DIY home studio lighting - urgent help

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Hi guys, I have agreed to do some head and shoulder portraits for a family member on saturday. They are for PR on the company she works for's website.

I have a big white cloth back drop and the rig etc to hold it. I also have one speedlight with a stand and umbrella.

The question is do I need to acquire a 2nd speedlight by saturday to light the background? I am having a little trouble getting a good clean white from the background with only 1 speedlight :/

help is MUCH appreciated as I am finding it hard to locate a decent tutorial for a single light setup (maybe because it is stupid to use just 1? :S)

Thanks very much,
Alex
 
al. said:
Hi guys, I have agreed to do some head and shoulder portraits for a family member on saturday. They are for PR on the company she works for's website.

I have a big white cloth back drop and the rig etc to hold it. I also have one speedlight with a stand and umbrella.

The question is do I need to acquire a 2nd speedlight by saturday to light the background? I am having a little trouble getting a good clean white from the background with only 1 speedlight :/

help is MUCH appreciated as I am finding it hard to locate a decent tutorial for a single light setup (maybe because it is stupid to use just 1? :S)

Thanks very much,
Alex
Click to expand...

In a word, yes :( where are you based (on phone) do you know anyone you could borrow from?
 
At least one more speedlight would be useful, for a true white background you'll need one light (minimum) for just the background.

Have a look at this free e-book for some basic set-ups. It will take a while to download as it's a large file. The set-ups show studio lights but substitute you speedlight(s). The first set of lighting set-ups are all one-light, note that none of them have a white background. If you have to stick with one light consider changing to a deliberately darker background. Something like #7 on page 26 would be achievable with one light, a DIY softbox (google "diy softbox" and you'll find plans) and a large sheet of white paper/card (or your white background sheet) as a reflector. Page 66 is also worth a look for a more complex one-light and reflectors set-up.
 
You might achieve a decent result with diffuse window light and the speedlight to light the background. Window light can light a headshot beautifully -Jane Bown has used it throughout her career.
 
Alastair said:
At least one more speedlight would be useful, for a true white background you'll need one light (minimum) for just the background.

Have a look at this free e-book for some basic set-ups. It will take a while to download as it's a large file. The set-ups show studio lights but substitute you speedlight(s). The first set of lighting set-ups are all one-light, note that none of them have a white background. If you have to stick with one light consider changing to a deliberately darker background. Something like #7 on page 26 would be achievable with one light, a DIY softbox (google "diy softbox" and you'll find plans) and a large sheet of white paper/card (or your white background sheet) as a reflector. Page 66 is also worth a look for a more complex one-light and reflectors set-up.
Click to expand...

Incredible link! I've been looking for something just like this, thank you.

ETA- Sorry for the thread hijack!
 
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