Homemade flash/brolli setup - Question

[cyberlord]

I've been enjoying my time off these last few days, but annoying the wife with my running around and rearranging furniture and leaving my "junk" all over the place.

Here is the setup from a couple angles.






Here is the brolli adjusted to length so my flash head fills the brolly with no spillover.



And here are a couple test shots, the first with no fill, or only the wall as fill as it did provide a lot of reflected light. The second is with a cardboard reflector aimed to reflect the flash to my face.





The light is a little harsh still I think, so I'm going to make a foamcore softbox with nylon diffuser and try again. I'll be bare bulbing the flash head in the softbox when I do it.


OK, on to my question, is the brolli to high?
It's apx 45 deg between me and the camera and the shaft is pointing right at my face, but I'd like to know if I have it too high or not. The Camera is eyelevel for reference. I know the setup shots are bad, but there is no room in the corner to get a better angle.

Thanks,

Tim

[Asylum Steve]

OK, on to my question, is the brolli to high?...

First of all, for those of you raised on this side of the Big Pond, a brolly is an umbrella. Or, to paraphrase the delightfully British definition, "a lightweight handheld collapsible canopy"...

Tim, there's no exact answer to your question. Different positions of any of your lights wil simply give you different results. That's not automatically good or bad. It's what you see in the picture that counts.

Personally, I prefer a high key light (which is why ceiling height is such a precious comodity for a studio space), BUT it has to either be fairly soft or balanced with a fill, or the shadows may be a bit funky over the subject's face.

IMO, what you show here is fine, and very traditional. And therein lies the trade-off. Much of the time a more stylish (or stylized) image is created when you move away from the "formulas"...

[cyberlord]

Thanks Steve.

BTW, how did you know which side of the pond I was raised on? You are right of course. Lived over there the first 14 years of my life. Old habits are hard to break. I miss puddle jumping with my brolli and wellies.

Tim

[Asylum Steve]

BTW, how did you know which side of the pond I was raised on?...

By your use of the Queen's English, of course...

Actually, I thought you might be an Aussie. Dey tawk funny down dere, too...

[Alison]

SP's are not easy to do and you have done fantastic job!
I don't think your lighting is harsh at all. I do prefer the lighting in your second shot though.

[cyberlord]

Thanks Alison, I think I like that lighting better also. The wall was only a little further away, but the angle was wrong for reflection.

I plug away at it as time allows. Back to the grind stone these days and doesn't leave much time for play.

6 years to retirement. *dance* :yesnod: :23: