[trishytee]

I have the same room problem.

You could try and flag the strobe (place the flag between strobe and wall). I have a 5 and 1 reflector set that has a black side, I use this to flag my flash.

I'm not sure I understand your problem with a fixed shutter speed. Are you shooting in manual? I find this provides me the greater amount of options. I shoot with the K30 and as long as I stay at 180 or below shutter speed I have no problems, I can also adjust the aperture to my preference. The higher the shutter speed the less ambient light is allowed onto the sensor this produces the darker background.

I am able to turn a white wall to black by setting the shutter speed to 160, the subject was moved to about 8 feet off the wall (left me about 4 feet from the other wall) I used a 50 mm shooting from a kneeling position on the couch. The wall behind the subject was black but not as black as it could have been had I had another foot or two.

What I meant was that with the Pentax 180 is the 'fixed shutter speed' If I could go higher it would cut down the length of exposure on the black background.

---------- Post added 01-07-2015 at 10:18 PM ----------

You need to be very careful and exacting about light control when shooting in a small space with reflective surfaces. The good news is it can be done -- I do it regularly -- but the bad news, possibly, is that you will have to spend some money. You need to add things like black cards, or curtains (I use both foamcore and cheap IKEA curtains), softboxes with eggcrates, grids and/or snoots (not snots ).

You can line your walls with the curtains (just taped up is fine) or black foamcore (or black painted board of some sort) to avoid reflected light hitting your background. And by using grids / eggcrates in your softboxes you will force the light to only hit your subject and not the background.

Here's an example lighting test I did in my smallish office. White walls and ceiling, shiny hardwood floor, shooting in a space of about 11x11 feet. For this shot of my test mannequin I used a black backdrop, hung black IKEA curtains to either side. The single light source is an AF540FGZ flash inside a Westcott Apollo Strip softbox with 40 degree grid attached. Shot is pretty much right out of camera.

I wish I had a mannequin to practice with. I do have black backdrops, and room is blacked out with black curtains. I'm unsure of what you mean about 'egg crates' or is that what we would call 'egg cartons' the packet the eggs come in? How do you use them?
I find with one light, on one subject I have no problems if I an trying for nice shadows, but for portraits with more than one person...that's where the problems of lighting the backdrop come in. I'not too sure about the flag meaning either. thanks for the help

[UncleVanya]

Maybe pictures or links to pictures of the suggested improvements would help. Maybe photos showing the space and the problem shots would also...

[BrianR]

I'm unsure of what you mean about 'egg crates' or is that what we would call 'egg cartons' the packet the eggs come in? How do you use them?

They control spill: Light Controls - Egg Crates, an Introduction...

What I meant was that with the Pentax 180 is the 'fixed shutter speed' If I could go higher it would cut down the length of exposure on the black background.

Are you mixing ambient light with the strobes/flashes? Indoors, the 1/180th sync limit isn't typically a problem if you stick to lighting with strobes, you should have no problems killing the ambient. Heavy curtains may be needed if there's a sunny window nearby..