First Attempt at Studio Lighting (Warning: Lots of pictures)

[LGM]

Be brutal, but also consider this is the first time I've done my own lighting.
And please no comments about the girl, lets stay technical here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lilgryphmaster/sets/1559852/

[n3tgraph]

Nice pictures LGM! It's beginning to look professional!

If I had to post some critics,
The second picture looks nice with the shadow on the middle of her face, but the other half is a bit too light imo. Makes her pale.

For the rest I'd say: nice photography

[TheYak]

It's nice to see artificial lighting that doesn't look like a 60-watt bulb from a bedroom lamp, but it still looks like there could be more consistency. 

Contrary to Mr. Graph, I prefer the second as it's got some of the best overall consistent value and would probably show the most balanced composition.  She might look rather pale in it, but in all likelihood - she is pale.  That lighting also serves to portray some accuracy with a slightly angellic glow that people getting studio portraits seem to be fond of.

The first one makes me want to tweak the gamma.  Her eyes look like pools of darkness (the sockets, I mean, not the irises).  Part of the problem is the dark sweater that masks some of the shadow balance. Another small light to the bottom right angled towards the face might show the volume better while illuminating her head a bit more.

The third and fourth ones seem to just be expressionist pieces.  While they might be interesting poses for a full-form picture, their framing seems intent to portray angst and longing (first words that came to mind for 3rd and 4th pic).   

The fifth shows the same problems as the first.  The left half looks great, sharp detail and shows accurately the form of arm and sweater.  I don't care for the pose, but that's beside the point.  A soft, maybe slightly colored light on the opposite side might flesh it out some. 

The 6th one seems to communicate general gothy, teenagey, myspace-ish photography.  While the stark contrast might give a nice look to it, the face being shadowed puts the focus of the picture in the dullest tones.  It seems either intentional or an unfortunate by-product.  Using the reflective white canvas as a secondary illuminator for another casted light would probably cut through the flatness at the center.

Of the next two, I like the tones to the second but the pose of the first better.  This is where the paleness becomes unflattering.  With lighter skintones, having a fully-white face next to a broad white surface only has a tendency to look sickly.  As evidenced by her left hand, there's a nice array of fleshtone colors that could use distribution by rearranging lighting. 

And the last, from a framing/lighting perspective (not costuming or posing, in other words), I quite like it.  The tilt of it does give me the impression that she's slipping off the screen and ought to find it uncomfortable sitting at an angle like that, but otherwise it's pretty balanced.  White skintones seem part of the desired emphasis here, as well as having the skin highlights match the bright white background. 

Overall, if these had been studio pictures I'd requested, I'd be pretty pleased with the results but would toss a couple of the shots.

[Note: The length is due to lighting/photography interest and not because I claim to have any working knowledge of any of this.]

[Squinky]

I think you are doing very well, and should keep working towards getting better, you seem to have a natural talent in my opinion.

I don't have any real life changing advice, but I liked the bottom the pose the most, it made me think of manga/anime. In fact, I half expected he to be holding up two fingers in a peace sign....

[LGM]

Thanks for the in-depth tips, Yak. They really help.

Thanks for the encouragement, Squinky and n3tgraph. It means alot. This is definitely something I'm going to pursue. I also want to get into cinemtography and film production, so this is great practice for my visual eye.

(Also, I've been making some money off this too. Not for this particular shoot, but others.)

[FruitTree]

I like the way you experimented in the pictures, from real hard shadows to calm tones, but it seems you're overlighting your model a bit, experiment with a little less light.
and the girl's really pretty, that IS technical 

[LGM]

Thanks, Fruitree. But I'd say I'm not really overlighting. My camera just sucks at taking even light levels. Also, I have a problem with contrast. I like it too much. But I get what you mean and I'll try to work on not blowing out white levels as much.

[Pesty]

I don't really have much to add that hasn't already been said, but I thought I'd offer some advice for working with your model. You have to be careful not to let your angles and lighting distract from your subject matter.

The 8th picture down is really the one I'm concentrating on here. From where you're taking the photo, the way her head is tilted, and the angle the lighting is coming combine in a rather unflattering way for her. Look at the way the lighting makes her chin almost dissapear and gives her eyes a more sunken look than you were probably going for. The way her head is tilted really emphasizes this as well, and it makes her neck look all wrinkly. You have to really be aware of how her poses effect the way the lighting hits her. A lot of this is the model's responsibility, to be aware of herself and her poses in relation to you and your camera, but there are ways you can help her avoid this.

She can't see herself, so if you notice something awkward, don't be afraid to give her direction. In this particular instance, I would've told her to lift her chin more, maybe tilt her head to the side a little more, to give it more definition and to get rid of the wrinkly neck. Maybe if you had angled yourself to be a little more above her, that might've helped as well.

I think you are doing well with your photography, you are definately improving. Your composition in most of them is strong, maybe a little too strong for normal portraiture, but it works well for this sort of photography. I like the second picture and the last picture the most for composition and lighting.

I also want to mention toning down the lighting, and I know you said it was your camera, so I'd suggest experimenting to learn your camera's levels. Your camera doesn't suck, you just need to learn how to work with it's little iggles that give you problems now.

[LGM]

Thank you so much. Everything you hit on are things I too have been learning I need to work on. I rush myself, and often find that I do not pose carefully and do not look the shot over enough before I take it. That is definitely something I need to remember, and thank you for pointing that out.

Yea, my camera doesn't suck.. I know. I love it. I'm trying to find ways to tone down the lighting. Some of it IS done in photoshop by moi. I'm planning on re-editing them though, to see if I can eliminate the hardcore lighting.

Also, I plan on trying some straight-up portraiture stuff soon. For now I'm just experimenting and taking whatever looks "neat." I will plan some shoots where I will only aim for one style of photography.

Thanks again for all the advice! I appreciate it muchly.

[LGM]

Thought I'd just mention that I updated the original post with a link to the updated pictures. I took some of the advice and tried to improve upon it. I also found some more noteworthy pictures I originally overlooked.

(man, I need to stop bumping my own posts. I just want sir Andail to see this before it slips into 2nd page hell.)