hey, whatever works! I ghetto rig stuff all the time. As long as it produces consistant results, why not?

LEN!! Dood, where have you been??? have you been working out? I think your pic is a bit underexposed...your eyes look a little dead too. Another catchlight would add a lot to the image.

I went on hiatus when my equipment was stolen and I didn't have the cash to replace it... just bought my new 30D and 17-85is usm from some dude in the RS buysell Saturday. I was going insane without my gear.

I kept raising the fstop cause I loved the tones my skin was getting... can I get that same effect with a proper exposure?

The bulb I was using there was just a little 100Watt, how powerful would the bulb I use have to be to make a good catchlight, but not effect the lighting on the skin?

All you'd need is a small reflector to bounce light into your eyes.

Would tin foil work? Or is that TOO ghetto?...

ps, yes I have been working out, usually up to 5 times a week :S

Yes, tinfoil will work.

Hmm, I've got a chrome tray set up, and I made sure that it's sending light directly into my eyes when I'm in position, but I'm not a getting another catchlight from it... how do the reflectors need to be angled to do that properly?

and how big does an effective reflector have to be?

Two more self portraits now... my main goal here is to dramatically improve my skills with lighting, am I on the right track?
Again, only PP was USM and resize for web.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3020/...899661be_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3036/...01df0f87_o.jpg

In the second shot, I was going after the look of one of the more animated players on the World Series of Poker... if anyone here watches it.

I think tomorrow I'm going to try the red backdrop, I'm a little blued out for today...

Am I doing better with the fill light and the hair light in these two Jason?

definitely! Both of these are MUCH better. Nice cross lighting. The second looks a little over-sharpened to me though.

I really dont have too many other "bad" comments. They both look good!

is it just me or the pics are way too saturated? your skin looks orange on my monitor.

I don't think its saturation, its just a bad white balance. I thought I saw a piece of white paper hanging in the set-up shot? aren't you using that to set a custom white balance?

That piece of paper on the clip board was to keep the light from spilling onto the background, but I didn't need it when I got more lights.

Do you think the pictures would look better with a different white balance? I kind of liked the colours in it myself. Thoughts?

I too think it's too yellow.

http://www.faceinhole.com/08/10/20/6...806fdb6c9a.jpg

from faceinhole.com hehe

My first full body self portrait... I know I should have used a hair light, but I suppose hindsight is 20/20

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3296/...3bb08826_o.jpg

^^ You need to separate yourself from the background more.

^^ this is how it all starts, you just need one.... more..... light... haha

How do I do that effectively? I can't remember exactly what setup I had for this shot, 'cause I changed it several times throughout this shoot.

Look at the shadows by your chin, it tells you everything about where both your lights were

You need another light on the background. The right side of your face has weird shadows too. Try experimenting more with broad or short lighting, and try using the classic double 45 degrees method.

http://modelmayhm-3.vo.llnwd.net/d1/...6addfe3062.jpg

not too sure if i posted this here before but hey.

-ed

heres mine..


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3182/...157698.jpg?v=0