Attempting Strobist lighting

[EJC]

I finally got the light stands and umbrellas I ordered on E-Bay. My son wanted a cool shot of him at his drum kit. He wanted his drums to be quite noticeable. I though low key light would suit. My strobes are 3 Vivitar 283 flashes with variable potentiometers replacing the thyristors to give a variable output so I have no idea what f stops the are being set to. The drums are light with shot through umbrella slightly above the drums to camera left at about 1/3 power. My son is lit by a flash with a snoot about 2 feet above him and 45 degrees to his left at ¾ power. The third flash is on the ground behind him pointing up the wall at its lowest power setting to tone down the shadow caused by first flash. The wall is about 1.5 feet behind him. I just adjusted levels, dodged the whites of his eye and burned the glare on the drums. Do you have any tips to improve this shot?

Thanks
EJC

[AntZ]

Congrats on the purchase.
I don't know much about stobist setup, but I like the image. If I was going to change anything I might add some lighting to dark area between the drums as I find it a little distracting as there are a few shiny bits that draw my eye to the area.

[Marko]

IMO, this image is way too dark in all places. I would reshoot this image instead of trying to save it in PP.

I'd up the output on all three flashheads and pull the drum kit away from the wall. I'd also crop the top of the photo a bit.
Hope that helps - Marko



I finally got the light stands and umbrellas I ordered on E-Bay. My son wanted a cool shot of him at his drum kit. He wanted his drums to be quite noticeable. I though low key light would suit. My strobes are 3 Vivitar 283 flashes with variable potentiometers replacing the thyristors to give a variable output so I have no idea what f stops the are being set to. The drums are light with shot through umbrella slightly above the drums to camera left at about 1/3 power. My son is lit by a flash with a snoot about 2 feet above him and 45 degrees to his left at ¾ power. The third flash is on the ground behind him pointing up the wall at its lowest power setting to tone down the shadow caused by first flash. The wall is about 1.5 feet behind him. I just adjusted levels, dodged the whites of his eye and burned the glare on the drums. Do you have any tips to improve this shot?

[EJC]

Thanks for the input guys. Saving for web and devises in PS seems to darken images. Unfortunatly the room is too small to reposition the drums Marco although it would help get rid of the shadow. I'll burn the shiny bit as you suggest Antz