I took this photo in my room using two construction lights I have. I recently ordered a new light set with 3 flashes and a soft box and umbrela to be able to take better photos, but would love it if you could give me pointers for when those get here.

Please help me with the lighting on this photo. I used two construction lights I have at home.

I recently ordered 3 flash units with a soft box and two umbrellas to able to have more

control, but I would love some pointers for the future in terms of positioning please. Thanks.

With the new lights, there will be added softness, so that will help with female models, but the only thing you will want to add is a separation light coming from behind, and above the model's head. This will separate her hair from the background. In this shot, I would put it more on the right side (behind her left side).

Not a bad start...and not bad for using crude lighting. As for advice, you will definitely find that the professional lights give you better results. As the picture is now, the lights are too harsh and need to be softened up with some sort of diffuser...the softboxes will take care of this. The positioning is just about right...maybe just a bit higher and more left...just personal preference though. On another note, consider not exposing the full width of the models left arm to the camera...this is unflattering and makes even the thinnest models appear heavy...posing models, especially beginners, is the most difficult part of portraiture. Sometimes what appears to feel awkward and unnatural is often more flattering in the final shot...on this pose I would recommend the left shoulder a bit more open and down so that the camera see her arm at its thinnest cross-section...anyway, just food for thought...I think you're in the ball park either way...just some refinements. I can't wait to see your work with the professional lighting.

Not bad for construction lights! If you are shooting digital you could forgo strobes and go to an adjustable hot-light setup and save lots of dough. The picture is really pleasing and the model shows a sense of warmth that adds to the composition. Your ratio between the main light and fill light looks really good. The main light looks a bit hot, you could place a diffuser in front of each light to soften a bit. Looks like your fill light was a little lower than the subject causing a shadow on the chest, raising it a bit might help. Looks like you shot at a wide open aperture, try closing it down a bit, maybe f8 or f11, the lack of depth of field kills the details in the eyes. Again, not too bad for construction lights!

 

John

Thanks to all of you for your kind words and advice. I will try all of these ideas as soon as I get the lights in my hands, which will be hopefully by the end of the week. Thanks again.