morgan_moore
Major Contributor
Sorry to the OP for jacking. Combat.. of course this light looks great, but it cant be done in a small room with the OPs resources.
How to light this room?
- Thread starter patrickbaldwin
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combatentropy
Veteran
I tend to disagree, and I don't want to argue much longer, so maybe we can agree to disagree. Here is my long last reply. I had hoped that I could have left it at the short snippets: "What about this, but don't take my word for it, test. Modify as necessary."
1. The room looks long enough
2. Only 6 subjects total, in a U shape. I take that to mean probably 2 and 2 and 2. So the length on each side is just two people.
3. I was thinking the light up high at the ceiling, at back of room, big softbox. By "one point" I did not necessarily mean 1 light. Could be 2 or 3, so long as they look to be one big soft source. The point was that it be simple but a little directional, for the sake of visual interest. The mistake some people make, including me in a past life, was to freak out when there are many subjects, and then overlight it into a hodgepodge of lights pointing everywhere. The first photo was not meant to be slavishly mimicked. It was a little strong, to emphasize that the light was (a) directional and (b) soft. The light I would put if I were lighting this would not be quite that far to the side, more like the classic portrait angle of 45 degrees up and 45 degrees in front. May need two big soft lights, one for each leg of the U. The bottom of the U ends up being flat lit, because the lights are pointing straight at it, but oh well. Also the first example photo has a black background, while the real location has white walls, which would moderate the lighting ratios even more.
P.S. Yes, I am aware of the inverse square law, both for miking and for lighting. Pro tip: put your lav near the heart, not the collar, so that if the subject turns his head while speaking, the change in volume is less noticeable.
1. The room looks long enough
2. Only 6 subjects total, in a U shape. I take that to mean probably 2 and 2 and 2. So the length on each side is just two people.
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o o3. I was thinking the light up high at the ceiling, at back of room, big softbox. By "one point" I did not necessarily mean 1 light. Could be 2 or 3, so long as they look to be one big soft source. The point was that it be simple but a little directional, for the sake of visual interest. The mistake some people make, including me in a past life, was to freak out when there are many subjects, and then overlight it into a hodgepodge of lights pointing everywhere. The first photo was not meant to be slavishly mimicked. It was a little strong, to emphasize that the light was (a) directional and (b) soft. The light I would put if I were lighting this would not be quite that far to the side, more like the classic portrait angle of 45 degrees up and 45 degrees in front. May need two big soft lights, one for each leg of the U. The bottom of the U ends up being flat lit, because the lights are pointing straight at it, but oh well. Also the first example photo has a black background, while the real location has white walls, which would moderate the lighting ratios even more.
P.S. Yes, I am aware of the inverse square law, both for miking and for lighting. Pro tip: put your lav near the heart, not the collar, so that if the subject turns his head while speaking, the change in volume is less noticeable.
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legrevedotcom
Veteran
Drape the windows further with offwhite fabric across the entire window. Place decoration lights outside to fit your needs.
Light from above, maybe a little in front off, with soft lights, skirted to close down the light hitting the wall behind them.
Light from above, maybe a little in front off, with soft lights, skirted to close down the light hitting the wall behind them.
Chris Santucci
Veteran
You should find out for sure, because that's exactly with you need to do and hang a lightweight china ball in the center.
combatentropy
Veteran
Hey, I was just wondering if you went ahead with this shoot and how it turned out.
patrickbaldwin
Well-known member
It would have been this weekend but has been postponed for a month. I will come back and report hopefully with crappy iPhone set up shot at least!!
Grug
Veteran
I use Grad NDs pretty frequently to fix issues like that, when there isn't enough space to let inverse square law take care of the problem.