Now that the niece and nephews are back home in WI, we finally have some time for a post =)
While on location for the “blue dress” shoot awhile ago, a gust of wind knocked down one of our umbrellas and bent it bad. (need to get another sand bag!) Because of that, I ordered one of the new Parabolic Light Modification umbrellas from the makers of Alien Bees. These umbrellas are much better constructed than the first ones I had before. Just from a quick test… these do bounce a bit more light onto the subject than my old ones (they’re not that much more expensive neither!). Like a kid on Christmas morning, I couldn’t wait to test them out… so I had Kay put on the pretty face =)
I’m still trying to get better with the “clam-shell” lighting setup (umbrella up top and reflector below). We dressed the front of the umbrella with a matching diffusion panel (sold as an accessory on their site) to soften up the light some more. Here are some test shots. The first pic is with the basic setup… the next two pics I decided to add a color gel to the background light. Practice practice!! I need to shoot more often!
prettygeekyphotos
prettygeekyphot
Thank you for the pictures.
Looks very good to me.
Which umbrella-size did you have?
86″ 64″ 42″?
That would be very interesting…
Cheers
MC
@MC:
Hi MC, thanks for visiting. The PLM umbrella we used here was the 64″ (which is 55″ diameter across the front). These umbrellas definitely have more of a “spotlight” feel… giving you more output from the same flash speedlight.
Tyger
looking good you two.. im looking for a new camera, any advice?
Hi Millie,
If you get Nikon, you can use some of our gear when we visit. You’ll be able to see it for yourself =). But either Canon or Nikon will be fine. Get a camera body that is good for now and invest in Lenses since you will still be using the same lenses in newer camera bodies down the road.
they ty: what do you know bout the nikon d5000 and the d300? cant decide.. im thinkin imma stick to nikon, i really cant tell the difference, but realized the d40 takes way better “studio like” pictures then the canon.. i want something good like at least 12 mp, but wont brake the bank.. u know what i mean? n e who, let me know what you think.. thanks babez. tell kay i say hi.. when you guys gonna visit? just wondering.. mized you guys lots!
The D5000 is a new model, but I would rather get the D90. The D90 has more “pro-level” parts… it has some of the same internal parts as the better D300 (more expensive). If I were to rank them it would be: D3000 < D5000 < D90 < D300 (best). D90 is the middle ground between consumer and pro level camera.
Very nice work- was that taken with the white version or silver version? Looks white, but just checking…
I do a lot of beautyheadshots, using mainly Elinchrom Octa, Westcott Halo and Photek Softlighter. The effect I see in your picture is somewhere between Halo and Softlighter. (Halo is a bit more directional than Softlighter.) It’s very nice.
When I shoot commercial fashion photography and headshots, I feel it’s better to use a second light for fill, than clamshell. The key is to use the second light with very soft diffuser (like Octa or Softlighter) and use it at very low output. I use Elinchrom system, since it can vary the output by 1/10 of a stop. Well, 1/3 stop control is usually enough though. One reason why I like very weak fill better than reflector is because this configuration is more forgiving on the model’s face position and I (and the model) have fewer things to worry about during the shoot, and that gets me better facial expression faster.
@ Ryuji,
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. The photos taken above were taken with the big silver PLM umbrella using the white diffusion panel. After a few initial tests, I do prefer using a second light for bottom fill as well. I like having the extra control of the lighting ratio. I hope to upgrade to Elinchrom gear one day =).