Cool [or is that "word" now], were close. Since the 60/40 is two heads, set the 60 as main, the 40 as fill. An umbrella should suck enough juice out of the 40 to account for a couple of stops, so it wont have to be so far away. Given a third light, use it to illuminate the background or as a hair/rim/edge light. On second thought, keep it simple, youre not allowed to use more than two lights for the next 6 months!(posted 8803 days ago)You have the concept down, but get gummed up when different numbers are plugged in. It's all about establishing a base reading, and then setting up each additional item from that. You need to know what you are after [hard light, spot look, or soft and romantic--weeeee] then use the appropriate items to create your vision. The higher the lighting ratio, the more dramatic the lighting effect. The farther the light is from the subject, the smaller the penumbra, and the larger the source the softer the look. F-stops and shutter speeds both effect exposure, but in their own ways. You have to know what everything does [or at least be big enough that clients are afraid to challenge your use of the now-notorious 60/40 lighting system for a Vogue cover shoot]
Being a photographer is about being able to decipher the vast combination of variables to achieve the look you are after. You need to build a real world database of experimental "when I do this, I get this" images. A good way to do that is with Polaroids because the results are immediate.
It can be said 100 different way's, and until you can come up with three different ways of obtaining the same end result you do not know your subject thoroughly. You're doing REALLY well for a "new guy", and you have my best wishes for success.
The two titles I will be in are: Provocative Shots and B/W Shots. They said it was due out in early March, but I still haven't received my comp'd copies yet, so who knows. The series [I think it's up to 16 or so volumes] is quite informative and forth coming.