Best of a sequence - planning

My plans for this project were intended to build on the things I had learned in the previous exercise:

- I wanted to improve the flash lighting set up so that the areas surrounding the eyes were better lit.

- I wanted to have another go at directing a model.

For some tips on using camera flash units, I looked at "Digital Field Guide" for Nikon D200 by David Busch and Michael Freeman's "Light" from Collins Photography Workshop series (my copy is the 1992 edition which is old but OK for this type of question). I also attended an evening on Lighting held by Guildford Photographic Society last week in which one of an experienced club members demonstrated various set ups using both continuous and flash lighting units.

I decided to do another session in our living room as I could bounce flash off white walls and ceilings to give a diffuse light. I wanted the light source to be close to the side of the camera this time, directed towards the subject so that the eyes were fully lit. I planned a couple of lighting arrangements, one with an upright chair for the subject to sit on or stand by, and another where the subject would be seated on a settee.

My wife agreed to be my subject for this session. I hoped to take a sequence of standing poses, followed by a sequence with her seated on the upright chair. Depending on the outcome, I could also take some different poses using the settee.

I also thought I would try using manual settings for exposure, flash power etc as I hoped that this would result in less variability in the photographs.