[dndcdr]

I purchased 2 flourescent studio lights, 5 lights in each bank. I will be taking the pictures at home and just need some advice. I will be using a K10D with no flash, just daylight balanced lighting

1. To create the effect of blowing hair, would a regular house fan work?
2. ISO 100 @ F8 with a shutter speed of 125 will be ok, but I am looking for a grid which will show the shutter speed and F stop. I had one years ago, but can't find it. Could someone post a lik if they know where one is?
3. I was thinking of putting one light behind me ad the other one at a 45 degree angle and a white or gold reflectoe right beside my subject. it will be 90 degrees in relation to my main light. Would there be a better way?
4. I have a black and white backdrop, as well as a grey one. I don't want to change backdrops all day long. I am 50/50 on black or white. Subject has blonde hair.

I thank everyone in advance for their input.

[jatrax]

Not sure a house fan would work unless it was very close. Maybe a hair dryer with the heat turned off?

[maxfield_photo]

To create the effect of blowing hair, would a regular house fan work?

I've used a regular floor fan before with some success, but you will need to get it fairly close to your model, the determining factor will be how wide you want to shoot. Remember if you're shooting in portrait orientation, you will need to leave some negative space to the left and right of your subject so that you can crop (vertically) as desired and still maintain a certain aspect ratio. I would recommend getting a slightly more powerful work fan (you know, the all metal kind) from your local hardware store.

ISO 100 @ F8 with a shutter speed of 125 will be ok, but I am looking for a grid which will show the shutter speed and F stop. I had one years ago, but can't find it. Could someone post a lik if they know where one is?

I think you mean a neutral density filter, I normally use a 2 stop filter in the studio when I do group shoots and can't control the lighting myself, this let's me shoot at f/4 when everyone else is at f/8. If you really do mean a grid, I'd have to know what type of speedring or softbox you're using.

I was thinking of putting one light behind me ad the other one at a 45 degree angle and a white or gold reflectoe right beside my subject. it will be 90 degrees in relation to my main light. Would there be a better way?

Usually if you place one light at 45 degrees left, then the other goes at 45 degrees right. If you place one light behind you, then it's common to place the other in front and below you angled up(i.e. clam shell lighting), but there is no "right" way to do it, it just depends on the look you're trying to achieve. Your idea will work, but I would opt for the white reflector, the gold will look weird with white lighting. Also you will want to move your fill light back (or turn off some of the bulbs) until it meters about a stop ~ a stop and a half under your main light.

I have a black and white backdrop, as well as a grey one. I don't want to change backdrops all day long. I am 50/50 on black or white. Subject has blonde hair. I thank everyone in advance for their input.

Again, it all depends on the look you're going for. Blonde hair will naturally stand out against the gray or black backdrop, and with white you pretty much need to light the background separately, that means more lights than you have at your disposal. Black can be tricky too because you need to keep the light from hitting it, but if you want to do some cool chiaroscuro lighting, black is nice. If you want the easiest but-still-looks-good background, I would opt for gray.

[Ben_Edict]

The choice of the background colour should depend on what suits your subject and the mood you want to create. Both, black and white backdrops would isolate your subject.

A black backdrop often allows for more dramatic lighting, also disguising shadows, which otherwise would be visible on the background. So, it may be a sensible choice to start exploring studio photography.

A white backdrop could be used to create a high key photograph. Generally a white background makes for a brighter, less dramatic image, which might be desirable if it suites your subject. Also, a white backdrop makes it easy to create a gradient or a grey background, just by varying the distance and angle, at which a light is placed from it.

Ben

[einstrigger]

I'm not an expert, but here are some opinions and questions:

1. What kind of portrait are you looking to shoot? Head, 3/4, full shots? Blowing hair is hard to do without a very strong fan. Hair dryers won't work unless you're very close, but risk getting the dryer in the frame unless you're just doing a head shot. You could try just having the subject swing her head (I'm assuming female long hair) and use a faster shutter speed to capture the movement. Since you're not using flash, you should up the shutter speed to capture hair movement.

2. I'm not sure what you're referring to here. When I think "grid" i'm thinking something used to make light more directional.

3. Will you and the main light be right in front of the subject? If so, why do you need the 45 degree light? Is it a hairlight? If the light is right in front, I'm assuming the shadows will fall in the usual places (e.g. beneath nose, chin, eyes, etc...) So I'm guessing you're using the reflector for fill in those areas. Lighting is a matter of taste, regardless of existing rules. Try it with ther 45 degree light and without to see which you prefer.

4. It's relatively easy to turn a white or grey background black, using directional flash, high shutter, and distance. Since you're not, it's going to come down to personal preference and what you want to achieve (i.e. high key or low key). If you don't want to change backdrops all day, you should consider using flash vs. florescent lighting.

[GibbyTheMole]

One of these should do it:

FlowPro High Velocity Floor Fan — 18in., 4550 CFM, 1/8 HP, Model# 10180 | Floor Fans | Northern Tool + Equipment

I have one & it moves a lot of air.

Cheers,
Bobbo :-)

[dndcdr]

thanks for the info? I was looking for an exposure chart. I know about ND filters. Thanks. I would like to shoot at about 1/250s I hate to do the math to figure out which apeture would work. I can never remember the corilations

[maxfield_photo]

Oh, well that's easy. Since you're using continuous lights, you don't have to worry about hitting your max sync speed or anything, so if you're at ISO 100 and f/8 @ 1/125th looks good here are some other combinations that will work as well:

ISO 100
f/2.8 @ 1/1000th
f/4 @ 1/500th
f/5.6 @ 1/250th
f/8 @ 1/125th
f/11 @ 1/60th

Or if f/5.6 is too shallow and you want to give yourself a bigger safety net for focusing errors, bump your ISO up to 200, and then use this chart.

ISO 200
f/5.6 @ 1/500th
f/8 @ 1/250th
f/11 @ 1/125th
f/16 @ 1/60th

[dndcdr]

thanks maxfield_photo, that wil work great.