash. I've been working pretty aggressively at learning to use it as fill flash (in TTL still) outdoors, and feel like I'm starting to get the hang of it. Next step, studio set up.
For this shot, I had an SB600 camera left, on manual at 1/32 power, diffused through a shoot through umbrella. I had a second SB600 on the floor right behind me, pointed at the backdrop, no diffusion, set at 1/16 power. The goal was to light my face evenly, and use the second SB600 to blow out the white background.
Sooo... did I do it right? I feel like the shadows are still a little hard. Also, I'm noticing this weird blue/purple fringe along the edges of my shirt. Is this from the angle of the background flash? My lens? My settings? I'm not sure what it is, and it's bugging me.

Aside from lighting, did I go overboard PPing my face? Because it's a picture of me, I'm way too picky about every bump and blemish, not that I'm self-conscious or anything. I tend to end up plastic-y though. Did I do that here?
Any other CC is welcome as well. Thanks so much for your thoughts!



Exif:
D7000
50mm
1/25 sec
f/2.8
ISO 400

[zona5101]

Nice work. Background light looks just right. I am surprised you got even lighting on the bg w/out a lot of flare w/just one light. Perhaps you cleaned it up in post. Overall I think you're a tad underexposed based on not a lot of detail in the blacks or shadow areas of the hair. If you hadn't have mentioned it, I wouldn't have guessed you were using an umbrella on the main. The shadow is crisper than I would have expected. How far away was the light from you? Maybe you can bring that distance in closer and get the light to wrap a bit more. ticky tacky comments really, cause I think this came out real nice.

[MindyRaeL]

Now that you mention it, I probably had it too far away. It was about 6 or 7 ft. away. I was so focused on the angle I didn't even think about distance. Duh.
For the background light, I really just kept playing with the angle over and over until I got it to light where I wanted. You can see in the left bottom corner it's a little grey, but all the edges are pretty grey in the uncropped version. It really only lit it up right behind me. I did struggle with flare. I just kept adjusting the angle until it didn't happen anymore. Would you suggest using 1 speedlite on either side pointed at the background, instead of just one? I tried to find diagrams and info on background lights, but didn't come up with much. I was pretty much winging it.
Thanks for your input!

[Madog]

Overall I like it. Agree with Zona on bringing the umbrella in. Color looks a bit warm in a rough square on your forehead on the (camera) right, idk tungsten ambient creeping in maybe?

[Multipara]

Looks great! I think that you could have used a bit more light on the right hand side though.

[scootermcq]

I agree with Bruce. The thing that really is troublesome for me is the soft focus. How did you do the focus for yourself? The other thing is why 2.8? Shooting in studio most people would normally use around f5.6-f11. Not only will you get a larger DOF removing focusing issues, but you will get into the sharper "sweet spot" of your lens. If you moved the light closer, it gets brighter and you would need a smaller aperture, but you might have to bump the light up too.

[scootermcq]

Originally Posted by MindyRaeL

I tried to find diagrams and info on background lights, but didn't come up with much. I was pretty much winging it.
Thanks for your input!

Zack has a great tutorial that might help you out.

I've moved the blog –> zackarias.com/blog White Seamless Tutorial :: Part 1 :: Gear & Space

[RLucas]

Originally Posted by scootermcq

I agree with Bruce. The thing that really is troublesome for me is the soft focus. How did you do the focus for yourself? The other thing is why 2.8? Shooting in studio most people would normally use around f5.6-f11. Not only will you get a larger DOF removing focusing issues, but you will get into the sharper "sweet spot" of your lens. If you moved the light closer, it gets brighter and you would need a smaller aperture, but you might have to bump the light up too.

Agreed. Stopping down would also get rid of some of that fringe as well.
I like the angle and the placement that you set the lights. I would not add any more light to the shadow side. I like the dimensionality that the shadows give. I am also torn between moving the lights in, or just trying to bump up the power. I am kind of drawn to the little bit of hardness of the lighting.

[MindyRaeL]

Thanks for the tutorial, Scott. That helps clear things up a bit. I also just got to the portrait section of Light: Science and Magic, and that helps a bit too.
As for focusing, I had it set on a single AF point, and kept moving it around to where I "thought" my face would be. Not exactly the most accurate, but I couldn't find anything to stand in at the moment. I normally use my son's huge stuffed Elmo, but he was sleeping with it at the moment. I thought about stealing it out of the crib, but that would've just been wrong. Maybe.
I had it set at 2.8 because, well, I'm not really sure why. That's just where I tend to put it and leave it to get the fastest shutter speed possible. I had a fair amount of ambient light that I didn't want in, so I thought faster shutter speed = less ambient light. But I suppose that only matters if your background isn't lit by flash as well? I guess a slower shutter speed would be okay, since flash freezes motion anyway, and the entire scene is lit by flash and not ambient? Do I understand that right?

Lucas - Thanks so much. I don't know that I necessarily mind the harder shadows in this particular image either. Unfortunately, it was really the look I was going for. A happy accident maybe? I think once I understand classic studio lighting, I'll be able to play more with harder shadows and all that fun stuff.

Well, it looks like I need to study up a little more, re-think my set up, and try the whole thing over again. Thanks so much everyone for your input. I'll be using all of it in my next attempt.

[RLucas]

Originally Posted by MindyRaeL

Thanks for the tutorial, Scott. That helps clear things up a bit. I also just got to the portrait section of Light: Science and Magic, and that helps a bit too.
As for focusing, I had it set on a single AF point, and kept moving it around to where I "thought" my face would be. Not exactly the most accurate, but I couldn't find anything to stand in at the moment. I normally use my son's huge stuffed Elmo, but he was sleeping with it at the moment. I thought about stealing it out of the crib, but that would've just been wrong. Maybe.
I had it set at 2.8 because, well, I'm not really sure why. That's just where I tend to put it and leave it to get the fastest shutter speed possible. I had a fair amount of ambient light that I didn't want in, so I thought faster shutter speed = less ambient light. But I suppose that only matters if your background isn't lit by flash as well? I guess a slower shutter speed would be okay, since flash freezes motion anyway, and the entire scene is lit by flash and not ambient? Do I understand that right?

Lucas - Thanks so much. I don't know that I necessarily mind the harder shadows in this particular image either. Unfortunately, it was really the look I was going for. A happy accident maybe? I think once I understand classic studio lighting, I'll be able to play more with harder shadows and all that fun stuff.

Well, it looks like I need to study up a little more, re-think my set up, and try the whole thing over again. Thanks so much everyone for your input. I'll be using all of it in my next attempt.

No problem!
On the focusing bit. I have found that taking the camera off the tripod, taking it to the location of where you are posing, focusing on the ball/pan head of the tripod, and switching it to MF to keep it from moving, works much better for me than having a proxy model. Stopping down helps too. It gives you a little more breathing room. Still, I think you did very well here!