Leeandrea Benton |
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Using 1 Strobe with Umbrella
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What the heck?
f8, 1/60
Leeandrea Benton
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I'm a beginner to portrait photography and I currently have 1 Alien bee 400 with a 45 inch umbrella that can be used as a reflector or shoot-through. I am limited in my space and I 've placed my main light 4 feet fom my subject camera right, probably about 60 degrees from the background. My problem is that I always get these hotspots on my subject's face. I've tried shooting through the umbrella and get the same exact result. Iv'e tried moving my subject back further and changing the exposure. I've seen picures using th esame setup without hot spots. I just don't know what I'm doing wrong! I was thinking about buying/making one of those diffusion screens but , again, I've seen photos that just use a strobe and umbrella and get soft results. Would a bigger umbrella really make a difference? I don't understand why my 45 inch umbrella won't work for upperbody shots. Please help me with suggestions on how to get a softer light!!
October 14, 2006
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Leeandrea Benton |
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What the Heck? 2
f5.6/1/60
Leeandrea Benton
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Also, this is what I got when I used another shoot through umbrella duct-taped to teh flash unit in the opposite directionfor a make-shift diffusion screen. the subject is my husband and he gets a little inpatient (that's why he looks like that).
October 14, 2006
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Mark Feldstein |
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Considering the apparent space you've got to work in, you're not doing too bad. First, when you're working in that close to the subject, you've got to really diffuse the lamp head into the umbrella. You can do that by moving the umbrella's shaft further away from the head. With the modeling light on, look at where the light is falling toward the outer edge of the umbrella as you adjust it. Ideally, it should be right up to the edge without going over. Also, the interior reflective surface of the umbrella makes a difference. To get softer, less harsh lighting, it should have a flat white interior, not gold or silver or highly reflective white. A bigger umbrella won't help. In fact, I think that'll only compound your space problems and give you less light of the same light quality to work with. And while you're right in that shooting through an umbrella may soften the effects, it depends on the kind of material you're shooting through AND whether it's a shoot through umbrella so the ribs on the thing won't cast shadows on your husband. The other thing you could do is get a softbox with a soft white interior. I like Chimera's myself, and you'll need a mounting ring for it to attach it to the Alien Bee. B&H sells them at a good price. You can kind of simulate a softbox
by using strictly reflected light to shoot your portraits. Make a fill panel of some kind out of fomecore or white semi-translucent fabric and put that on one side of your subject, maybe at a 45 degree angle to them. Then, place your light and umbrella on the opposite side facing into the fill card but not directly on your subject. You'll get a little spillover doing that but not much. That should soften the lighting considerably. You can also use a bit of make-up to prevent glare or hot spots, especially on persons with oily skin. Judging by the look on his face, use this technique cautiously on your husband. .The other thing I thought I'd mention is that softar filters on your lens won't help this problem if you've considered them. That just softens or blurs the features of the subject.
Whew. Okie dokie?
Mark
October 14, 2006
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Pete H |
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Something you may want to try to soften your image: 1st I'd suggest you move that umbrella a little further to the left, I noticed the catch lights are a little too centered. If you have a white wall, position your subject so the wall is acting like a reflector to fill some of the shadows. In your photo for example, umbrella is to the left, the white wall would be out of camera view but to the right, bouncing some light back to your subject. Lastly, with 400 w/s and a 45" umbrella, a lot of light is being eaten by the umbrella. You might try collapsing that umbrella to make it a tad smaller. Sometimes this works, sometimes not as the ribs and folds of the umbrella may cast unwanted shadows and poor overall light distribution; worth a try though. All the best, Pete
October 15, 2006
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Michael H. Cothran |
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Looking at the pictures, which really helps, by the way, and something I wish more people would do when asking specific questions -
I believe the problem is in the reflectivity of your husband's skin. It's too shiny. I'd suggest, at the very least, wiping his face first to remove as much skin oil as possible, and/or applying a bit of powder to dull his skin. That should do the trick. I don't see a problem with your lighting set up.
Michael H. Cothran
October 16, 2006
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Leeandrea Benton |
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Thanks everyone for your advice! I am going to look into a softbox per Mark's suggestion and since I don't have a white wall, I'll try to get some foam board to reflect the light back to fill in some shadows.
And I do notice a difference when I take my own photos because my skin is not nearly as oily as his.
I also made a diffusor screen with some pvc pipe and ripstop nylon but I think a softbox would be easier to handle. Anyway this photo uses the diffusor
October 18, 2006
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Leeandrea Benton |
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Using homemade diffusor
1/60 f8
Leeandrea Benton
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Thanks everyone for your advice! I am going to look into a softbox per Mark's suggestion and since I don't have a white wall, I'll try to get some foam board to reflect the light back to fill in some shadows.
And I do notice a difference when I take my own photos because my skin is not nearly as oily as his.
I also made a diffusor screen with some pvc pipe and ripstop nylon but I think a softbox would be easier to handle. Anyway this photo uses the diffusor
October 18, 2006
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Mark Feldstein |
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Well that one, LeeAndrea is pretty underexposed. We have a lot of PVC framed diffusion panels with various thicknesses of ripstop nylon that get used a lot for reflector panels instead of fomecore. But either one works. \ My recommendation on the softboxes is Chimeras at http://www.chimeralighting.com/
I think they're the best made in the industry. One of them I've been using for about 25 years and it's still in great shape. About two years ago, the inner lining started fading a bit. They told me to send it to them. They replaced the liner and the front panel without charging me a cent. That REALLY got my vote. So, well made and they stand by not behind their products. Take a look. Best prices on them at Bhphotovideo.com. And for what it's worth, I think you're making a good decision. ;>) Lemme know when you get if I can help explain good ways to use it. Be well
Mark
October 18, 2006
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