looking for help

[MJS]

Let me know what you think on the following shots. Both shot on Nikon D70. These were just test shots to check on light placement. F8, 1/320 second. Auto white balance. Two Alien Bee 1600 into 48" silver umbrellas. Keylight about 8 feet up on 45 degrees to subject. Fill light at F4. Test one fill was elevated at about 7 feet, just to right of camera position. Test two had light same position but on eyelevel with subject. There was a small pocket strobe slaved to hit the background. The actual subjects will be wearing black formal wear while playing their instruments. All repro will be done in B/W.

1. What about light positioning.
2. Can I go down to 5.6 and still keep enough DOF, so the wrinkles are soft on the BG
3. What would you suggest for a background exposure, next time I'll use a manual strobe that I can dial up or down.
4. Do you think this type of shot needs a hairlight.

Thanks for the help. I begin shooting on Monday and need to make the changes.

[Clemmie]

Looking for help - and came to the right place. Surprised you haven't had some before now - these guys must be getting lazy.

Of the two, I prefer the second one - It's just friendlier overall. Number one has a nice dramatic effect - the cutting of the eyes - but left me thinking "What if they locked in that position? Poor girl...."

I think the overall lighting balance 'works', and the shadowing of the face works well. I would try this with the mains cranked down lower - probably more like eye level - to reduce the shadow under her chin, which is a bit much. This might serve to lighten the shadow on her left hand as well. As an alternative, if you have an additional 'pocket slave' available, you might try placing it on the floor to your right - not close enough to dramatically shift the overall lighting balance, but just to soften the neck and hand shadowing.

Your 'pocket slave' did just fine as is on the background exposure (and I'm glad to see that, as I just ordered a set of them yesterday, with exactly this usage in mind). Seeing the comparison between sharp and blurred, I vote for blurring the background. If you were using a background depicting a scene, sharpen it to the hilt - but for solid neutral colors, blur em all you can.

This shot doesn't necessarily 'have' to have a hair light - but any young lady with beautiful hair can certainly benefit from one, properly used. Something to experiment with on the next round.

[MJS]

Thanks for the help. I'm actually thinking of adding a pair of the 400's as a background and hairlight kit.

Michael

[Rere15]

Hi,
I like the number one photo, couldn't see the second one.
You said you use the 1600 Alien Bee monolights, what wattage are the 1600?
I'm still working with my D 70 and monolights. Do you need a background light besides two monolight to keep the background from going darker, or can you eliminate unwanted shadows and keep a fairly light background with only the two lights-is this asking for too much?
Thanks for any help
Rere

[MJS]

I had one of my pocket flashes on a small stand behind the talent pointing at the background. I triggered the light and measured the light to the f/stop that I wanted, I think it was 4. Sometimes I will also put another small flash on a stand and point it down at the back of the talent's head to bring them out from the background,