Best type of background

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Patrick
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Hi all,

I am new to the forum, but not to photography.

I am a little bit of an old school black-and-white person.

Anyway here goes, My 1st question, what is the best type of background to use, for what they call High key fashion shots?

I've seen a system called Lastolite Hi-Lite Background has anybody used one of these? Or is anybody using one of these? And what kind of results are you getting?

Are they worth considering, I have been using plain white paper roll for the last few years, but I'm looking at using something that takes up less room.

I would appreciate any comments or suggestions you have.

Thanks very much.:)

Patrick.
 
Paper's the best solution really. Lets you stop it down or not light it to get gorgeous grey too.

Any other alternative will use just as much space, except maybe a hi-lite which will be a couple feet thinner, but almost every example I've seen of it being used has looked flarey and rubbish.

If you're shooting just individuals or 2 people, a 1.35m roll of paper takes up a lot less space than a full width roll.
 
Thanks for the comments.

I have tried fabrics the only problem is they tend to crease quite a bit.

"Paper's the best solution really. Lets you stop it down or not light it to get gorgeous grey too."
Click to expand...

yes I agree about the paper, I wasn't sure whether the lastolite would be a clean background if it was lit from behind.

I think looking at prices well I might well give it a miss this year.

Looking at trying to get something that is very portable. Taken into people's houses may present a problem.

I did look at the pop-up background is anybody using those and do they the job?

Thanks for all your comments much appreciated.

Patrick
 
Yes. I've used the hilite a lot. It's pretty versatile for head and shoulders / 3/4 shots. For full length it gets trickier. I don't have the train but I don' believe it's anything like as easy to light as you see in the movies.

You can set them up in reasonably small spaces though you need to be careful to light them to the bare minimum to avoid flare.

I hate pop ups. IMO they need stands to support them if the public are going to be around and you use the marginal advantages once you start erecting stands and using sandbags.

I also hate cloth ;) As you say, lots of creases and you can spend a lot of time steaming them out.

I actually prefer to work with the walls in houses. You can get colour, texture and variety.

This is a papered wall in a hotel.

hilite_004.jpg


The following shots are all UNLIT hilts. Some have light directed at them like a traditional background but there are no lights inside.

hilite_001.jpg


hilite_002.jpg


hilite_003.jpg


With lights inside you can get very clean effects.
 
Thanks Jonathan for the information.

I like the photographs you have put up, I hope that I can do same kind of creative photography you have achieved, obviously takes a lot of practice.

At the moment I am using speedlites and really haven't done a great deal, just been testing a few things.

With any luck I may be able to buy the lastolite hilite and the train. I understand that it can be a bit tricky to light, when doing full-length shots.

I just needed to know whether people had used it whether it was worth paying out money.

Many thanks much appreciated the information.
 
Hi,
We have got the hi lite background and must say not really had a problem lighting it, but do agree you need to be careful you don't have it too high so as to burn out the subject.
The only problem we have found so far is that with more than 2 or 3 people it just isn't wide enough. We have the 7x6' and have had 2 groups of 6 children to shoot and I have ended up spending hours touching up the edges of the photos because the backdrop was just too narrow.

Going to consider a rail system with paper as an addition to the hi lite for the times we have more than 3 clients.

As for shooting a couple of people I think they are superb and well worth the money ( for high key anyway ). You also get a black cloth that fits onto the system which also gives a nice background without being lit.

Steve
 
Hi Steve,

Thanks for the comments the information is always very welcome.

Yes I've been toying with the idea of getting the lastolite hilite I still haven't made up my mind whether it's the right thing to get, at the moment. I'm just trying to keep everything as light as possible, and in the smallest spaces.

I am considering whether to buy a 50 inch large soft box the Wescott 50, it's around about the same price as the lastolite hilite, planning On testing my theories over the Christmas period to see how much space I need to create a reasonable portrait.

I would like to do full length shoots as well, although I think I will definitely need a bigger soft box.

I've only really just managed to get all of the equipment together, I have used studio equipment in the main studio on many occasions, but I really want to try perfecting some kind of style using speed lights and light modifiers. I have been looking at recently is a guy called Joe McNally who has done a great deal with speed lights.

But the moment it's all experimental, I have a long way to go though.

Not sure if hi Key images is the kind is the work I want to do, it Seems to be what most photographers are doing, I would like to do something different, and am sure everybody wants to do the same.

Thanks a lot Steve much appreciated.
 
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