Hi all,

I have just today moved into a studio I am sharing with 2 mates. We aim to spend some time studying and practicing before getting some paying clients. But, as I am an impatient sort of chap, I wanted to check out the set up I put up. But there was just me...so i first took a picture of the coat stand with my bag on it, then took a photo of myself.

I would like crit on the light, the background (think I see a little not-quite-white - do you?). Is there spill? Is the colour ok?

please don't crit the models...one is a right bag, and the other is an ugly bu**er! :)


test 1 by http://bendthelight.me.uk, on Flickr


Me - test by http://bendthelight.me.uk, on Flickr

Cheers

Work it, baby?

To check if the is a non-white on the bg I don't recommend to rely on your eyes, but instead use any of the ACR/PS provided tools to either enhace contrast dramatically by applying some insanely steep curve, or go nuts with the levels or simply select color with 255, 255, 255 and the decrese the selected area so you will be able to see the non-pure-white zones.

The bag shot looks OK.
The SP feels like there is some spillage. Can be fixed by adjusting black point, but it all depends on the intentions...

HTH

Originally Posted by Moving Pictures Work it, baby?

erm...ok.

Originally Posted by Nikolai To check if the is a non-white on the bg I don't recommend to rely on your eyes, but instead use any of the ACR/PS provided tools to either enhace contrast dramatically by applying some insanely steep curve, or go nuts with the levels or simply select color with 255, 255, 255 and the decrese the selected area so you will be able to see the non-pure-white zones. The bag shot looks OK. The SP feels like there is some spillage. Can be fixed by adjusting black point, but it all depends on the intentions... HTH

Yes, it helps. The self portrait (and I must say that I was simply messing around with a spare five minutes because I just wanted to shoot something in my new studio...shoot anything!) was straight out of camera, with only sharpening as it was shot RAW. I could do a fair bit of PP to correct contrast etc.

In Photoshop I used the INFO tab to see the RGB values as I moved around the picture. I found spots where they were less than 255, but couldn't work out how to switch to the white sampler in, say, levels to make that spot 255,255,255. I'll look again...I know my eye is not quite good enough to spot it. :)

Thanks

Originally Posted by Bend The Light erm...ok.

Hey, it struck me as funny at the time. The comment was directed at the backpack.

Originally Posted by Moving Pictures Hey, it struck me as funny at the time. The comment was directed at the backpack.

Ah, ok. The backpack says "erm...ok".

Originally Posted by Bend The Light In Photoshop I used the INFO tab to see the RGB values as I moved around the picture. I found spots where they were less than 255, but couldn't work out how to switch to the white sampler in, say, levels to make that spot 255,255,255. I'll look again...I know my eye is not quite good enough to spot it. :) Thanks

Using INFO tab is better than using the eyes, but you can easily miss a whole lot of random pixels and small areas. The approach I suggested would make such stuff obvious.

BTW, you can do it in camera, although not as reliably. Shoot BG only. Your histogram should be a flat horizontal line at zero level everywhere except the rightmost end where there should be a single vertical line. Due to the limited accuracy of the small histogram, it not a 100% reliable, but it would alert you if there are obvious flaws...

Originally Posted by Nikolai Using INFO tab is better than using the eyes, but you can easily miss a whole lot of random pixels and small areas. The approach I suggested would make such stuff obvious. BTW, you can do it in camera, although not as reliably. Shoot BG only. Your histogram should be a flat horizontal line at zero level everywhere except the rightmost end where there should be a single vertical line. Due to the limited accuracy of the small histogram, it not a 100% reliable, but it would alert you if there are obvious flaws...

Thanks. I re-read what you wrote above. Will try that method. :)

I use the histogram in camera. I also have highlights showing (as the "blinkies") in the preview which shows areas where it's not quite blown. Cheers

Went back to the studio last night (before reading the crit here), a slight change of set up, and a better model than me. Any improvement here?


29-3-2012 Tim at Studio v2 by http://bendthelight.me.uk, on Flickr

Thanks.

If you take it into PS and play with the black point you'll see the BG is not a pure white, not enough at least....

Originally Posted by Nikolai If you take it into PS and play with the black point you'll see the BG is not a pure white, not enough at least....

Yes, I see it...I see it without PS...

Cheers

Just be careful not to crank up the background light too much or you'll see spill and/or chromatic aberrations around the subject.

Originally Posted by Rob Pauza Just be careful not to crank up the background light too much or you'll see spill and/or chromatic aberrations around the subject.

Thanks...yes I have been told, 1 stop above main at most to blow without spill.

Cheers.

Originally Posted by Rob Pauza Just be careful not to crank up the background light too much or you'll see spill and/or chromatic aberrations around the subject.

Unless you actually spill the lights on the subject (from the light sources) or have a highly reflective surface it is not going to happen. For a basic white fabric BG with regular relective properties you can "overblow" by 3-4 stops without any noticeable effects on the subject. Not that I recommend it (why waste power and increase the recycle times), but you typically have a lot of lenience in that department.