 Kimberly A. Rashed |
Shadow falling from skirt I am shooting product photography and am having an issue with skirts. They are a-line which have a bit of a bell shape. There is about a 3 inch band of shadow running along the bottom of the skirt. What light and where should I be aiming it to get rid of this? I feel like I have tried everything.
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Pete H |
Kimberly, a picture would be worth a thousand words. Could you post an example please? Knowing your current set up would help as well.
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Mark Feldstein |
you should also include the kind of lights you're using and power output, how far off the background your subjects are, what kind of reflectors/light modifiers you have and HOW you're currently aiming your lights. M/
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
A-lines look like typical skirts.(googled it, didn't know it) You not spreading the light wide enough? This shadow the actual edge of your light pattern, maybe? I don't see anything about the skirt itself that would cause a shadow.
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- Carlton Ward Contact Carlton Ward Carlton Ward's Gallery |
Hi Kimberly, I would try a light panel on the floor with an additional light to illuminate the shadow area. You can make a 2' x 3' or 4' x 6' light panel yourself with some PVC and a sheet and you will need to position the light back a little from the panel to help spread the light keeping the light direction low towards to shadow line. You will need to experiment a bit with distance and light power but this should work. Carlton
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Kimberly A. Rashed |
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Kimberly A. Rashed |
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Pete H |
The shadow falling just below the skirt is simply misplaced lighting. Your main light should be lighting primarily the front of your subject in this shot or slightly off to the side. I'd recommend the soft box for this. As a aside; your second photo lacks contrast. The back ground is also not color complimentary. It tends to "bleed" away from your subject. This is fixable in photoshop, though I highly recommend more light on your subject. I photoshopped your photo, hope you don't mind, but I think you might see how a simple back ground change makes a large impact. There are several colors that would work, I just happen to like white in this type of shot. I also sharpened the eyes, added a little warmth to the face only, (81A) and boosted the overall saturation a tad.
Pete
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Kimberly A. Rashed |
Wow, Pete. Thanks. I wondered if maybe the light was too high. It was of course what I wondered after having some time away from the shoot. The background was not chosen by me as they don't particularily like white. How did you change the background? What do you mean by "bleed" away? How did you sharpen the eyes? Add warmth to the face? I have Photoshop but am always nervous about doing too much to a photo. I should maybe mention I am shooting in RAW.
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Pete H |
Kimberly, Let me fisrt say, I am not one well versed in giving directions. If you ask me how to get to Main st, I'm not one of those who can say "Turn right on Elm, go 2 blocks to Jefferson and then a mile to Main." LOL I am what you call a "visual" driver. I can find anything, just not good at telling others. That being said; I'll try. When I use the term "bleed" I use it to indicate how the subject seems to melt into the back ground a little. The background color is too close a match to the wardrobe. I like my portraits to "pop" off the print; but this is more a matter of aesthetic taste than a rule. White seemed a good choice to me based on your subjects clothing color and hair. Your photo's exposure is pretty good. A simple contrast enhancement is really all that was needed to get more pop. The contrast (should) be attained when you shoot the image if possible. This requires good placement of your lights with the right balance of Main Vs. Fill. Try not to have any lights projecting to the camera. You can try some experimentation here. Four practice hours in the studio setting is worth more than reading three books on the subject in my opinion. What I did to your photo took about 2 mins. Background: 1)Select background with magic wand. This was easy due to the contrast difference between the subject and back drop. 2) Feather selection. I used a value of "Three" 3) Use "levels" slider to blow out back drop and force to white. Eyes: 1) Select both eyes with "oval" tool. Warmth: 1) Use "Mask Brush" to paint out face. I did a slight overall increase in saturation to the entire image. That's it. Pretty easy. Hope that helps a tad, all the best, Pete
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