# The Night Before Christmas



## smoke665 (Nov 20, 2019)

Starting on the first of the Christmas themed shots, all told I'll have somewhere around 10 sessions of family and friends by Sunday. The walls and crates, I built for the set, everything else we had on hand. This was something completely new for me. I wanted to capture the glow of the incandescent lamp at the back as well as the LED lights on the tree in camera as much as possible.  Set up was one AB800 - 2x4 softbox horizontal high directly over the camera, and one AB400 -  2x4 softbox horizontal  directly below the the camera. This gave me a nice even light over the whole scene. On camera left at 9 o'clock is a single AB400 with a 7" reflector and barn doors with a 10 deg grid, just above the eye level aimed down to light the face.  Camera right on the floor and angled slightly up is a 4' white reflector to help fill  the shadows. The exposure for the strobes was controlled with aperture (f7.1), the ambient light was controlled with shutter (1/50), ISO 100. By dragging the shutter, I got just enough of the ambient light to come through, that I was able to clean it up post. Bumping the temperature warmer helped with warming the scene. Before I lock in all the images to the same processing, any suggestions, or comments will be appreciated. Think I already see where I need to bring the exposure of a few of the outlying areas of the image up slightly.




no-image-available-grid.jpg by William Raber, on Flickr


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## Derrel (Nov 20, 2019)

I generally  like this quite a bit, but if there were one small detail that I would change it would be to make Lil Bit's face just a tiny bit less bright. I get that she is supposed to be reading in the light beam supplied by the light on the wall but in light of the overall total scene oh, she just looks a slight bit too bright For 100% realism. I kind of like the overall darkish look to the set, and I think you did a commendable job of blending flash and incandescent light. I think this is a delightful allegorical family photo .... kind of Norman Rockwell-esque.


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## Dean_Gretsch (Nov 20, 2019)

A great start to what I am sure will be a great theme.Her expression is one of wonder and totally believable.


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## tirediron (Nov 20, 2019)

Well done, sir.  Agree with Derrel on the exposure on her face.


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## smoke665 (Nov 20, 2019)

Derrel said:


> I generally  like this quite a bit, but if there were one small detail that I would change it would be to make Lil Bit's face just a tiny bit less bright. I get that she is supposed to be reading in the light beam supplied by the light on the wall but in light of the overall total scene oh, she just looks a slight bit too bright For 100% realism. I kind of like the overall darkish look to the set, and I think you did a commendable job of blending flash and incandescent light. I think this is a delightful allegorical family photo .... kind of Norman Rockwell-esque.



Thanks Derrel!!!  Yeah the face is catching the strobe on the left as well as the light from the lamp. It was a PITA trying to get it right, but I can  remedy that in post. I kinda felt like I need to bring up the reindeer just a tad more. What about a little more blue in the shadows - yes/no?


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## Derrel (Nov 20, 2019)

I think the slightly warm overall color look looks great. It might not be accurate, but it is pleasing. I think you should look at this in about 3 days and then decide what changes should be made. I think perhaps you are too close to your shooting date to be 100% objective and dispassionate .

I think if you were to see this in 3 months you would have a different opinion on several small areas. I am seeing this on my phone, and am looking at the photo as a thumbnail, which I have found to be a good way to arrive at decisions on the overall Gestalt of an image, and when seeing this photograph at a small size, the little girl's face just stands out as being overly lighted.


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## smoke665 (Nov 20, 2019)

Dean_Gretsch said:


> A great start to what I am sure will be a great theme.Her expression is one of wonder and totally believable.



She was in fine form today. Between the solo shots and the ones where she posed with other family members, she was in close to 300 images. She was working her "poses" pretty much without help, every now and then I'd make suggestions, or say something silly to get her started again. 



tirediron said:


> Well done, sir.  Agree with Derrel on the exposure on her face.



Thank you!!!  I think I might have bumped the key up between shots, and she leaned forward. (or at least that's my story LOL), but it should be easy enough to tone down slightly.


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## Jeff15 (Nov 20, 2019)

Lovely image.......


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## zulu42 (Nov 20, 2019)

Beautiful! Very nicely lit. Along with your lighting adjustments may I suggest a bit tighter crop at the back of the chair to lose the shadow outline, and maybe a little off the bottom.
She held the book at the perfect angle for the lights, didn't she!
Adorable. Great job.


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## adamhiram (Nov 20, 2019)

Love it!  The final product looks awesome, and you keep outdoing yourself with these sets.  Really impressed with the technical aspect of it as well, really stepping things up.  I'd like to see more of her face, rather than the book blocking her mouth, but that's easier said than done!


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## smoke665 (Nov 21, 2019)

@Jeff15 Thank you



zulu42 said:


> Beautiful! Very nicely lit. Along with your lighting adjustments may I suggest a bit tighter crop at the back of the chair to lose the shadow outline, and maybe a little off the bottom.
> She held the book at the perfect angle for the lights, didn't she!
> Adorable. Great job.



Thank you for the kind words. With her you have to be quick to catch her pose.  I'm curious about your comment on losing the chair outline. I pulled a lot of my remaing hair out trying to adjust lights so shadows matched the direction of the light. I thought the chair shadow was a pretty close match to what the floor lamp would have cast. Would you mind explaining more on why you would get rid of it?

@adamhiram Thanks man! The set wasn't as complicated as it might look. I've been wanting to build some faux wall panels anyhow. There's three 4x8 panels constructed of .115 thick smooth masonite, with a 1x2 frame on the back. The assembly is screwed and glued together, for a rigid, lightweight panel, each panel is only about 30lbs. 1/4" carriage bolts through the 1x2's in the back hold it together, making it easy to assemble/disassemble. The furring strips are 1/4" thick strips ripped from a 2x4, and stapled to the panel for easy removal if I want a smooth wall. I have screw eyes along the top so I use wire to attach to floor joists above for stabilization, but bracing off the back would work just as well. The other stuff in the set was gathered from DW's decorations and things on hand.

The peek a boo over the book was only one of many shots. Just her by herself, I think I ended up with close to 175 shots, which I culled down to around 40. I was shooting on a tripod, thethered, so I could watch her better. My keep average was lower, but the ones I kept are really good.


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## PJM (Nov 21, 2019)

Wonderful photo!  I love the mood, feels very homey to me.


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## tirediron (Nov 21, 2019)

smoke665 said:


> I'm curious about your comment on losing the chair outline. I pulled a lot of my remaing hair out trying to adjust lights so shadows matched the direction of the light. I thought the chair shadow was a pretty close match to what the floor lamp would have cast. Would you mind explaining more on why you would get rid of it?


I missed this first go, but I agree, the shadow appears very clearly to be from a light that is [more or less] perpendicular to the wall.  If the shadow on the wall behind the chair was from the lamp, I would expect it to have a pronounced "downward" angle, rather than more-or-less level.  The shadow is also much more intense than I would expect from the lamp.  I think if you flagged the right side of your light or were able to get a gobo in there, you could control it.  I'm thinking for lighting maybe two lights in addition to the lamp; a tight, diffused snoot to light her face, the book, etc, and then a BIG (like 72" - 84" umbrella) fill so that you get some, but not too much detail in the room.



smoke665 said:


> The set wasn't as complicated as it might look. I've been wanting to build some faux wall panels anyhow. There's three 4x8 panels constructed of .115 thick smooth masonite, with a 1x2 frame on the back. The assembly is screwed and glued together, for a rigid, lightweight panel, each panel is only about 30lbs. 1/4" carriage bolts through the 1x2's in the back hold it together, making it easy to assemble/disassemble. The furring strips are 1/4" thick strips ripped from a 2x4, and stapled to the panel for easy removal if I want a smooth wall. I have screw eyes along the top so I use wire to attach to floor joists above for stabilization, but bracing off the back would work just as well. The other stuff in the set was gathered from DW's decorations and things on hand.


The set is fantastic.  I am very jealous of both your space and built-in model!


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## zulu42 (Nov 21, 2019)

smoke665 said:


> Would you mind explaining more on why you would get rid of it?



Hi smoke, in my opinion having the bright strip of wall at the edge of the photo pulls the eye out of the frame. It's a bold, curved shadow line with an eye catching "spike" from the edge of her book. It also disrupts the natural vignette you've created with your lighting. I also think a little tighter crop directs the eye toward the child more. But, that's just the way I see it.


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## smoke665 (Nov 21, 2019)

@tirediron the bad thing with sets is that every time you add a piece, shadow continuity problems grow exponentially. Move a piece, you have to change a light, move a light, you have to move a piece, it's a constant juggling act.  This is a three light setup. Two large softboxes, one high angled down, one low angled up, almost like a clamshell approach, to give even fill free of shadows across the set. The key is a 7" reflector with a 10 deg grid and barn doors, closed down to a small vertical slit, camera left, just above the head angled down. In order to keep it from casting shadows on the wall from the lamp, I had to actually move it past the 90 degree mark, so the chair shadow could well be a combination of the lamp and the key. Kinda boiled down to which shadow is the lesser of two evils, I went with the chair shadow (almost got it past you guys LOL). The first three sets are done so not much I can do with them, but I've got another 5 sets to go, so might look at changing out the barn doors for a long snoot, to keep the light more focused, or add a fourth light to fill the shadow on the wall????

@zulu42, all valid comments to consider. See above ^^for some backstory on the chair shadow. Somewhat limited on my crop as they're all intended for 11x14's.


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## smoke665 (Nov 21, 2019)

Any better on the face??????????????????? Also brought up the shadows slightl


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## tirediron (Nov 21, 2019)

smoke665 said:


> Any better on the face??????????????????? Also brought up the shadows slightly.
> View attachment 182693


Perfect on the face.  Crop a bit of the RH edge away, as in the one above, and you've nailed it.


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## smoke665 (Nov 21, 2019)

tirediron said:


> Perfect on the face. Crop a bit of the RH edge away, as in the one above



Went back and sat in the dark for a bit studying the set. The curve and shadow of the chair, with all the lights off except the lamp is actually  cast by the lamp. The addition of the key made it a tad more contrast/dark, but didn't change the shape of the shadow much. Still not sure about the overall brightness but I'm close enough that I have to move on with the processing. Here's another with a slight more crop, and dragging up the shadows and midtones.
View attachment 182694


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## zulu42 (Nov 21, 2019)

Love it!

You put this grandpa to shame. You've inspired me to do some serious shooting of the grandkids.


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## stapo49 (Nov 21, 2019)

I don't know much about the technicalities, soft boxes and reflectors etc, but the overall atmosphere and look you have created is beautiful.


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## CherylL (Nov 21, 2019)

Bill, this set is wonderful!  Looking at all of the versions I am leaning towards the original and slightly cropped.   I prefer the darker shadows.   Thanks for posting the lighting setup even though I got lost part way thru.  Way over my skill set.


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## smoke665 (Nov 21, 2019)

@CherylL Thank you!!!! The darker shadows look better on my monitor and if my labs profiles are correct will look better printed , but unfortunately web doesn't.


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## Derrel (Nov 21, 2019)

Very good!


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## Photo Lady (Nov 22, 2019)

This is a beautiful treasure photo


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## smoke665 (Nov 22, 2019)

Thanks for all the comments, following @Derrel 's advise to wait a few days and go back, and @tirediron 's advice on lighting. Added a 4th light camera right high as a hair light, to get a little more separation on from the subject and chair. reflector front center on the floor angled up. After looking at the processing, overall I went with a color temperature of 7500 to give it a nice glow, followed everyone's crop advice and clipped it at the edge of the shadow, evened the exposure more across the frame to give more light in the shadows, settled on a nice "vintage profile",  raised the black point to soften the image, added just a tad grain, and went with a white vignette to give the image a more Christmasy feel. Best thing is everything Synced across all the images, and I'm ready for the next set today. Thanks all!! One of the cuter ones with Mimi and her Mini Me.



no-image-available-grid.jpg by William Raber, on Flickr


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## Derrel (Nov 22, 2019)

Outstanding.


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## tirediron (Nov 22, 2019)

By George... I think he's done it!


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## smoke665 (Nov 22, 2019)

I'm like a leaf in a hurricane when it comes to finalizing a direction in processing. I know all the ways I can go, just cant seem to pick one. That's why I'm grateful for those on TPF and their "unvarnished" opinions really helps me focus.


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## johngpt (Nov 26, 2019)

Bill, this last one is outstanding. Nice even lighting on the faces without any hot spots. Nice visualization of all your scene elements. I even like the light vignette.


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## smoke665 (Nov 26, 2019)

johngpt said:


> Bill, this last one is outstanding. Nice even lighting on the faces without any hot spots. Nice visualization of all your scene elements. I even like the light vignette.



Thank you for the kind words. This was a little outside my comfort zone matching ambient, LED, and strobe, which caused a bit if stress, but once it was dialed in, it seemed to go well.


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## ac12 (Nov 29, 2019)

That is so scary good, that I don't even want to try one.
But I guess, I won't learn unless I try.


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## Photo Lady (Nov 29, 2019)

just amazing!!


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## jcdeboever (Nov 29, 2019)

This is such a touching and loving image. All I can do is thank God for the wonderful grandparents she has inherited. You and your wife are awesome.


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## smoke665 (Nov 29, 2019)

ac12 said:


> That is so scary good, that I don't even want to try one.
> But I guess, I won't learn unless I try.



Wow, I'm honored by your comments. 



Photo Lady said:


> just amazing!!



Thank you so much.



jcdeboever said:


> This is such a touching and loving image. All I can do is thank God for the wonderful grandparents she has inherited. You and your wife are awesome.



Thank you for the kind words. Li'l Bit, pretty much has her Papa & Mimi wrapped around her fingers, although she was testing those boundaries today. She spent the day here from early this morning till late this afternoon, I don't think she slowed down all day. Mimi and I are wore out.


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