Brawn

[daq7]

Ok, with no available light but the flashes, I think I finally managed to get a somewhat smooth and flattering light. I am still having probs with basic exposure. I have to bump this up about 2.5 stops in raw to get a decent exposure. Not exactly sure why.

[EOSThree]

What mode are you shooting in on your camera? The different modes fire the flash differently, Photonotes on Flash. I mostly shoot in AV mode as that works best for me on landscapes. but it's M whenever I use flash.

[Don Schaeffer]

Neat picture. You grabbed it at a time when much personality was revealed.

[Shebang]

The lighting on your face is way improved. The hotspot on the couch is distracting, and your black t-shirt has no detail - well very little, anyway - that's a nitpick though.

[daq7]

I was shooting in aperature priority mode. The camera was in evaluative metering. It is kind of hard to meter these self portraits manually, but I think I could probably do it. It is a bit of a problem that the shirt is under exposed, but probably not surprising. The light on the right was a strobe with a sto-fen diffuser aimed at a sheet to reflect back on me. The strobe on the camera had a white plastic shopping bag over it. Over-all I am getting closer to controlling the light, but need to figure out exosoure.

I am getting a cord and some light stands, so soon I will be able to have both speedlites off camera which will help me get a bit more directional control over the main light.

[BlueRob]

Personally I think you went from A to Z with the lighting...comparing your last shots with this one Daq.
The previous ones you had a harsh highlight/shadow play which I like and personally think compliments well the mood on your pics...maybe a little overdone but the idea was good IMO.
On this shot for me the light is too flat....I might suggest to merge both styles of light to end up with something in between...sorry for the lack of technical terms but I have no clue about studio lighting and gadgets related.

[daq7]

Yeah, the light is a bit too even I guess. But I was trying for that. In my next experiment I will try to ratio them better to get some more darkness, or less uniformity at least.