[trishytee]

I have a rather small room in which I have my rather small studio. With white background I have no problems. With the black background I do have problems. This is that when I try to light my subject I get too much light on the back drop. Of course if I put the subject further away from the back drop, then went into the opposite room, I guess the problem would be solved. That is not an option though.
I have very old multi blitz which give me low or high light. One of the draw backs with the Pentax is the fixed shutter speed on flash. If I could shoot faster speeds I might get rid of some of the falling light. I can't up the f stop as then any 'noise'is highlighted. The only place I get any real help is on ths forum so ...help.
today I was advised to aim the lights at me, and use a reflector to direct the light onto the subject. Hmmm, a good way to be blinded it seems to me. So I await the valued opinion from you wise folk.
thanks, Trish

[Flugelbinder]

Snoot the speedlight. It will give you a more directional light, and you can aim it specifically at your subject, with more control over the fall-off.

[trishytee]

Snot the speedlight. It will give you a more directional light, and you can aim it specifically at your subject, with more control over the fall-off.

Well out of 77 viewers it's nice that you answered. But.. what is 'snot' (excepting that which comes from noses)?

[UncleVanya]

Could you follow the advice about aiming toward you and add some opaque shields to avoid blinding yourself? This seems like a place where umbrella lighting might work, reflecting back towards the subject and not blinding you.

[Al_Kahollick]

Well out of 77 viewers it's nice that you answered. But.. what is 'snot' (excepting that which comes from noses)?

I suspect he/she meant "snoot". Perhaps something like this would help? http://neilvn.com/tangents/?s=black+foamy+thing

[oxidized]

Besides the snoot it would help using a room w darker walls. White walls and low cieling makes it essentially impossible to control the light

[dakight]

I'm one of the viewers who didn't previously answer primarily because I have no direct experience. I only know what I have read and can logically deduce from that theoretical knowledge. My first thought was a to change the type of background you use for black to something that is less reflective. Also bounce lighting as suggested above and perhaps a diffuser to soften the light and reduce glare.


"Snot?", I dunno; perhaps he meant "shoot;" autocorrect and spell checkers can do some strange things particularly if perhaps he was responding from a tablet or smart phone.

[geru2000]

I have a rather small room in which I have my rather small studio. With white background I have no problems. With the black background I do have problems. This is that when I try to light my subject I get too much light on the back drop. Of course if I put the subject further away from the back drop, then went into the opposite room, I guess the problem would be solved. That is not an option though.
I have very old multi blitz which give me low or high light. One of the draw backs with the Pentax is the fixed shutter speed on flash. If I could shoot faster speeds I might get rid of some of the falling light. I can't up the f stop as then any 'noise'is highlighted. The only place I get any real help is on ths forum so ...help.
today I was advised to aim the lights at me, and use a reflector to direct the light onto the subject. Hmmm, a good way to be blinded it seems to me. So I await the valued opinion from you wise folk.
thanks, Trish

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.

[Flugelbinder]

I suspect he/she meant "snoot". Perhaps something like this would help? http://neilvn.com/tangents/?s=black+foamy+thing

Yes, of course...

[robgski]

Snot, however, might work as a gel on the lights, or as a soft focus filter on the lens.

[Flugelbinder]

Snot, however, might work as a gel on the lights, or as a soft focus filter on the lens.

Hehehe

[bmw]

I have a rather small room in which I have my rather small studio. With white background I have no problems. With the black background I do have problems. This is that when I try to light my subject I get too much light on the back drop. Of course if I put the subject further away from the back drop, then went into the opposite room, I guess the problem would be solved. That is not an option though.
I have very old multi blitz which give me low or high light. One of the draw backs with the Pentax is the fixed shutter speed on flash. If I could shoot faster speeds I might get rid of some of the falling light. I can't up the f stop as then any 'noise'is highlighted. The only place I get any real help is on ths forum so ...help.
today I was advised to aim the lights at me, and use a reflector to direct the light onto the subject. Hmmm, a good way to be blinded it seems to me. So I await the valued opinion from you wise folk.
thanks, Trish

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.

[bmw]

One other thing to keep in mind for making your background dark: the Inverse Square Law. Place your light(s) closer to your subject than the background is from your subject and the background will appear darker.

Here's an explanation ...

[Flugelbinder]

One other thing to keep in mind for making your background dark: the Inverse Square Law. Place your light(s) closer to your subject than the background is from your subject and the background will appear darker.

Here's an explanation ...

That might not work... "I have a rather small room in which I have my rather small studio..."

[bmw]

That might not work... "I have a rather small room in which I have my rather small studio..."

Being a physical law, the Inverse Square Law always works.

Practically, it might mean placing the lights very close indeed to the subject. In extremes, the OP might need to stick to smaller subjects too.