Brother and sister

[peter]

I took these yesterday for my sister they are her grandchildren. I sort of messed up with the backgrounds and had more trouble blowing out the background then I should have. Oh well we live and learn I hope.

[Ian]

Re: Brother and sister

These are your sister's grand children?

I think the mono one works best. What was your se?

Ian

[peter]

Re: Brother and sister

These are your sister's grand children?

I think the mono one works best. What was your se?

Ian

Yes grandchildren and she does not look a day over 48. I am the baby of the family at 40 very soon to be 41. My sister is next in line then it is mo at well that's for him to say. I then have a older brother who is 64 so as you can see we are spaced out a bit.

As for the set up well its a small set of Portaflash lights from jessops which I have now had for almost a year but not really played with. I think they have only been out of the box a few times so as you can see I have lots to learn. The background was a double bed sheet blue tacked to the wall and a small rug on the floor. The camera was set at f11 and shutter speed was 1/160 to 1/200. I think this is how I went wrong I should have maybe gone f5.6 or so. I really wanted to blow out the background but this did not really go as to plan and I had to use the dodge and burn tools in photoshop. Like I said before I really need to use these lights more and find out how to get the best out of them.

[Stephen]

Re: Brother and sister

Yes grandchildren and she does not look a day over 48. I am the baby of the family at 40 very soon to be 41. My sister is next in line then it is mo at well that's for him to say. I then have a older brother who is 64 so as you can see we are spaced out a bit.

As for the set up well its a small set of Portaflash lights from jessops which I have now had for almost a year but not really played with. I think they have only been out of the box a few times so as you can see I have lots to learn. The background was a double bed sheet blue tacked to the wall and a small rug on the floor. The camera was set at f11 and shutter speed was 1/160 to 1/200. I think this is how I went wrong I should have maybe gone f5.6 or so. I really wanted to blow out the background but this did not really go as to plan and I had to use the dodge and burn tools in photoshop. Like I said before I really need to use these lights more and find out how to get the best out of them.

Peter, you have not done too bad for a first attempt. However lets forget the artistic interpretation (poses) for the moment and concentrate on the technicalities for the moment. In such situations its common to go for a so called high key effect. The background needs to be 1/2-1 stop higher than the foreground, and a flashmeter helps with this. The reason is that because of flash drop of unless you light the background it comes out greyish and not white. However don't worry if its not perfect, as you can usually make it better by using the white picker tool in Curves or Levels.

I also tend to overexpose the foreground a little too which can help with the High Key effect, but you will have to experiment with that. With some of your shots I feel you have given the B/G too much and its bleeding onto the foreground

What you need to remember when using studio flash, is that aperture is more important than shutter speed. A flashmeter will give a reading as an aperture value and frankly up to a point the shutter speed could be anything, esp if you were shooting in an environment with no ambient light. However mostly I'd say 1/60s to 1/125s will do perfectly well. The thing is though that you must be on Manual and there is no need to use the camera meter, as the flash is doing all the work. The flash duration is so fast that as long as the shutter opens and you have the correct aperture value for the light output, the shot will be exposed correctly.

I have some shots here http://dpnow.com/galleries/showgallery.php/cat/810 that were done in this way Iirc it was a 4 light setup, but you could probably get away with 3

[Barr1e]

Re: Brother and sister

Hi Stephen -

Mothercare or ELC?

Regards. Barr1e

[Barr1e]

Re: Brother and sister

Hi Peter -

This artwork belongs to tMM (the MusicMan) over on the sister sites - www.fourthirds-user.com and www.e-group.uk.net and I feel sure he won't mind me sharing it with you.



Regards. Barr1e

[Stephen]

Re: Brother and sister

Spot on, that setup will do the trick no problem. The thing is balancing each light with the correct output. If you can't control the lights you will have to move them nearer or further away from what you are trying to light

[Stephen]

Re: Brother and sister

Hi Stephen -

Mothercare or ELC?

Regards. Barr1e

Haha, if only I did these for my nephew and niece whose kids they are

[peter]

Re: Brother and sister

Ok thanks guys for the replies. Thanks Barrie for the set up pictures I think they will help a lot. Stephen I only have two brolly lights but I do have a flash unit the 580ex model. I can use this off camera ie with a cable so how would you advise use the above setup. I did not use the 580 this weekend so I look forward to your advise.

Oh and I have just looked at your photos Stephen thats just the sort of affect I was after.

Thanks and waiting your replies

[mib2]

Re: Brother and sister

Hi All

Great first attempt and a great follow up thread.

I would like to purchase a flash set up anyone got any thoughts.

Dave R

[Stephen]

Re: Brother and sister

Ok thanks guys for the replies. Thanks Barrie for the set up pictures I think they will help a lot. Stephen I only have two brolly lights but I do have a flash unit the 580ex model. I can use this off camera ie with a cable so how would you advise use the above setup. I did not use the 580 this weekend so I look forward to your advise.

Oh and I have just looked at your photos Stephen thats just the sort of affect I was after.

Thanks and waiting your replies

I'm not entirely sure whether your 580 will sync with your Portaflash. However if set to Manual and used as the master flash, the slaves on the Portaflash may fire so its got to be worth a go

[peter]

Re: Brother and sister

Hi Stephen

I have tried it with the 580 as the master and it does seem to fire the main lights so I will try this set up at the weekend. The good thing is I will have the house to myself on Saturday so no one will see the teddy bear model well he will stay put and not moan about how long it is taking then want to go out and play with his mates. Oh and its not mine it's the wife's honest