Studio Shoot

[egproductions]

I am going to do be doing my first studio shoot soon and would like some tips and suggestions for equipment I need that I don't already have.

This is for a fashion lookbook so in terms of camera my rebel xt will suffice. I am going to rent a 35mm 1.4 L. The Studio space is provided for me. The model just needs to be in front of a white backdrop that drapes on the floor. I have backdrop poles but don't know what kind of sheet or paper roll I should get. In terms of lighting I could go with constant or flash, but flash seems to be more expensive to rent (is it worth it, its also more confusing.) How do I light the situation should I actually light the backdrop itself? In the end I just need to shoot in the cleanest way in order to cut the model out easily. Any tips would be appreciated.

[egproductions]

For anyone interested, I decided to go with a profoto acute 1200 with two heads and I will use one constant lowel tota as ambient light. I will use one of the lights to strike a white roll paper backdrop. I am not going to be tethered to a laptop but I am going to have one to dump my shots off to. I will be firing my flashes with pocket wizards. Maybe I will post some samples after.

[CharlieG]

Why are you going with mixed lighting? You using one strobe for your key, the other one for your fill, and the hot light for what hair light? I guess you want your white background to go dark......If you need your background to go white you need to add light to it.....

[ilauzirika]

CharlieG, I understand that he is using one for the backdrop.

I will use one of the lights to strike a white roll paper backdrop.

[CharlieG]

CharlieG, I understand that he is using one for the backdrop.

And with the mixed color temp. light he's going to have major color problems unless
he gels the strobes to match the color temp of his tungsten light or vice versa & gel the tota to daylight it he uses the tota for lighting the background...

[egproductions]

I was planning on using the lowel tota with an ambrella as an overal ambient fill light so that I can turn the room lights off. Then I could take my ambient exposure and probably underexpose by two stops and match my strobes to fill the rest. One strobe will hit the paper and one to back or side light (whatever looks best. The strobes will be doing the bulk of the work so I don't think color temperature will be much of a problem. Are strobes always calibrated for daylight? Do umbrellas change the color temparature of a light?

[ilauzirika]

The strobes will be doing the bulk of the work so I don't think color temperature will be much of a problem

Well, I think that at least you should put a ctb in the tota just for making the difference less noticeable.

[egproductions]

ok should be easy enough, I will thank you.

[CharlieG]

I was planning on using the lowel tota with an ambrella as an overal ambient fill light so that I can turn the room lights off. Then I could take my ambient exposure and probably underexpose by two stops and match my strobes to fill the rest. One strobe will hit the paper and one to back or side light (whatever looks best. The strobes will be doing the bulk of the work so I don't think color temperature will be much of a problem. Are strobes always calibrated for daylight? Do umbrellas change the color temparature of a light?


Strobes are color balanced for daylight (6500K in general) and the Tota is at 3200K.
Umbrellas will not change the color temp. Using the Tota as a fill with a strobe as your main key would be a mistake IMO as you are going to have a color shift between the lights.. Gel the Tota with blue daylight gel and use it to light your paper and use the two strobe heads for the key/fill... Use a 3/1 ratio on your strobes..

[alveraz]

"How do I light the situation, should I actually light the backdrop itself?"

This made me nervous. Are you renting this space? Are you paying the model? Are you renting equipment? If you answer yes to any of these I would reconsider, sit back and learn lighting for a while and experiment with friends, using various backdrops, settings, lighting techniques, etc.

I only read your first post, so excuse me if I'm way off but this sounds a little too deep for what you know. Of course, if there's no out-of-pocket here, then what the hell, have fun and experiment away!

Either way, good luck and have fun!

[egproductions]

It's a paid gig and I am renting $80 in lighting. I have experience doing lighting and am confident it will look nice either way but I just wanted to get some suggestions on what is the usual setup for what I am trying to achieve.

[egproductions]

The end result is going to be something like this. http://egproductions.tv/designlayout2.htm

I did this layout and now I was asked to do the shoot for the next one.

[CharlieG]

It's a paid gig and I am renting $80 in lighting. I have experience doing lighting and am confident it will look nice either way but I just wanted to get some suggestions on what is the usual setup for what I am trying to achieve.

With the examples you used in the above with full length shots.....You are going to need MORE than 3 lights and forget the TOTA....

I just shot a billboard yesterday using the same background with full length subjects etc.
I used 5 strobes for the shoot, a 60 inch softbox, an Octabox as my key/fill. 2 strobes pointed at my white seamless and one strobe shooting through the sleamless back at the subject to eliminate the shadows caused be the key/fill.

That is my usual setup for the same shoot you want to do.....

[egproductions]

5 strobes really seems like overkill to me. I have shot good, even, shadowless bluescreen before with 3 lights, but now your scaring me. I will have to try the setup myself beforehand.

[CharlieG]

5 strobes really seems like overkill to me. I have shot good, even, shadowless bluescreen before with 3 lights, but now your scaring me. I will have to try the setup myself beforehand.


I apologize for scaring you. I've only been shooting & publishing photos for 40 years and I'm a very detailed person..... And when my client says he's buying space on 10 billboards and 5 of the new electronic billboards I am going to deliver the best product I can. I can only imagine the vehicle traffic that will see those 15 billboards daily for the 3 months looking at my photos and thinking WOW or YUCK...Guess I what I want them to think?

If you think 5 is overkill, Playboy uses on the average of 50 + lights for their Centerfold shot.

[egproductions]

thanks i'll consider what you said when I do the shoot.