asking for tips

[raihan_malik1]

<p>Hi Everyone,<br>

I just got these new pairs of strobes (with 2 umbrellas, 400w each). This is a self portrait. I put one light right in front of me next to the camera which was stand 5 feet away, second light was positioned on my left in 2 feet, none of them were umbrella mounted. I failed to achieve the effect I was looking for. I was trying to make the backgraound complete dark, only my whole body is illuminating in a dark background but can't get it. Can anyone please explain how can I achieve that?<br>

FYI, Nikon d90 used, 2 strobes (400w heads, no umbrealla, power was lowest level at 12 out of 200) exposure 1/160, f4.5, ISO below 200.<br>

Hope to hear from you soon. Thanks in advance. Raihan.</p><div></div>

[Matt Laur]

<p>First, when it comes to discussing lighting techniques, you rarely need to post the full-resolution image to threads like these. If you down-sample so that the image no more than 700 pixels on the longest side, the image will appear in-line in the thread, and aid in the conversation and the bandwidth people need to see it.<br /><br />About your background: move it farther away from you. Light falls off at the square of the distance. Even moving it a few feet more will make a huge difference. Other than that ... umbrellas tend to throw light everywhere - so you might want to look at softboxes with grids, or use some dark foamcore or other material as flags to keep spill from the backdrop. Mostly, though, just let the distance work for you. That might require you to also move the camera back a bit, and use a longer focal length so that you don't need a larger backdrop to allow it to still fill the frame.</p>

[raihan_malik1]

<p>Thanks Matt. Sure I'l lower the size of my images next time. I was already 4 feet away from the bground, so I'l try to make it 6 feet n see how it works. For the grided softbox, you mean just one sbox or i need two? Or its like one softbox in one side n the other with umbrella? Can burndoor be any help?</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>Well, the light that's coming from the camera position (used as fill) is going to throw light past you onto the backdrop, no matter what you do. A grid there won't help, except to the extent that it prevents light from, say, hitting the ceiling and walls, and bouncing onto the backdrop.<br /><br />The key light (the one that's off-axis from the camera) may benefit from something like barn doors - that's why I suggested using a flag. That could literally be a piece of dark cloth hanging from something, or a sheet of cardboard or foamcore, or thin plywood spray painted black ... anything to help keep the spill under control. But the need for all of that drops dramatically as you increase the distance between the subject and the backdrop. As long as the whole room isn't being brightly lit, the light reflecting from the backdrop will drop enormously as the distance increases.</p>

[almorrisphotography]

<p>Matt +1. Also go to strobist.com and look at lighting 101.</p>

[mike_godwin1]

<p>Get a copy of "Light: the Science and Magic". It will help a lot..</p>

[george_ghio]

<p>Yes, as pointed out a greater distance from backdrop is a good idea.<br /> Cramped for space? You can't go past Black velvet for a black background.</p>

[raihan_malik1]

<p>Once again Thanks to everyone for their advice.</p>

[b_christopher]

<p>You can change the brightness of the background by using the inverse square law, as others mentioned. Depending on space limitations, available modifier choices, required lighting effects, etc., you can move the background farther from the subject, or move the lights closer to the subject; the inverse square law still applies. A simple explanation and technique, <a href="http://photofocus.com/2009/06/04/understanding-light-falloff-the-inverse-square-law/">here</a>.</p>

[chinh_nguyen]

<p>yes, you need at least 4 or 5 feet from background. second, raise the umbrella up higher and feather the light that will help. and play with the setting and shoot it smaller aperture with low ISO </p>