scott_holt2

1. Concerning the hair light... that is definitely something I agree is lacking. Right now, though, I have one key light and a small shoe mount flash and I pressed it into service to light the background. I think my next purchase will be a 3rd light so I can have a little more flexibility.

2. Concerning the back color. Personally, that is the thing that bothers me most about all my shots this weekend; in part because  I am disappointed it was not more neutral - in part because I knew this was a possibility and tried to avoid it.

We were actually shooting outside, in my carport, so there was some contribution from ambient light. It was an overcast day... so between that and being in hard shade, I would guess the ambient light was around 6500... The key light, though, was about 5700 when measured off a test frame of her color checker target; and that is what I used to set the white balance for the frame.

Now, in an attempt to control it, I took am ambient light reading and targeted my exposures a few stops higher.  What I overlooked, apparently, is that one needs to go a few stops further when using a white background. The little flash I was using to light the background just doesn't have the power to overcome the ambient light, especially at the top of the frame. I also wonder if I could have compensated for it by putting a 1/2 CTO on the back light... add that to the shopping list 8-)

I am looking for some constructive criticism, particularly of how this

is lit. This is one of a set of my first attempts at lighting control

so I wasn't trying to do any thing spectacular; just practicing the

basics. Anything positive or negative that I can learn from would be

appreciated.

The pose was not my idea, but her mother likes it... and since I did

this at the end of a very log session, I wasn't going to get much

better out of her.

Thanks!

This is my attempt at "clam-shell lighting"

The key light here was a bare bulb strobe (Godox AD360) shot with a

white 51" Umbrella with a diffusion cover attached. The light is

positioned above and about as close to in front of as I could get

without a boom arm.

A 42" silver reflector positioned in front of the subject and angled up.

A small off-camera flash (Nissin i40) is directed on the white back

ground.

I am looking for some constructive criticism, particularly of how this

is lit. This is one of a set of my first attempts at lighting control

so I wasn't trying to do any thing spectacular; just practicing the

basics. Anything positive or negative that I can learn from would be

appreciated.

Thanks!

The key light here was a bare bulb strobe (Godox AD360) shot through a

white 32" Westcott umbrella. Camera right, and slightly above the

subject.

A 42" silver reflector positioned just outside the left side of the

frame is the fill.

A small off-camera flash (Nissin i40) is directed on the white back

ground.

This scene was captured near sunset on an overcast/cloudy day at a

wharf on Jekyll Creek at Jekyll Island, Georgia.

This was taken from the window of a restaurant at Jekyll Island,

Georgia. This was taken around 7:45PM, close to sundown, but the

conditions were mostly to partly cloudy - scattered showers were the

theme of the afternoon. At the time this was taken, the conditions

were mostly overcast. This scene looks out over Jekyll Creek toward

the grounds of the Jekyll Island Club.

Out of the camera, the raw image is quite flat. I teased out the

contrast in the sky by creating a black and white layer, adjusting it

for contrast and structure and then using it as a luminance layer for

the image.

Not exactly a child, but a child's scene. I had just received a toy of

my own, a NEX-MD adapter and wanted to try it out with one of my old

MD lenses. My daughter and her best friend were in the car port making

chalk drawings and playing with the boys across the street; so I

grabbed the NEX and an MD 85mm and headed outside.

I try to find at least one thing to appreciate in any

disappointment... and this was a disappointment. The combination is

just not right for kids at play... but I should have known that.

Perhaps with more practice with focus peeking it will get easier.

In any case, this image popped up in an opportune moment... the one

shot of the bunch I actually like... In color, this just doesn't work

well to me... but in monochrome, I think it does well.

She was not so happy because the batteries on her LeapPad had just

died... that and she's a little tired of daddy always putting her in

front of the lens. She's starting to discover that she prefers the

other side of the viewfinder, just like daddy.

This was a bit of an experiment to practice using focus peeking on my

NEX 5, and to see how well my old MD lenses perform. To be honest, the

colors using that lens were a little muted, which is one of the

reasons (besides a strong bias) for converting it to B&W.

This was a shot of opportunity, in retrospect, I wish I had been in a

slightly better position to avoid distortion of the window. Still,

with a child this age running around on a train, you do what you can.

She was primarily lit from below - light reflecting off the ground.

Wondering whether the lighting and the square crop work here. Thanks!

Admitedly, this is a little unnatural - that was intentional. The scene was

originally very flat. Taken from the side of the road overlooking a salt marsh

@ St. Simons Island... about 10 minutes before the sky opened up on us.

One of my first attempts at using HDR. Composed of 7 shots at 1 stop

increments.