Need advice about lighting in a selfportrait

[zetson]

This selfportrait has given me a hard time the last 24H. I've been opening it and reviewed it many times, and I just cant figure what's wrong with the lighting.

In this photo I set up two bare strobes high behind me (camera left and right). In addition I had an translucent umbrella pointing slightly from above on camera left.

My questions are:

1) The rim and side light is over-exposed. Does it matter? Should I have lowered the output on the backlight flashes?

2) I wanted a hard-contrast look in this image, hence the bare strobes. I got a ugly vertical shadow on the right side of my face, which is is caused by the umbrella light and the right strobe.If I had placed the umbrella over the camera instead, the shadow wouldn't appear, but then I would loose the hard-contrast look on the face. Any suggestion on what I should've done? (If you look on the left side of my face, the light is very smooth and I suspect I would get the same light on the right side if I had centered the umbrella)



EXIF
Camera: Nikon D300
Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/8.0
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 200

[nicotine]

I don't think it looks that bad besides the slightly blown highlights on your right shoulder/arm. The lighting is very dramatic and contrasty.

[curmudgeon_01]

I like the placement of the strobes. I agree that you might have lowered their output slightly. The highlights are blown on your shoulder but other than that, a very nice shot.

[ttosifa]

Here's some nice reading on the subject of the overexposure.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobis...7603564949380/

[peeperita]

i'm thinking that if you stepped forward.......or angled your two high strobes back a tad.....to where the rim light was indeed that.....just skimming the hairline and back....you'd still keep your contrasted lighting that you like across your face....the vertical shadow now sweeps back all the way to your ear.......if that makes sense...

but that's just one guess.....

peeper

[ttosifa]

If you are talking about the vertical shadow around your left eye, I think it's because your umbrella is not big enough -- or it's not close enough to you. To make it a little less harsh, you need something that extends out farther, or you need to move your light closer in so that it is bigger relative to your face. You can also try a reflector.

[desaintlights]

did u measure using a light meter ?

what's the setting on your flash and which flash were u using ?

[zetson]

Thank you very much for your input.

ttosifa: The flickr link was useful. Thanks. The umbrella is 43 inches and it was pretty close to my face, about 40 cm. I should have moved closer to the camera. It would be interesting to take another shot at it.

desaintlights: I don't have a light meter. I only find the exposure and flash output by trial and error. The bare strobes was fired at 1/8 power and the umbrella strobe was at 1/16.

peeperita: Good tip. I'll try that if I make another shot.