studio/camera flash/lighting question

[Fusselinchen]

you should be shooting in manual, try again with your lights set as they were shutter 1/125 aperture F8 iso100 (200 for D5000)* and see what you get

^ This. These are pretty constant settings in studio photography (*I bolded for emphasis). Adjust your lights power for desired effect. A few other things:


1. Learn custom white balance (it's in your manual/ YouTube) - remember to re-set it when changing lighting configurations
2. Get a light meter when working with 2 or more lights. Don't wait a year to get one (like me). It saves time and you'll get your settings down more quickly.
3. Put more room between your subject and background
4. Get a reflector for fill
5. Go to YouTube and search studio lighting for portraiture/ using a light meter for multiple lights

You said you were a hobby photographer but then mentioned a customer. If your producing images for other's, investing the time and money into the above things I listed will pay off. Good luck.

thank you, this is very helpful!
and yea, i said customer...i do pictures for free...i invest time and CD etc all for free right now...i dont feel like i am good enough to charge just yet.

 

[Fusselinchen]

you should be shooting in manual, try again with your lights set as they were shutter 1/125 aperture F8 iso100 (200 for D5000)* and see what you get

^ This. These are pretty constant settings in studio photography (*I bolded for emphasis). Adjust your lights power for desired effect. A few other things:


1. Learn custom white balance (it's in your manual/ YouTube) - remember to re-set it when changing lighting configurations
2. Get a light meter when working with 2 or more lights. Don't wait a year to get one (like me). It saves time and you'll get your settings down more quickly.
3. Put more room between your subject and background
4. Get a reflector for fill
5. Go to YouTube and search studio lighting for portraiture/ using a light meter for multiple lights

You said you were a hobby photographer but then mentioned a customer. If your producing images for other's, investing the time and money into the above things I listed will pay off. Good luck.

ok quick, dumb question, where/what is aperture setting?

I have shutter at 1/125 and iso at 200 and just did a test shot and it looks a lot better already...
like i said, im a complete noob, so please forgive me for asking this question.

 

[Tee]

What mode was your camera set to: the green box, M, A, S, P or one of the picture modes? You can download a copy of your manual online. I highly recommend doing that.

 

[Fusselinchen]

What mode was your camera set to: the green box, M, A, S, P or one of the picture modes? You can download a copy of your manual online. I highly recommend doing that.

the picture in the OP was taken in A mode, I now have the camera set to M (going to give that a try now! uh oh! lol ) and i guess i need to seriously sit down and search for a copy, because i havent found my original one yet (we had to move from the states to germany and i havent fully unpacked yet...)