Technical > Digital Imaging > [CritEditY] Studio Work

[CritEditY] Studio Work

Canon EOS 7D 21mm 1/200th F8 ISO200 Setup before the Qbox arrived

Canon EOS 7D 70mm 1/200th F8 ISO200 Resulting photo

Canon EOS 7D 93mm 1/250th F8 ISO400

Canon EOS 7D 70mm 1/200th F8 ISO200

Two kids... Lots of clothes, lots of diapers.
Diapers go in the garbage; clothes don't.
Kids out grow clothes, where to put them?
Use the diaper boxes!
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"And Tehuno said let there be haste, not mp5, and there was haste. All creatures of the world rejoiced." -WotLK Ch. 3.3.2

LOL. Yup, been there, done that.

reply to drew
Nice results!

Thanks SandShark. Is there anything, good or bad, that stands out to you?

I like the catchlights. That's something I always look for in portraits. Your little girl is adorable. I remember when mine was that age. I envy you because doing something like this has always been at the top of my list of photography things to try. Maybe the next time you get some extra overtime, you can add a hair and a background light, along with a canvas or muslin background and do some serious portraits. But, like I said, I really like the results so far and where you're going with it. I see better things down the road, which is what it's all about, right?

reply to drew
I am really no judge of this kind of photography, but can definitely tell you that you seem to be going the right way. I, too, like the lights you've captured, and you couldn't have got a cuter subject than that little lady.

reply to drew
The light looks fine for the set up you are using. You might try different apertures for more background separation. Shooting straight on like the first and last portrait is usually not the most pleasing poses for most people, especially women, just something to think about when shooting . Notice how shooting at a different angle (second portrait) gives your face more depth, or 3d effect than the others. I prefer a portrait crop on all three, there is nothing in the background we need to see.

I would lighten the irises just a little on your little girl using a lasso, and do a curves adjustment, but that is just a personal preference, and certainly not necessary.

Just my opinions.

Cute little girl!

Thanks Sue for the feedback. One question... the backgrounds are an almost solid color due to the gel... is there not separation already?
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"And Tehuno said let there be haste, not mp5, and there was haste. All creatures of the world rejoiced." -WotLK Ch. 3.3.2

Separation probably wasn't the best word. A bigger F/stop might give it a more blurred look and make it look farther away or fade away. I could probably be wrong, but it is something I would try.

reply to drew
Lighting isn't bad but I think the little girl could use a bit more fill. Did you really buy green seamless or is that a color imbalance? The washing machine and other objects in the background look rather green too. Personally I would've gone with something more neutral like white or gray seamless.

Or by any chance did you leave some fluorescent lights on?

Nope Stacy, that's grey seamless. I have it gelled (in that shot, showing the setup for a thread on POTN) with two 1/3rd CTGreen gels I have from Rosco.

I really need to figure out how to position the reflector better than I do. It's hard with speedlights and not studio strobes with modeling lights.
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"And Tehuno said let there be haste, not mp5, and there was haste. All creatures of the world rejoiced." -WotLK Ch. 3.3.2

In that case I would just ditch the gels.. but that's personal taste. I think Sue makes a good point about separating the subject from the background. Opening up the aperture and using a longer focal length might help.

The answer is about 5, maybe 6, feet.

I still don't understand what exactly you're talking about, but next time I'm shooting out there, I'll open the lens up a bit and see what you're talking about (I hope)!
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"And Tehuno said let there be haste, not mp5, and there was haste. All creatures of the world rejoiced." -WotLK Ch. 3.3.2

It is quite possible that the look I am thinking about can only be achieved with the addition of a hair light. I would still be interested in what they will look like with a bigger aperture. Open the lens as much as you can.

I'm slightly worried about opening it up to f/4. At the distance I have available to work with, we're talking about anywhere from 1/3rd of a foot of DOF (70mm, f/4, distance 6ft) to .08 ft (135mm, f/4, distance 6ft). We'll see
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"And Tehuno said let there be haste, not mp5, and there was haste. All creatures of the world rejoiced." -WotLK Ch. 3.3.2

I take snapshots of my grands at F/1.8 to F/2.8 and I am about 6 to 10 feet away. Just play it is fun.