This is what a test session looks like. I just wanted to mess around with an octagon softbox directly overhead. I’ve got a great boom stand, but before I really start using this setup, I want to be absolutely sure it works and holds. So, I tested it on myself. The key light was all over the place but that wasn’t my top concern this session.
Once again, you want to experiment with your gear. Even simple experiments like this one. Aside from getting affirmation about the stability of my gear, I also figured out some more stuff about my remote, my strobes, and my processing tools. Did I get paid to do this session? Of course not, no one is paying for pictures of me but the knowledge gained from this session will carry on to every other session including paid sessions.
One other point – if you aren’t willing to do it yourself, then you probably shouldn’t get others to do it either. I now know my boom stand will hold, but I would have hated to find out it wouldn’t with someone else sitting under it. Now I feel confident using an overhead octagon softbox should the need arise.
Finally, for this set up, I used an octagon soft box overhead and essentially a white sock over the key light. In addition to testing the overhead setup I wanted to see just how lazy I could be with the key light. This sounds awful but keep in mind that you never know when and what will fail but at some point everything fails. Maybe you stay ahead of the failures or maybe you have to improvise on the spot. That is why I occasionally try out what I consider to be lazy setups.