New photog working on portrait lighting

[tjh_images]

Hello all I am working on portrait lighting and would like some input on this self portrait. Here is the info, just using

lights available without the shades there was one camera left, a white reflector low camera right and an SB-600 strobe

in the back. I know the background isn't great but just working and trying to get lighting at this point. I travel a lot and

my camera comes with all the time. this was done in a hotel room using the lights available. Any suggestions or help

would be great so I can improve.

 

Tim

[tjh_images]

Here is the photo

[b_christopher]

<p>Lighting(even when narrowed down to portraits) is a very broad topic. Do you have a specific question? The best place to start learning portrait lighting is "Classic Portrait Lighting Patterns." FYI, they are: Loop, Paramount(aka butterfly), Rembrandt, and the Split. Each of the patterns require proper location of lights to produce. Detailed information on such lighting patterns and related techniques are readily available on the net or in books. Other essential topics which portraitists consider in lighting are: light ratio and light quality(specular/diffuse.) The attached photo is a good picture.</p>

[starvy]

<p>Hi Tim,</p>

<p>I think you have too much light. Think of lighting from both sides but nothing in the background as long as you have some distance from the back wall. Use this as a starter setup and then see what you wish to add to this.</p>

 

[Tim_Lookingbill]

<p>White balance will have to be fixed before you adjust exposure and lighting arrangement especially when shooting jpegs. Fixing WB will give you a bit more headroom with overall luminance. Your skin is way too pinky orange and is almost showing clipping in the red channel.</p>

<p>You might want to pull back from the lens to allow some background to show.</p>

[awilliamsphoto]

<p>Hello Tim -</p>

<p>My first thought when I viewed your image was, "why didn't he use the SB-600 as a main light source?" I believe that you would have had far better control over your light using the SB-600 as a key light. It appears you tried to use your on camera flash instead, which resulted in a very flat image. Color balance is also very important, and was pretty far off in your original image. It looks like your white balance was set to "Cool White Fluorescent" (3900 - 4500 K), but your main light source(s) look like a mixture of on camera flash (5600 K) and tungsten lamp light (2950 - 3200 K). Mixing light sources, especially on skin tones, is rarely a good approach.</p>

<p>As I stated previously - I would have moved away from the ambient light and used the SB-600 as the primary light source. Try and place the light so it brings depth to the image; perhaps slightly above eye level to camera left. Achieve a larger (therefore softer) light source by bouncing the flash off another surface (like a wall to camera left). Your white reflector could be used for fill to camera right, but you don't want to entirely eliminate the shadows.</p>

<p>The composition and pose also seem a little unusual to me; it's as if your camera was propped on a tabletop, and you were forced to lean your head over to get everything in frame. I wouldn't be afraid to place the crown of the head slightly out of frame, and would add more visual weight to one side.</p>

<p>Hope this is of some help to you.</p>

<p><a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i937.photobucket.com/albums/ad220/themodernportrait/Huseby_portraitimg.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a></p>

<p> </p>

[tjh_images]

Thanks for the comments, I did not use the on camera flash at all. The lights were fluorescent, the light source to camera

left was higher than me but only by a foot and a half. Anthony yes the camera was on a table, I forgot my tripod when I

ran out the door to work. I didn't really care about the pose I was trying lighting, I had just finished reading some of light,

the science and magic and just wanted to do something.

 

Tim

[steve_levine]

<p>Research the term "short" lighting. It is the technique which uses light upon the "away" side of the face. So the side towards the lens falls in shadow.It's opposite is broad lighting, and apparently you've already mastered it.</p>

[mariosforsos]

<p>You would do well to take a look at the strobist website (<a href="http://www.strobist.com">www.strobist.com</a>) and there you will find the small-light mantra: expose for your ambient (that is the room you're in), take it a couple of stops down and THEN light your subject with your flash. That way you will create a highly dramatic shot that will tramp everything...;-)</p>