First shot using a light meter.. You won't hurt my feelings with contructive criticism.I realy want to learn: Had Robby just sit and face me. Used a Canon 5d II and Tamron 70-200 2.8...

greg vescuso Loc: Ozark,Mo.

Had Robby just sit and face me. Used a Canon 5d II and Tamron 70-200 2.8 Di VC @ 70mm Used a difussed 430ex speed lite for my main light coming in from the right side of subject -1 2/3 stops ,slaved to a on camera 600ex rt as the master bounced off the ceiling with a Gary Fong lightsphere, also added a viedo light to front left side of the subject to highlight the shadows. I don't really know what I am doing but ,I set the ISO to 400 and the shutter to 1/60 sec. the light meter read 4.0/ 8 so I set the camera to f4.0 after the first shot brought the power up a little on the video light. And this is what I got after a tight crop. Thanks for looking and any advice.

PalePictures Loc: Traveling

Lighting looks ok.
Cropping the tops of heads is ok.
Heads typically need shoulders to sit on. (I have broken this rule.. but not usually a good idea.) You need shoulders in this case. Was the shot composed in camera like this or did you crop that tight under the chin in post?

twowindsbear

What meter did you use? What technique did you use to meter the flash with the video light?

IMHO your exposure is OK - maybe try a bit more 'difference' between the main & the fill. . . and I'll suggest a bit more practice on composition.

Thanks

greg vescuso Loc: Ozark,Mo.

PalePictures wrote:

Lighting looks ok.
Cropping the tops of heads is ok.
Heads typically need shoulders to sit on. (I have broken this rule.. but not usually a good idea.) You need shoulders in this case. Was the shot composed in camera like this or did you crop that tight under the chin in post?

My subject was just hanging out sitting in the heat sweating without a shirt on, and I ask him to sit and pose for a shot using the light meter, so the un cropped shot wouldn't be very good. I need a lot of work on posing and composition.

Here is the original un croped shot

greg vescuso Loc: Ozark,Mo.

twowindsbear wrote:

What meter did you use? What technique did you use to meter the flash with the video light?

IMHO your exposure is OK - maybe try a bit more 'difference' between the main & the fill. . . and I'll suggest a bit more practice on composition.

Thanks

I used a Sedonic L-308DC DigiCineMate. I only metered the flashes and didn't use the light meter for the video light. I added the video light in front of the subject to remove the heavy shadows on the right side of the subject around his eye and had to turn it down after the first shot.
I'll see if I can't get my wife to pose for me and try working on the lighting and composition. I will try to have more of a difference between the main light and fill light. Thanks a lot for your help.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

greg vescuso wrote:

I used a Sedonic L-308DC DigiCineMate. I only metered the flashes and didn't use the light meter for the video light. I added the video light in front of the subject to remove the heavy shadows on the right side of the subject around his eye and had to turn it down after the first shot.
I'll see if I can't get my wife to pose for me and try working on the lighting and composition. I will try to have more of a difference between the main light and fill light. Thanks a lot for your help.

If you don't already have one, get an umbrella to soften the light.
Either shoot through it or bounce into it.
something like this: http://mpex.com/westcott-43-quot-collapsible-umbrella-white-satin.html
Or something like this:
http://www.adorama.com/PTSL54.html

Use a piece of white foamcore to use as a fill reflector.

Strobist is my favorite lighting site:
http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/

They have a section called lighting 101 that's a real education: http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html

greg vescuso Loc: Ozark,Mo.

This is exactly the input I was looking for these links are great. I don't have a umbrella or soft box yet. But I am looking into them now thanks.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

greg vescuso wrote:

This is exactly the input I was looking for these links are great. I don't have a umbrella or soft box yet. But I am looking into them now thanks.

When I did an internship at a commercial studio, the first eye-opener was the other light modifiers they had at their disposal. All I had used or knew about before then were umbrellas. I knew nothing about softboxes (some big enough to light a car), grids, gobos...let alone how to use them.

greg vescuso Loc: Ozark,Mo.

Thanks for the link to the Strobist website. I Bought a 60 in.
umbrella and stand .And have been playing with it. Here is
a shot I just took of my wife. And one of her and Onyx, my grandson.

John Lawrence

greg vescuso wrote:

Thanks for the link to the Strobist website. I Bought a 60 in.
umbrella and stand .And have been playing with it. Here is
a shot I just took of my wife. And one of her and Onyx, my grandson.

Lucky you. New lights and two beautiful models. Well done. I like them both.