View Full Version : Need a suggestion on lighting, posted pic


kitt2121
03-09-2004, 06:21 PM
I have a few problems with this picture, it's do able but the face is very pale and the background is a light tan, but in the picture, looks a washed out gray.
I'm obviously doing something wrong but I cannot tell.
Here are the specs on the lights:
A Master/Slave Flash
A Slave Flash
7 ft Light Stands
Two 32" umbrellas (Silver/White)
The Master strobe has a guide number of 55 (Main light) and the slave strobe 42 (Fill light).

The picture was taken with a Canon Rebel Digital at ISO 100 1/60 and f6.3.

Should the I position my lights differently to get a more colorful background and face color.
My lights are positioned on either side of me. main at 45 degrees and fill closer to me on my left.
What would be the fix for this.

Peter_AUS
03-09-2004, 10:30 PM
Basically what fixes all digital images is correct white balance. So you need to have a grey 18% card, take an image of that with the same lighting hitting it, close up to fill your viewfinder. Then use that to as your custom white balance for the images taken after that with the same lighting setup. then you might get a better result than you are getting. Gee the image is small, post the image a bit bigger so others can see it better, please.

dsl712
03-10-2004, 07:02 AM
Peter handled the white balance issue so I will talk a bit about the lighting.

The lighting is way too flat. The cute face looks two dimensional. Your main and fill ratios are too close together. There are no shadows on the face letting me know this is a three dimensional object. Lower the power of the fill light.

Dennis

kitt2121
03-10-2004, 12:18 PM
Is there any other way?

Peter handled the white balance issue so I will talk a bit about the lighting.

The lighting is way too flat. The cute face looks two dimensional. Your main and fill ratios are too close together. There are no shadows on the face letting me know this is a three dimensional object. Lower the power of the fill light.

Dennis

dsl712
03-10-2004, 05:26 PM
The easiest thing to do is move the light source back. But keep in mind that as the light source moves farther back it becomes a harder light.

Another thing is to turn the flash around, away from the subject, and bounce the flash into something white; umbrella, white board, wall, etc. This will weaken the intensity of light and give it some softness too.

Good luck,

Dennis