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03-28-2009, 01:55 AM   #1
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Help with studio lighting

Not sure if this is the place, so any info on where to go (now now), would be appreciated. I am looking for advice on lighting white backdrop. I only have a small space, so cannot set up proper lighting for the background. I have three lights (old but good). I noticed that the baby photo people in the shopping malls have smaller areas than me, and they light their backdrop with two small lights with snoods. I spent most the day making hoders for my two flash units; one a pentax and one non pentax. I put some paper on the ends to direct the light onto the backdrop. Have to say not a huge success, one being the flashes kept turning themselves off! My paper is 10ft wide, and the room is 12ft. But I reckon if those baby picture folk can do it in a teeny space I should be able to! So any help would be great. If I could work out a way to put photos on here straight from my computer I could show you my examples.

03-28-2009, 05:12 PM   #2
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Actually, it's far more difficult to illuminate a large surface evenly. Forget the snoots (or attempts to mimic snoots) since you need illumination spread over the entire large background. From your description, it appears you have only three lights (hotshoe-mount portable strobes) to illuminate both your subject and background. In this case, I would recommend one flash on the floor directly behind your subject to illuminate the background, with the other two used to illuminate your subject. If you want all your subject (head to foot) in the image, use a boom to place the background light source out of view above your subject.

If illumination from the background source falls on your subject, attach a piece of white paper between that light source and your subject (rubber band around the strobe head), using paper no larger than necessary to prevent the illumination falling on the subject (don't want to block background illumination). By the way, white paper was suggested since black absorbs light, an undesirable result with weaker portable strobes (no need to reduce the illumination even further).

Another lighting option is two lights opposite each other at a 45° angle from the background, far enough away to provide even lighting without hot spots. This leaves only one light to illuminate your subject, which means a reflector as your second light source for the subejct. However, hotshoe-type flash units may not have sufficient power to fully illuminate an area as large as a 10-ft background in this manner. Resolve this by moving the lights closer to the background (maintain that 45° angle), reducing the area illuminated (the center of the background directly behind your subject instead of the entire background).

Still another option is not to illuminate the background at all. This allows two lights for the subject overall, as well as a hairlight to separate the subject's hair from the background. This lighting arrangement, combined with a darker, out of focus (depth of field), background, can be very dramatic.

Ultimately, the key is to experiment until your find the lighting arrangement your prefer. With enough experience, you'll be able to see what lighting was used in someone else's image and easily duplicate that yourself. Until then, keep at it.

stewart
03-28-2009, 07:22 PM   #3
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Stewart, thanks so much for that, i have actually taken notes (yes on paper). I have mislead you a little. I have three studio lights old multiblitz of which I use two on the subject, and (all this on black background so far) one to back light hair if it is needed, and with the latter just the light with no fittings. So with the white paper, I know I have no room to stand the third light, which is why I spent all day trying to set up the flash units. Certainly did not think of putting the flash units behind the subject (two stuffed toys on a chair for now). so should I dismantle the small flashes and try turning my third light around. I would need to take it off its stand as no room, but I guess I could put it on a sand bag or such?
Look forward to your answer. Thanks again.
trish
03-28-2009, 09:48 PM   #4
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Thanks again Stewart. I have tried this with just the flash (as my lamps all have too many cords to hide) and the background turned out really good. My subject though is a tad washed out. Any hints on what to do there. I have not learned how to put pictures on this site or I could show you the results.

03-29-2009, 03:06 PM   #5
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I was using a two light strobe setup when I captured this series, but used a VERY old Vivitar flash attached to an optical slave to illuminate the backdrop. For the backdrop, I just used a large piece of white foam board and placed the Vivitar on the ground pointed up at the foam board.
03-29-2009, 06:12 PM   #7
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Code - The only problem is, your background isn't 255 white (in fact you have a slight magenta cast). Which might be fine for your purposes, but if you truly want a white background, you would need more light on it. Or you could get rid of the background in photoshop.

Thrisytee - Your light ratio's are off. Keep experimenting.

Here is a recent white background shot that I have done:





Also...Here is a site someone recently turned me onto. This might not be ideal info for the OP, but it should give the fundamental idea:

Zack Arias - Atlanta based editorial music photographer White Seamless Tutorial :: Part 1 :: Gear & Space

matt rickman
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03-29-2009, 06:12 PM   #8
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ah max.. you beat me to the punch...

matt rickman
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03-29-2009, 06:15 PM   #9
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also ...

Here is the approximate lighting setup that I used for this shot:



The key light is a 540 and the two background lights are 360's. Fired from the on camera flash.


matt rickman
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03-29-2009, 06:55 PM   #10
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Cripes, Max, your model must have got a sore botty! Thanks all, yes I must play with my fbits. Keep up the advice! Have looked at the site mentioned, so I am whimpering in the corner, and feeling even more inadequate.
03-30-2009, 01:38 AM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by trishytee Quote
(snip) I have not learned how to put pictures on this site or I could show you the results.

General instructions to posting images to internet forums...


1. Using an image editor on your computer, shrink the image down to a reasonable size to display on the forum. Don't post huge images in forums.

2. Upload your image to an online image hosting site. Most forums do not host images, nor are able to access images stored on your computer. ImageShack is an example, but there are many hosting sites to choose from.

3. Open a new message in the forum and paste the following text into that message exactly as it appears: [IMG]your image URL here[/IMG]

4. Obtain the URL for your image on the image hosting site...
4a. On the "My Images" page of ImageShack (the page showing all your uploaded images), click on the tiny "Image Details" icon next to the image you want.
4b. The image URL ("http://....") is listed first (abbreviated "IM") on the next page. Select and copy that entire URL.

5. Replace the words "your image URL here" in the message created in step 4 with the URL obtained from the image hosting site. The "[IMG]" and "[/IMG]" tags must remain intact.

6. Click on the message preview button. If the previous steps were done correctly, you should be able to see your image in the new message.

7. Click on the message submit button to post your message to the forum.


These instructions will usually work with any internet forum.

stewart
03-30-2009, 02:06 AM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by trishytee Quote
Stewart, thanks so much for that, i have actually taken notes (yes on paper). I have mislead you a little. I have three studio lights old multiblitz of which I use two on the subject, and (all this on black background so far) one to back light hair if it is needed, and with the latter just the light with no fittings. (snip)

Without seeing the images and knowing exactly what you're using, it's very difficult to provide a specific solution. I've emailed you as per your request. I've also given instructions here about how to post images.

In this particular forum, you can also upload and attach images directly to individual messages. On any message creation page, click on the "paperclip" attachment icon towards the top. A window will appear which allows you to upload image files. Browse to find the image file on your computer, select, and then click the "upload" button. When you're finished uploading, close that window and click on the "paperclip" attachment icon in the message creation page again. You'll now see your newly uploaded image listed. Select that to insert the image into your message.

stewart
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