A Princess' Photo Shoot (09/14/2010)

I finally finished editing the pictures from the princess who turned 3.  I didn't have to do a lot of editing put I had to go through a lot of pictures as I took over 200 photos.  Overall, I am pleased with the outcome and I am thankful for the opportunity to take pictures of such a beautiful little girl.  Below are the pictures and a card that was made.
The below pictures were shot using high key lighting.  This lighting scenario gives a clean and simple image and requires 4-5 lights (1 fill light, 1 key light, 1 hair light and 2 background lights).  I was able to shoot these high key portraits using only one background light.  The downfall of using one background light is that it is in the middle of the set up and can be seen in the picture if you don't have props to go in front.  This is where photoshop comes in as I was able to photoshop the background light out of the final pictures when necessary.
I took the following steps when taking these pictures.
1.  Set the lights up with a 3:1 ratio (f 5.6 :  f3.5)where the key light is 3x more powerful than the fill light.  The background light was set at f11 (at least two stops higher than the key light).  I used a Sekonic light meter to ensure the lights were set up properly.
2.  I used a photovision calibration target to ensure that I had a good white balance.
Finally, I had FUN, FUN, FUN taking pictures of the little Princess.