Edmond,
I followed your suggestion and underexposed by about 1 1/4 stop and this seemed to help. I still need to work on improving and get this figured out, but thanks for the help.
Greg
Greg,
Yes, I recognise a bit of what I'd call the dreaded "CMOS look", and what everyone on forum tells me doesn't exist and I'm imagining as an armchair photographer. You've got it almost under control. I remember having the same issues. I would go down by another stop (just in the Raw file, bring back in post) , take the strobes down there if you can (even if it crushes the blacks in the end) and use a lens that is a bit wider open to get some sparkle effects on the skin. You probably need to really cut the strobe light levels, if your units can do that. Figure out how to recreate a filmlike highlight rolloff in post. You will also probably have to deal with texture loss in the speculars on the forehead, nose and cheekbones with makeup, and use more diffused or redirected light. Get someone who is a bit smarter than me about studio to help you here (they'll tell you I've got it all wrong, but at least they'll help) - or just use your old setup - if the camera took good pics, and the software rendered nicely, why break something that works?
In my short stints shooting people with strobes a long time ago I had similar issues with some cameras and not others. My feeling is that with skin color and texture issues it's usually easier to just use lights and a camera that works like you like it, rather than spend days and days fixing the pics from the setup that doesn't. And happily you already own a camera that works.
I wish someone with real and current practical experience would chime in, there are some really experienced studio photographers on this forum.
Edmund