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Due to space restrictions i am very limited to the amount of shots i can do for family portraits. I have been thinking about how i could perhaps change my lighting setup to enable me to take more types of shots and have came up with the idea of placing a light behind the background like they do with the hilite background. At the moment i am using the 1.37 metre colorama paper background. I have stoped using my background support stand and instead peg the background to the curtain rail and roll it out and it gives me about 1ft more space length wise. I get some good shots when i am able to conceal a bare bulb flash behind the subject when out of view but when i have softboxes of to the side of the background i need to move my subjects closer to me to avoid the backlight spilling on to them. This means that it narrows the radius in which i have to keep my subjects from going outwith the bounderies of the background making shot unusable. I was thinking about getting some cheap portaflash heads to place on the windowsill and floor behind the background. Can anyone advise if this will work or advice on any other methods that could be used to utilise the space i have to better effect?
james
Quote: James, your best bet is two lights either side of your subject to light the background and another light for your subject then. Forget about this idea of lighting from behind cause it don't really work well ( I've tried )
I dont have enough room at either side of background for 2 lights. I get drop of. When i have a light at the side for the background i need to move my subjects forward and as a result i get a reduced area where by part of them that i want to be in the frame is out with the background perameters. Take the family portrait in my pf as an example. I had the baby sitting on a footstool with both parents at the side. I had an even smaller footstool at the back of the people with a bear bulb on it for the background. I am just so limited to the poses i can do. I just worry that a client might get a preconceived idea when they book me about what poses they would like and i cant facilitate it. I want to move my photography packages up a level now as i am getting more and more bookings
so need to try and usilise the space and equipment i have to the best i can.
It's always a struggle in a small studio, you just have to limit yourself to what the space will allow. But there are things you can do, and lighting the background from behind is definately one of them.
See this video
Back lighting does work and works well - so don't be put off - but you need space to do it.
The trouble with a small space is bounce light - if you try to white out the background, so much light comes off the paper, walls and ceiling your subject exposure goes all over the place.
So either find a bigger space - church hall or shoot low key - you'll get better results - unless the client really, really wants white background.
It has been mentioned in other replys, but rather than trying to make the space suitable for your lighting set up why not change your lighting set up to suit the space.
Just a thought.....
Personally I'd say it would be having used one - very space efficient - you'll nee two lights for the background, then 1 + reflector or 2 lights for the subject at the front.
Quote: Is The Lastolite Hilite an option?
It could be an option but would the studio light stands sitting on the train damage it? What lights would i need to put in to it? I have heard it is difficult to light evenly!
James
Hi ya, two lights go in the back and ar zipped into the sides pointing back towards the wall - the flash bounces around inside the backdrop to create the even lighting, use a matched pair - ideally or say 2 x 250w heads but you'd have to balance them.
the trian is hard waering - the stands won't damage it your customer will - always go for no shoes.
Front lighting again 2 x 250w heads would be nice - id not go 1 x 250w head and get a reflector and hand hold to add in bounced light the side of the model / subject - else put the reflector on a stand - interfit do a ncie set up.
I use the elinchrm d-lites and love them but dont want to spend to much on lights to go in a highlight background. what budget kit will be powerful enough to do the job? Would a couple of old portalights do the job ok. Would i have to worry about colour temperature using different lights or would it not matter because they are in the background. james
watch cheap lights as they can get very hot - yes watch colour temp but if you shoot with enough of a difference between background and foreground - thn blown out white should be white.
Keep your D-lites for the front - maybe look at some Interfit lights or even another set of D-lites - keep it all the same if possible.
Shooting studio isn't cheap as you need the right kit to give the customer a quality image.
D-lights are good - used some a while back - personally I use 500w Bowens gear.
As someone else has suggested, unless you have a large space you'll find you get very low contrast with a strongly lit white background whether its lit from the front or rear. This can be handy for certain specific style of shot, but its hard to get the dark bits dark.
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