Playing With Two Flashes

My buddy Mark has a balcony with a gorgeous view...and a flash. I was glad I lugged my off-camera lighting kit with me to Southern California, because now I had two flashes, a light stand, a shoot-through umbrella, and a tripod at my disposal. I sensed an opportunity for some photographic fun! I wanted to try adding a rim light to provide some drama. I did this by putting the first flash on the tripod at 9:00 camera left and angling it away from the camera. I shot the key light through the umbrella at 4:00 camera right on the light stand. Unfortunately, the camera left side of everyone's face was too dark (especially Mark's because of his infernal baseball cap!), so I turned the rim light into the fill light by moving it to 8:00 camera left. Looking back, I should have upped the power of the key light and moved it to 7:00 camera right to provide a bit more light on their faces instead of moving the rim light. Final lighting setup: I have to admit that I don't like how the photo turned out. It lacks "drama". I should have turned down the power of the left flash to increase the contrast between the right and left sides of their faces. Looking at this photo again, it actually looks like my "fill light" put out more light than the "key light". I really need to be more careful of the lighting ratios! Despite the disappointing result, I am very grateful to my friends for letting me use them as guinea pigs. I learned a lot and it sure beats taking photos of myself!