HELP NEEDED - Children Portraits

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Mackie

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I've finally got all my studio equipment sorted and set up. Backdrop stand with white and black back drops, Bowens Gemini 400/400 kit, one Experimental 36in softbox and two shoot through/reflector umbrellas.

I'm having my first shoot on Wednesday of my neice and nephew for some experience and a bit of experimenting.

I'm confident it will go well, but I was wondering if I could see how you guys would set up the equipment, and a few tips on the matter.


Cheers, Mackie.
 
Just for a start...

You may want to have a go at the old standby 'overexposed white background', hated by many 'togs as cliched but still liked by plenty of muggles... In which case you'll need one of the lights behind the subjects and directed onto the background to overexpose it (being careful not to let any light from this one to spill back onto your subjects) and the second light (in front, to the side and slightly above) to light the kids. Some fill light to soften the shadows is also a good idea but as you've used your other light on the background the best option is to use a reflector to bounce the key light back onto the faces... something like this perhaps or a homemade equivalent would work. I prefer using reflectors to second fill lights anyway... one sun and all that! Hope that helps as a start... good luck and have fun with it!
 
I'm not entirely sure what I want, which is why I'm have this experimental run to try out whatever my equipment will let me really.

Thanks flashman! I also have a 430EXII which I could use to light the background or as something else if needed?
 
Mackie said:
...I also have a 430EXII which I could use to light the background or as something else if needed?
Click to expand...

Yeah, you may be best with two lights on the background (to light it more evenly) and one light on the subjects (with reflector)... it all depends on factors like what light shapers/modifiers you have, how much space you have etc... experiment, play and have fun! :)
 
White seamless - start here

http://www.zarias.com/white-seamless-tutorial-part-1-gear-space/

But if this is your first adventure with studio lights, you may just want to keep it simple and use a single light, like this

4127974814_21d801cba6_z_d.jpg
 
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I've done a few white seamless shoots with three 580EXIIs and a LumoPro LP160.

If it's one person, one light for the background is fine. For two or more, you'll need two lights on either side of the background for even lighting like Flashman said.

You want your background to be 1.5-2 stops over your subject, but remember that the light will bounce back towards your subjects and if they're too close it'll be a problem, especially with hair being 'eaten away', etc.

Also, if you're in a tight space you'll most likely need a couple of gobos so that the background lights don't spill onto your subject. Put one of the lights at 45 degrees camera right or left as the main light, and another light in line with and above the camera for a fill-in which is going to be set 1-2 stops lower than the main light. (adjust for required effect... power closer to the main light means flatter lighting)

You could use the two Geminis for background lighting and the 430EXII with a reflector for main/fill or the 430EXII for background and the Geminis for main/fill.

Check what coverage you get with the 430EXII at it's widest setting. If you have a light meter, take a reading of the background pointing towards the 430EXII and then take a photo overexposing by 2 stops and look at the back of the camera to see what portion of the background has blinking highlights. You don't want to overdo the overexposure as the light reflected back will also mess the contrast.
 
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