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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Lighting Advice
Jesse Hutcheson, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Newport News | va | United States | Posted: 2:28 PM on 11.04.09 |
->> I would like some feedback on a recent group of staff shots I did. I shot using a 50D, 24-70 2.8 lens, and a dynalite kit.
The main strobe was camera left using a fairly cheap umbrella and the fill came from camera right using an umbrella AND bouncing off the ceiling.
Any suggestions on how to improve the lighting so that I am not getting the harsh glow on the face, the "coldness" of the image, and the fact they seem a bit flat.
http://www.sportsshooter.com/jhutchphotos/portraitlight/ |
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Tim Vizer, Photographer
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Belleville | IL | USA | Posted: 2:36 PM on 11.04.09 |
->> Hire new employees!
No, sorry, just kidding.....couldn't resist. |
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Jon Eilts, Photographer
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College Station | TX | USA | Posted: 2:53 PM on 11.04.09 |
->> You may want to add a hairlight.
Was the lighting moved for each shot? Only some of the subjects have catch-lights in their eyes. Also, the crease in the background is kinda distracting for me.
You may also want to have more of a defined key and fill light. The lighting looks almost too even for this. If you google image search "corporate headshot" you will see some examples of what I mean, adding more contrast to the photo so it is not as flat. |
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Jesse Hutcheson, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Newport News | va | United States | Posted: 3:08 PM on 11.04.09 |
| ->> what can be done about the harsh glare on the skin of the subjects? |
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Scott Bannick, Photographer
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Loveland | CO | United States | Posted: 3:20 PM on 11.04.09 |
->> I believe the harsh glare is a direct result in the size and position of the light source in relation to the subject.
Are you using a shoot through umbrella or are you reflecting the light off the inside?
Is the umbrella white or silver?
What size is the umbrella?
How far away is the umbrella away from your subject? |
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Mark Deckard, Photographer
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Findlay | OH | USA | Posted: 3:39 PM on 11.04.09 |
->> Harsh glow on the face: drop the power on the dynalites or use small flashes off camera. Using a shoot through umbrella (as opposed to reflective) or a softbox should also help.
Coldness of the image: use a slight warming filter on your main light, maybe a 1/4 or 1/2 CTO. You could also try setting the white balance on your camera to cloudy, which is a slightly warmer daylight setting.
Flatness of the images: I would lose the fill light and use a reflector on the shadow side instead. This might also darken the background a bit, making the crease less distracting. |
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Scott Bannick, Photographer
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Loveland | CO | United States | Posted: 3:52 PM on 11.04.09 |
->> In order to fix this I would do the following:
Stand in the location that your subject will be with the light in your hand. Place the light with a shoot through umbella at roughly a 45 degree angle one arms length away. Bring the umbrella up so that it is slightly above the subject shooting down.
Now have your subject turn there body slightly into the light and turn there head to look in the direction of the camera.
Once this is set up take a test shot and inspect the results. With this set up you are looking to see how the light wraps around the subject's face, does it feather nicely or is there a strong line separating the light from shadow side of the face. before you set up a second light make sure the main light is giving you the effect you want.
If the light seems too harsh move it in closer and or around the front in order to achieve the desired effect.
One problem that I noticed in your photos is that the fill light was as powerful and in some cases more so than your main light. I believe this is what is giving you the flat look to your lighting. It is also causing you to get hot spots on both sides of the subject's forehead. It also looks like the lights are placed in such a way that you are creating two main light sources from two different directions.
When you set up your fill keep in mind that you just want to lift the shadows a bit, not match the power from you key light. This will give you good detail on the shadow side of the face but still give a bit of depth and dimension.
I would place the fill light on the opposite side of the main light (in line with the main light) and set the power so that you are just lifting the shadows a bit until the desired result is reached. Or use a white reflector instead of the second light.
I hope this helps. |
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Tom Story, Photographer
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Tempe | AZ | USA | Posted: 4:04 PM on 11.04.09 |
->> My 2 cents:
Coldness: Use flash balance on the camera.
Harsh hot spots on first guy looks like oily skin.
Big big soft light, shoot thru will help. Have them wipe off their faces will help. Make up would be best. Or break out the layers and photoshop them into submission.
The rule of thumb is that a light modifier works best within it's size. So if you have a 30 inch umbrella, the sweet spot is 30 inches from the subject.
Scott gives you good advice. |
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Jesse Hutcheson, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Joe Morahan, Photographer
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Denver | Co | USA | Posted: 4:14 PM on 11.04.09 |
->> Jesse,
I bet you used a reflector in the umbrella....use a soft box if you want to get rid of the specular highlights. The light does not need to be moved forward or backward unless you want to change the ratio of the lighting.
The problem here is the quality of light...by that I mean specular vs. diffuse lighting. Try using diffuse lighting and that should get rid of the shiny skin.....
Also listen to Jon about the hair light. That should really make the subjects pop out-
And maybe use a higher ratio on your subjects. Move the fill light further away and one side of the face should get a deeper shadow and try playing with that |
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Robert Seale, Photographer
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Houston | TX | USA | Posted: 4:18 PM on 11.04.09 |
->> Jesse-
You're getting some interesting info here. Assuming you don't want a flat look (some people want that, and there's no right or wrong way to light someone....), try this:
They are flat because there is not enough of a ratio between your main light and your fill light. In a small room, you may not even need a fill light, you may just need one light, especially if your main light is being scattered all over the room from an open umbrella.
The shine on the faces is from the combination of a specular light source (silver lined umbrella), with human skin (which is oily). A large light source helps, but even then, shiny skin can happen.....that's when a makeup artist comes in with powder and can really help to fix the problem. Barring that, you may need to do some retouching. Lighting is often only one component of the whole shiny skin issue.....and it often has more to do with the model than the lighting modifier choice.
My suggestion: try the same shot with one umbrella, just slightly to the right or left of center, above the subject height, but low enough to see a catch-light in the eyes. Put the light as close as you can to the subject without it being in the picture. The bounce around the room from your umbrella is all the fill you need.
Try a warmer white balance setting (flash instead of daylight or auto), and that should help with the color problem. |
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Jesse Hutcheson, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Newport News | va | United States | Posted: 4:28 PM on 11.04.09 |
->> Again thanks guys,
Robert,
the b&h photo is a bad example, that umbrella actually ships white not silver. Would the white be doing the same thing the silver would?
And any suggestions anyone on a good softbox to invest in? |
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Aaron Rhoads, Photographer
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mccomb | ms | | Posted: 4:37 PM on 11.04.09 |
| ->> I've gotten good deals on softboxes from ebay. |
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Yamil Sued, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Peoria | AZ | USA | Posted: 5:08 PM on 11.04.09 |
->> I can send you some examples if you want. I'm into the classic Portrait Lighting styles I learned in the Basic Portraiture Class at Brooks back in the early 80's. Key, Fill with a 1:2 Ratio, Hair Light and Background Light.
I did hundreds of Executive Portraits while I worked at Motorola in the mid 90's. and I used the lighting setup I described above.
Lie others have said, your portraits lack ratio, and Hairlight, the background is distracting, you could have used either an interesting Muslin or a plain roll of Thunder Gray Seamless paper with a nice background light to separate the subject from the background.
The shininess, you can fix that, I always have some baby wipes on hand, towels and a little makeup, honestly, I have applied makeup to executive VPs and CEO's!!
It's hard to describe how I do it, but if you want, call me, I would be willing to share what I know.
I just taught 34 High School students the basics of Portraiture. |
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Michael McNamara, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Phoenix | AZ | USA | Posted: 5:20 PM on 11.04.09 |
->> Jesse,
If you're looking for a softbox to truly invest in, go with one of Gary Regester's Plume Wafer boxes. Yeah, they're not cheap, but if it's something that you'll get a lot of use out of and plan to keep for a long time, they are wonderful.
As for your question about coldness, another way to warm up your light is to put a 1/8th CTO gel on your strobes. |
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Jeff Martin, Photographer
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wellington | OH | usa | Posted: 5:56 PM on 11.04.09 |
->> " You may want to add a hairlight."
Especially for #1 and 4. |
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Robert Seale, Photographer
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Houston | TX | USA | Posted: 6:07 PM on 11.04.09 |
->> Jesse-
Plumes are nice...I'm a huge fan of them, but if money is an issue and you're already using unbrellas, you can try a Photek Softlighter, which is a 60" umbrella with a white diffusion cover.....they are 90 dollars and it gives you a softbox look at a much cheaper price. I use one on occasion, and there's a photo of it in use on this entry on my blog:
http://www.robertsealeblog.com/?p=276 |
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David Seelig, Photographer
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Hailey | ID | USA | Posted: 6:08 PM on 11.04.09 |
| ->> I have been told redwing and calumets illuma line are good cheap plume knockoffs. |
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Andrew Carpenean, Photographer
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Laramie | WY | USA | Posted: 7:22 PM on 11.04.09 |
->> An old portrait photographer in college told our class once to use a sheet of litmus paper to absorb oily skin from the face. This would come in handy for a female subject already wearing makeup. So in addition to moving the lights further back, reducing the power and changing camera settings, this might be an option.
Also, look at working with your backgrounds. Maybe vary colored seamless or a textured backdrop. Separate the subject from the backdrop with a color gel on a strobe behind the subject that may match their eyes or clothing.
Rembrandt lighting is always a classic look and an over the shoulder look for a female is alway feminine, just not for a guy. |
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Greg Foster, Photographer
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Atlanta | GA | | Posted: 7:59 PM on 11.04.09 |
| ->> I know you didn't ask for advice on posing and backgrounds...but, if you get the distracting line out of the left side of the background, maybe darken the background a little so that the subjects pop out a bit more, and get the subjects to lean more into the camera and turn their shoulders a little, I think you will see a big difference before you even change your lighting. |
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