Lighting for Portraits

S

sbryan

Well-known member
I had a small task sprung on me this morning: take photos for six people to use until November and I need it done by Thursday afternoon.

I need to rent a light kit & a backdrop, but I have no clue what to look for in lighting. I heard to stay away from Tungsten Lights, and go for a Monolight instead. Will a monolight and a reflector be enough to do some quick grabs of employees?

I can live if it's not 100% perfect. After all, these photos are only temporary. I'm just looking to do better than the DMV photos...

I'm using a Canon XTi, stock lens, stock flash.

Also, please reccomend some lighting bibles for me to brush up on.

Thank you!
 
is there a reason you need a backdrop? Is it going to be a passport type picture or what?

You probably don't need a light kit. You can fake a backdrop,,,use some natural light and some to reflect light.
 
Zim said:
is there a reason you need a backdrop? Is it going to be a passport type picture or what?

You probably don't need a light kit. You can fake a backdrop,,,use some natural light and some to reflect light.
Click to expand...

I would like that professional gray gradient backdrop. It's used a lot in the engineering industry.

By natural light you mean... higher wattage bulb and some reflectors? What kind of reflectors? The cheapo particle board, or the space-blanket-looking stuff?
 
it would help to know what your going to use the pictures for.

I've taken employee pictures for things like employee of the month. Sometimes i find a good window and use that light. Sometimes with just a little fill flash from my flash. I will sometimes use it off camera.

I have a fold out reflector that I use sometimes to light up their face.

It just depends on what your wanting to do......if it is a passport type picture don't rent a lot of lighting. You can do a lot with a good flash and some natural light.....from a window or even take the picture outside.
 
These photos will probably end up in:

1. Project Materials -- We submit a photo of the employee along with their qualifications on a per job basis.

2. A Powerpoint on the lobby LCD. 600x600 pixels, roughly.

3. Website. 400x400 pixels, roughly.

I also want the background to be exactly the same on each employee photo. Using outside light might not be sufficient...
 
If I was going to do it with the known resources at hand.

Find a gray sheet, pin it to a wall real tight to get all the wrinkles out.

Get a high wattage bulb 250+ and put a white sheet or a piece of diffusion in front of it if you have it. Bounce a little underneath to kill the chin shadows a little. You can use a car window reflector, space blanket stretched out over some cardboard....or a 5 in 1....if you have that.

Doesn't matter if it tungsten or not. Color balance in post, shoot raw. Don't know if you can....not familiar with Canon.

Or you can spend 10K on lighting and a backdrop, and a muslin, and, and, and....

Just don't know what you have available already. But that would be the cheap and dirty way to do it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top