Using One and Two lights for a portrait

I've always been more of a natural light photographer.  Mostly because the things I photograph are moving quickly and don't lend themselves to setting up off camera flash.

I've been taking a lot of portraits (mostly my wife and family) and have had very pleasing results.  But these are the "safe" type of shots.  Soft shadows, full wrap around lighting, and not a lot of drama.

So I've gone back and started with just one light.  One light can actually do a lot.  Placed at a 45 degree angle to the subject, you can get pretty good lighting.  Depending on the amount of light, the distance to the subject, etc., shadows can still be fairly soft.

I have been playing with tethered shooting, as it has allowed me to examine the lighting more easily than chimping on the camera.  I have even added the ability to trigger my tethered camera with my iPad and see the results immediately on the iPad.  For practicing with lights, being able to see large resolution images as you adjust the lights is extremely helpful.

So here is an example of a one light setup (580EX with a 46" Photoflex shoot through umbrella)

So how could I have lit this?  Well, I tried 45 degrees from both camera right and left.  The major difference is how it lit the guitar.  When lit, the guitar has a lovely orange glow to it.  But, I was more interested in what the face looked like.  I found that I liked the lighting from camera right the best.  Then I noticed where the light hit the left arm and hands.  Too far left and it lit the elbow and forearm, and if just right, it reflected off the tip of the guitar, bring focus to the end of the guitar.

So I kept moving the light until I got a reflection off the left hand, bringing a bit of attention to what guitar playing is all about.  I would have liked a bit more light on the face, but in the end, I really like the result.

Now happy with the result of one light, I tried adding the second, with the goal of lighting the guitar a bit more.  This was the result ...

So, as I did with the first image, I wanted the light camera left to hit the face and the left hand, so it remained positioned at about 25 - 30 degrees to camera right.  I also wanted it to provide the primary light,  so that the focus would still be on the person and not the guitar.

The second light was also a 580EX and 46" shoot through umbrella, however, this was on the stand at almost its lowest height.  I simply made a few test shots until the guitar popped some colour, but did not reflect a bright hot spot.  The power on the second flash was about 1/3 the original.  Any more power and it light the guitar too much, as well as took away some of the nice shadow in the face.  With the lighting from the side of the face, it keeps the reflective mood of my grandson's tranquil music. 

New photo gear

I bought some new photo gear this last week to expand my lighting techniques.  I have been using two 580EX's off camera with a Canon ST-E2 for a number of years, but I've always been stuck mainly indoors because of the infrared range.

So I've taken the plunge and bought some Pocketwizards (3 x FlexTT5), as well as some more stands and a background stand, some white seamless, etc.

I hesitated a bit when a read the problems with Canon flashes and the FlexTT5's, but took the risk.  Although there has been a few initial issues with misfires or no fires, I am happy with having the ability to shoot TTL.

I am using white shoot through umbrellas for now.  Softboxes are the next on the list.  I would like to have a three light system eventually, but for now, I'm learning to get different looks with two lights.

For this photo, I put Suzanne about 2 feet from the background and I am lighting her with a main light 45 degrees to my left.  The second fill light is to my right and feathered to hit her and the background.  I was trying to get a light grey or soft white background, so I had to have enough light from the two lights to spill on the background,




You can see the two catch lights in her eyes.

For this photo, I wanted a put white background, so I had to use one flash for just the background.  That meant I would lose some of the fill light on her face, so to compensate, I used a Photoflex reflector about 2' from her left shoulder (camera right).




The background is still not pure white at the top of the frame.  I might try a different way to hit the background (the flash was on the floor behind her, pointing up).  But all in all, I'm pretty happy for my first attempt.  There is still good separation from her hair and the background.

My next goal is to try and photograph our dogs.  It will be great fun to try and get them to sit still on the seamless!